Need an idler arm

[devnull]

Hi all. I went to get tires put on my 99 Yukon today, and had a problem pointed out to me with the passenger side idler arm. This would stand to reason, since I recall hitting the curb on the passenger side several times during downtown parallel parking maneuvers. Rather than having the shop do it, I'm considering replacing both idler arms, and the pittman arm myself at the same time. A few questions; keep in mind my truck has about 100k miles:

1) On rockauto.com, I'm seeing a set of "economy" and "standard replacement" idler arms. For example, the Delco "economy" P/N is 46C1103A {GM PN #88875983}, and for "standard" it's 45C1103 {GM PN #88911356}. Can anyone tell me the difference?

2) The description for both parts says 4 wheel drive.. will this work on my 2WD truck?

3) Is it advisable to replace the idler arm spindles at the same time? It seems to me the most common failure mode for the idler arm, is the bearing and not the spindle, i.e. it's something that wouldn't go bad unless you got hit from the side perhaps. Thoughts?

4) I've seen and heard conflicting reports about needing to remove the steering box to do the pittman arm - on my non-4WD truck, does the steering box have to come out, or can I do it in place given a reasonable set of tools including an impact driver?

5) Is there any reason to replace additional steering components now, and if so, which?

THANKS!!

 

[retorq]

2. Yes it matters

4. Nope, did mine in the truck. Needed a pitman arm puller and large breaker bar.

5. Yep replace everything that's bad or quesitonable ...

 

[SunlitComet]

For the idlers ARM there are to part. On is the ARM the other is the bracket. Use moot parts as they solve some issues with the original design. Unless specified in part description you can not cross drive types. On. 2wd pitman arm is easy access. On 4 wd you may need to give some blood. Bear in mind that the nut on that ARM needs about 175 ft lbs torque down.

 

[devnull]

For the idlers ARM there are to part. On is the ARM the other is the bracket. Use moot parts as they solve some issues with the original design. Unless specified in part description you can not cross drive types. On. 2wd pitman arm is easy access. On 4 wd you may need to give some blood. Bear in mind that the nut on that ARM needs about 175 ft lbs torque down.

Ahh but the plot thickens! You seem to be an absolute fountain of knowledge, kudos! I took your advice and looked at the Moog parts.. and right on the Rockauto website, they had a link to a guide by Moog on how to determine whether you have bad idler arms. It says specifically, not to use any perceived play when moving the passenger side wheel back and forth, as an indicator of a bad idler arm. Which is precisely the way it was shown to me to be "bad". Rather, Moog says to use a spring scale and put 25 Lbs of pressure on the idler arm in both directions, if if moves up or down more than 1/4th inch, replace.

So I'll take another look in a week or two when I change oil, and determine then whether I really need an idler arm. Thanks for the advice all!!!

 

[SunlitComet]

the idler arm is basically there to keep the centerlink on it axis and not let the rightinner tie rod end become a huge pivot point where the left wheel will steer and the right wont just make left turns or go straight not to mention wobble like crazy.