Stuck Idler Arm Removal

[Blaz]

Just got my Typhoon on Thursday, came from Chicago with 121k on it. Motor seems strong and doesn't leak a drop, however the streering is mad loose and it has the famous vibration at high speed. I've decided replacing the idler arm is a good place to start.

I can't seem to get the old arm off, it is stuck at the ball joint. I've tried tappnig the loop and whacking the **** out of it with a pickle fork and hammer to seperate it and no go. It doesn't want to budge at all. This is driving me crazy, it should be a simple swap. I'm about to do something drastic and try cutting off the thread on the bolt that hangs down and then drilling out the middle of the bolt from the idler going through the loop in the steeriing linkage. I figure if I drill out a decent enough hole it should have some room to compress when I hammer the pickle back in there. The down side is if this fails I can't put the nut back on and keep driving it with the bad arm.

Someone please stop me from doing this by providing some advice or another approach.

 

[ty166]

Re: Stuck Idler Arm Removal

to get it loose from the center link i usually just smack the center link with a hammer a few times and it pops loose. never had one that wouldnt come apart that way. try hammering the pickle fork between the idler arm and center link and then smack the center link with the hammer. is that the one a guy named chris was sellin (with diffrent rims front and back) ?

 

[supersports10]

Re: Stuck Idler Arm Removal

Just got my Typhoon on Thursday, came from Chicago with 121k on it. Motor seems strong and doesn't leak a drop, however the streering is mad loose and it has the famous vibration at high speed. I've decided replacing the idler arm is a good place to start.

I can't seem to get the old arm off, it is stuck at the ball joint. I've tried tappnig the loop and whacking the **** out of it with a pickle fork and hammer to seperate it and no go. It doesn't want to budge at all. This is driving me crazy, it should be a simple swap. I'm about to do something drastic and try cutting off the thread on the bolt that hangs down and then drilling out the middle of the bolt from the idler going through the loop in the steeriing linkage. I figure if I drill out a decent enough hole it should have some room to compress when I hammer the pickle back in there. The down side is if this fails I can't put the nut back on and keep driving it with the bad arm.

Someone please stop me from doing this by providing some advice or another approach.

go to the auto parts store, and get the proper tool. they make a tie-rod seperator tool.

it should only be like 20.00 dollars

 

[willyson]

Re: Stuck Idler Arm Removal

we went by this, http://sytyarchives.com/howto/viewarticle.php?article_name=idler_arm.php&dir=suspension and ended up cutting the old idler arm to get it out. it then took two people to get the new one in.

 

[Blaz]

Re: Stuck Idler Arm Removal

I thought I was using the right tool. It's a tie rod seperator like this one:
http://shoptoolsshoptools.com/shopexd.asp?id=240

I'm telling you I'm whaling on it trying to wedge it between the link and arm and it won't budge.
I'm going to try a large hammer tommorow before the drastic measures. I already smashed my thumb with the normal hammer, going to have to take better aim with the big one . I wish I could get some kind of puller in there but it's a funny angle and tight tolerances.

And nope all of the wheels match, 17's, seller wasn't a Chris. I've got to say the truck is alot of fun except for the highway vibration.I wanted to take it on a 400mile trip to the beach in NC next weekend but not if it's going to shake like crazy on the highway. Doubtful I can get that fixed before Saturday but I'm going to try.

Thanks for the advice so far.

 

[Black Knight]

Re: Stuck Idler Arm Removal

I can't think of any extra advice to give you, I've done hundreds of these and never really had a problem. I wouldn't cut the threads and drill it, try soaking it with some pentrant oil.

Worse case take it to a shop and make them deal with it, it shouldn't cost more then $20 -$30 labor to have it removed.

Vibration problem: Have tires balanced, if not cured try pulling front drive shaft and see if it goes away.

Aren't these trucks fun

 

[stlSY]

Re: Stuck Idler Arm Removal

I had the same issue with mine, ended up getting the tool from Autozone to pull a pitman arm, after that it came off relatively easy. It is a Great Neck tool that is about $15.00 (Part Number: 27016) You just have to grind some of the thickness off of the outside end of the jaw area to get it to slide into place. PM me if you want pics of how to mod the tool.

 

[Blaz]

Re: Stuck Idler Arm Removal

Thanks stlSY. I'm glad I'm not the only one seeing this problem. I'll give that a shot tonight.
I think I understand what you mean. Grind down the claws so it will slide into the joint.
The tilda parts of the diagram below.

|~~~ ~~~|
| |
| |
| * |
| * |
-----------------
*
*

 

[stlSY]

Re: Stuck Idler Arm Removal

That's it, I just ground the ends of the jaws at an angle until it slid in. Hope it works as easy for you as it did for me.

 

[supersports10]

Re: Stuck Idler Arm Removal

That's it, I just ground the ends of the jaws at an angle until it slid in. Hope it works as easy for you as it did for me.

this is exactly what i did :rotf: :rotf: now i have two tools for the price of one.

 

[pinellas50]

Re: Stuck Idler Arm Removal

You can also try heating things up with a torch before wacking on it.

I haven't done mine yet....it's on the to do list. So I'm curious to see how yours turns out.