What is this thing? I was changeing the oil today and while I had the front of the Mav jacked up I grabbed the passenger wheel just goofing off and pulled on it. When I did I noticed the arm on this thing can go up and down about 3/4 of an inch. I gotta think this can't be good on the almost brand new front tires... Can I just replace the bushings or what? This is on the front passenger side of the car. Sorry for asking so many stupid questions lately...
Premonitions? Think about it Jamie you had dreams about the steering of your car.They caused you to look at the front end of your car where you have found a worn idler arm which could cause an accident if not repaired.A coincidence or have you just entered the twilight zone?
jamie, i have a new one laying around in the box.....is it power or non? i will look and see if i can find it. send a p.m. or call me tomorrow...e.f.f.
While your at it, check the tie rod ends for slack as well as the pittman arm [the arm off of the steering box ]. Chances are, if one is worn out, all of them will be.
Frank, it's non power, only way I would have a Mav. The steering is actually pretty tight, so this kind of surprised me. There is hardly any back and forth play in the wheel. Let me know if you find it. Not sure if we have a CarQuest around here but I'll look it up and see. LOL Burlap. I watch the old black and white twilight zone on Sci Fi all the time.
Something else to check is the bushing in the end of the center link that the idler arm connects to. Mine is seriously worn and I got in a hurry and did not replace it when I put my car back together. Thought I could replace the bushing myself, and when it turned out I could not, I did not feel like pulling the center link back out. Wish I had done it though! One of these days, I will pull it back out and fix it....
It's not that hard not to notice a bad idler arm. After I replaced all the ball joints and lower control arms on the PoliceMav, I took it for an alignment. The bad idler was found when the guy couldn't get the alignment just right and started checking stuff. Replaced the idler arm and the alignment came out perfect.
Sounds like yours won't have slack except for when off the ground and when the suspension moves. I've seen a few like that. Doesn't wear terribly, but does have an odd pull now and then when hitting bumps. Carquest sells Moog parts, I think Napa still does, you can probably request it at Autozone or Advanced, but make sure its Moog if you go with Advanced.
i had one that was horribly worn. i thought my ball joints were worn because evertime i drove it, whenever i turned left, just after i straightened out from the turn it would feel like someone jerked the steering wheel to the side. turned out half of the rubber bushing was completley gone. its a scarey drive when that rubber finally falls out.
