So I've been slowly replacing all my front steering parts and decided to rebuild the idler arm rather than buy a new one. Got the bushings and seal from the dealer as took everything apart and put the new parts in. Upon putting the arm back together noticed there was twice as much play with the new bushings in. Took those out an out the old ones back in and no where near the play with the new ones in. My question is what does the OEM IDLER look like. Does it have a certain stamp or markings on it I can distinguish from aftermarket idlers? I'm thinking someone put in an aftermarket idler. The bushings in the idler I have are a red color and there is a large "L" on the casting. Thanks!

 

Get an Auto zone idler and 4crawler bushing and be done with it. Lots of info on that page, might be able to identify the one yo have.

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/IdlerArm.shtml

 

That's what I had intended to do but I'm not a hardcore off-roader and figured the OEM idler would be fine with new bushings but turns out I don't have the OEM idler. Lol. I already called autozone and they have one waiting for me.

 

There are pics of the auto zone idler next to OEM versions - it blows them both out of the water with how robust it's design is. You can't go wrong. I'm guessing bushings from dealer is almost same price as the whole aftermarket part, lol.

 

The bushings were only $18 and the autozone idler is $50. I'll take the bushings back to the dealership since they are of no use to me.