Idler Arm Slop - Input Wanted

[Detroit Iron]

I put a '69 K-member in my '64 Dodge Polara for the sole purpose of the idler arm stability offered with the through bolt of this year. I put a brand new Mood idler arm in, and still have an unacceptable amount of up and down play right there at the through bolt.

Firm Feel offers idler arms, but are they just repackaged Moog garbage? I'd like to hear what others have done to eliminate this slop. Thanks!

 

[5.7 hemi]

That washer under the bolt needs to be in between the idler and mount. Then tighten, no slop.

 

[David Stillie]

I bought a roller bearing upgrade kit for my idler arm years ago. I don't know if they are still available.

 

[moes]

I believe there should be two washers that should be fitted on the rubber bushing (one on top and one on the bottom) to take up the slop. Moog might be different then the one I used and only use one washer though.

 

[Detroit Iron]

Thank you. Doing that now... Update soon...

 

[Detroit Iron]

Done. Test drive then another update.

 

[5.7 hemi]

And??????

 

[Detroit Iron]

I ran out of time but will update tomorrow.

 

[5.7 hemi]

Looking forward to hearing back on this.

 

[Detroit Iron]

I had to put a large adjustable Crescent wrench on the lower tab to bend it down to where I assume it belongs. This enabled me to fit the washer on the other side of the tab, between the tab and the bolt sleeve/bushing. Clear as mud? This reduced the slop. So yeah after wrenching oon cars my entire life, at the ripe old age of 50; I learned something.

I still have a considerable amount of poping and creaking noises coming from the front passenger side. Perhaps I should start a separate thread for this. I have everything well lubed. Again I have lots of experience with Chrysler steering and suspension, but these sounds always seem to haunt my cars. I was hoping my correction on the idler arm would also eliminate these sounds. Not a chance. Any input on this topic?

 

[khryslerkid]

Have an assistant turn the wheel for you as you touch each component to see which one is making the noise.

 

[oldbee]

Instead of bending the one ear you could've just added washer/washers to both ends.

 

[thr3shold]

I know this is an old thread but...

I've been slowly removing all of the slop in the steering on my '74. The latest thing I tackled was the play on the idler arm mounting. The mounting bolt hole was oversized quite a bit so I looked for something that would positively locate the arm to the very odd 0.575" or so inner diameter in my idler arm. Well, McMaster-Carr sells a 'Tight-Tolerance Oil-Hardening O1 Tool Steel Rod, 0.5781" Diameter' for just $9.85 for a foot. I reamed out the inner diameter to create a slip fit, threaded both ends of the rod such that the threads don't start until they clear the top and bottom of the K-frame mount (upper threads have loctite), and the K-frame bolt holes had to be enlarged just a tiny bit. Everything is an exact slip fit now. Maybe this little tidbit will help someone else out or maybe this is a well known thing and I'm just out of the loop (I did try looking on the site for it).

 

[kiwigtx]