Replaced my inner/outter tie rods,Pittman and idler arm last year. The tie rods were professional grade,but i cheaped out on the Pittman and idler. Ive noticed lately ive had a little more steering play. So today i jacked up the front end and wiggled my tires. My oem balljoints are firm (Sweet!) but i had about 1/2" to 3/4" of side to side play. Pittman looked fine while i jiggled and wiggled,but my idler was moving up and down (maybe 5mm if that). Is that normal or is it defective? it had a tad of side to side.


maybe thats why when i brake the blazer pulls to the right or left when im about 5 mph.

 

my 90 fullsize tears up idler arms too i dont know why. first one lasted a little over a year, next two about 2 months each, finally i cracked down and bought the gigantic moog life time warranty one. been about 4 months and so far so good

 

With that amount of side to side play I would be looking into new hubs

 

Hubs are fine. im still leaning towards idler.

 

I had the same issue after replacing mine in Jan except mine failed safety inspection yesterday I had the Pro Forged idler and now I went with the Moog since I didn't have time to wait around for Pro Forged to send me a new one. All is good now the truck passed inspection this morning. Good luck on getting yours repaired!

 

I got me one tonight,and installed it. Its the cheapy one,so il be doing it again later,but at least this one has a lifetime warranty. doesnt take long to do it..


Funny thing is you know how you have to use a extension and sockets to get inside the frame to get to the bolts...Well...the bolts can fall into the frame and you have to fish them out. Well...I managed to keep em in without any issues. BUT after tightening the bottom one i pulled the socket out,and it fell off with one of the 2" extensions into the frame...i cant get it out...Which what happened the last time. So now ive got 2 sockets,and 2 small extentions in the frame rolling around LOL. Oh well. Steering is responsive again. I'm happy.

 

Walkthrough of the idler arm replace? I've got the same problem now.

 

Unbolt it, pop it off, pull it out, do the steps in reverse! There's nothing to it mine took about 15 min total.

 

Damn. Pepboys tried to stick me with 165 for part+labor. DIY on this one. thanks!

 

Its only 2 bolts and a nut. The hardest part is separating the end but just get a pickle fork and use that out you can tap it out with a hammer sometimes as well.