My 79 SA is in need of an idler arm. Is this a chance for an interesting upgrade, a chance to replace a few other items as well, or just a simple wear item.

Thanks for any input.

 

Look for a MOOG idler arm. It is THE upgrade you're looking for.

 

Fonzi of Happy Days during high school play dress rehearsal: "What he said".

I second Jeff20B's answer. MOOG is the way to go. You'll prolly find the best prices on Rock Auto, although a google search may find something a buck or two cheaper. Rock Auto usually is hard to beat though.

 

The Moog is a nice piece, heavier duty, and cheap.

 

+1 on the Moog, beefy upgrade.

Rockauto = $49 + shipping
Amazon = $51, ships free.

 

Agreed that the Moog unit is an excellent upgrade from the original exposed bushing unit.

Replacing the idler arm will give you the opportunity to inspect the ball joints, tie rod ends, sway bar bushings, tension rod bushings, sway bar end links, struts, springs, and pitman arm. Feel free to inspect all steering and suspension components while you're in there. Be careful though, once you start replacing components you will find that you will be wanting to replace everything, lol.

 

The MOOG takes about 100 miles to break in (200 if you do lots of straight driving). It is quite stiff at first so be ready for the difference.

 

+1 on that. Mine is still stiff from the install about a year ago but I also put on new
RB LCAs, and new tierods (inner and outer).

 

Mine has 200 miles of some straight and mostly turning driving now. It's fully broken in because it feels more like a stocker again, but still tighter than stock. It also gives plenty of room for a turbo!

 

+1 for the Moog.

 

Look around, some of those parts are made by the same manufacturer. I replaced the pitman arm on my 80 and the O'Reiley's part number was the same as the Moog and was almost half the price

 

Thanks for the info. Got the Moog from Amazon. Will install this weekend.

 

If you run a header on your SA like I have been doing for the last 33 years, you may find that radiant heat from the header will cook the plastic in an idler arm assembly with sustained hard running. It is not much of an issue on a street driver RX.

I fabricated a small heat shield from thin sheet aluminum so that it would stand off and leave about a 1/2" air gap from the idler arm, and mounted it using the two big idler arm bolts. This stopped heat issues on the idler arm.

 

Good tip. No headers yet but have not tackled the exhaust yet.