I have a bracket lift and after adding that and the tires one idler arm down. I added the bjspacer and relaxed the bars= no lift and killed another. and it seems like everytime i make a run anymore i kill one or it starts leaking. Anyone have troubles with the idler arm on bracket lifts? BJ spacer? or am i just pushing the truck where i need to look in to other front end options? I have been told bigger then 35's will kill suspension parts. Im running 36inch TSL's measure almost 37 and before ran 36inch micky thomson bajas measured 36 on a good day.

what could be the issue? Im replacing them not rebuilding them....i didnt know that could be done even.

pic for views

 

Honestly IFS just isnt built to take that. You can break things easily on 31's and 33's let alone 36's. Save your money and take the SAS plunge and at the same time go for longfields, guessets, and armor. That way you'll never need to worry about your front end again.

 

Talk to AxleIke - he took his lift out and went down to 33x9.50 because of steering issues (mostly idler arms IIRC).

Face it - ANY lift increases the stress/wear on the truck, it's why I don't have any.

Your best bet at this point is probably the Total Chaos idler arm. It's expensive, but compared to how much you're putting into stock ones, it should pay for itself quickly.

 

leaking?

There's some grease in there but not enough to drip (AFAIK).

IMHO the tires are too large for stocky type idler arms

a) do your run a gusset?
b) yes they are rebuildable
c) there are bronze replacements for the plastic bushings
d) ya are best off with the TC idler arm... beefy

 

x2 on the total chaos arm if you are going to stay with the big tires, i run the downey brace w/33x10.50's and it has been holding up fine after about 5 trips

 

total chaos.

These idler arms are weak. It isn't just you. Everyone who wheels IFS has trouble with this crappy steering.

 

I switched to total chaos and my problems were solved. 4" bracket lift 34" nittos and lots of power. I have yet to have my front end fail.

 

I feel ya. That's what 35+ size tires do, to your truck I mean. I have a thread or 2 going about my attempts to resolve the idler arm problem, non-TC option.

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116/solid-brass-idler-arm-bushing-kit-114974/

Where it stands now: I've just today ordered a new idler arm for a 94 (just to be sure it's a later model). I'll be posting my results soon.

 

you definitely need a brace on your idler arm. I was running bj spacers and 32"s and I got to the point where idlers would only last a trip or two. With a brace they last pretty long, but I even had a braced one wear out the idler arm ball joint end where the arm attaches to the steering rod.

Here's another solution:

 

The problem is that you're "jaming" the tires against things when you wheel and rather than trying to take it real, real easy (like backing up a little and changing your line, turning the tires when they aren't against things) you're just horsing it some, and with all the extra weight and leveage of the tires you're simply overstressing the idler arm.
No magic, it's not build to handle that.
Brace the snot out of it and, when you wheel, drive like it's broke and about to fall off, only held on by one wrap of duct tape.
Bet'ch it'll last a lot longer




Fred

 

Thanks i will keep that in mind. I really do wheel slow tho. On that rock im moving slow enough to get a pic of me looking for the back to pick up. I think i have tracked down part of the issue. I was looking at the tierods and the fruitcake that alighned the truck put the adjustment clamps on the wrong side.. They hit when the suspension moves and im turning. I had painted the frame on my truck and for this reason...It caught my eye that i could see scrapes there and was thinking it was a really odd place for rock chips. I wen tot where we test flex with new mods or relearn what the feeling of tipping is and flexed it out. I tried to turn and couldnt. I locked the brake shut it off and started looking....the clamps have room if they were on the other side. They are binding up and so all im doing by trying to turn is putting stress on parts that shouldnt see that much and locking everything up. I already talked to the alighnment shop and they are going to switch it and redo the alighnment for free. I guess we will see what happens.