had a knock from the right front suspension and finally decided to get off my *** and see what it was. my idler arm bushings have run away.

i went to every shop in my area and no one has any, so are there any other bushing that will work for this application?

and also, by this point, would it be easier to just replace the idler arm?

will get pics up later tonight

-Nick

 

buy a moog idler arm from rock auto

 

less than $4.50 at Rock Auto www,rockauto.com

 

thanks for the replies but id like to get them locally so i dont have to wait on shipping. im taking the car from lubbock to dallas next week and would like to allot ample time.

i may just order them today and pay more for shipping. rockauto is half the price of autozone and oreillys

 

i ordered my bushings from rock auto and it took two days to get them. Order them now and you'll have them in time.

 

thanks. i ordered them a few hours ago. paid for the 1up shipping. it was only like $2 more.

 

i thought about it, but I don't mind the wait. I've been driving it without them for quite a while, and to be honest you cant even tell.we'll see if there's a difference after i install them

 

i usually buy the whole new idler arm assembly due to the fact that usually not only the bushings are bad but sometimes the ball joint that connects to the drag link is prone to failure. best just to replace the entire thing when you have it out.

 

my idler arm bushings also ran away. Probably because it's so damn cold.... anywho, advanceautoparts had them each for 4.50. Bought two, lubed everything up with lithium grease, put the bushings in, then pressed the arm back in with a jack. steering is a million times better.

 

BUMP!!! need an answer fast.

the studs holding the idler arm onto the car are spinning with the nuts. so...what do i do about that? im guessing its not an easy fix at all.

 

you hold the nuts with a pair of pliers. The nuts are not welded to the car or anything. you could probably hold them by hand too, if its loose enogh

 

phew... for reals tho? thats dumb. i thought my car was way broken.

thanks man

 

upon closer inspection, i now see that the bolt goes all the way through the frame rail. im feeling kinda dumb.

 

yea, don't use pliers. use the appropriate 12mm wrench. pliers mar up bolts.

 

yeah thats what i ended up doing. at first i was trying to take it out from the top so i didnt see that the bolts went through

 

Be sure to use LockTite on the through bolts. I found the through bolts on the steering box had loosened up after driving 3-4k miles. Surprised me enough that I went and checked every nut/bolt under the car after discovering that.

 

good to know. i didnt do that. one of them had a lock washer. the other did not. i may go buy another. would that hold just as well?

 

Now that you've got it working, do the right thing and order the Moog idler arm. It's worth its weight in gold.