How to Diagnose a Bad Idler Arm

Some trucks and older vehicles use a reciprocating ball steering setup or also known as a drag link set up. It has a steering box here with a Pitman arm and then an idler arm here, and then a control rod that goes through the middle. That actually connects to your outer and inner tie rods on both sides. It helps steer your vehicle. There is a joint on the Pitman arm, a ball joint. There's a ball joint on the idler arm. If you're getting a shimmy or shake or vibration while you're going down the road from the steering wheel, you should check those to make sure they're not worn out.

With the vehicle supported in the air and the tire off the ground, we're going to put our hands at nine and three o'clock. I'm going to take my hands and on the tire, I'm going to wiggle it back and forth. As we can see, we're moving the wheel back and forth. The ball joint on this idler arm is worn out. It should be replaced.

Inside, is a very similar setup at this tie rod end. If I remove the boot, you can see that there's a ball and socket joint in there. If it looses all the grease or this boot becomes compromised and you get water in there, it can rust and it will wear out the joint causing you to have excessive play. Then you'll have to have it replaced.

So now that you know how to diagnose loose steering components on your vehicle, you can find new TRQ parts at 1AAuto.com.