idler and pitman on 88 GMC truck

I have been told that I need to replace the idler and pitman arm on my 1/2 ton truck. How big of a job is this? Any suggestions would be great?
FYI my tires wear unevenly and I have some play in steering wheel. Are there any sites with directions on how to do this?

I had this done to my truck less than a month ago. My steering wheel had quite a bit of play in it and I had gotten new tires and was concerned about uneven wear on them. I took the truck to my trusted mechanic and he said the same, that I needed a new idler and pitman arm installed. I looked into doing it myself and the job requires a pitman pulling tool to get the ball joints off of the arms. I decided that since I did not have the right tools, I took my truck in and had it done for $270. You can do it yourself but with all of the adjustments and stuff I would recommend taking it in. I also think that an alignment is neccessary too. After they did the work my steering improved 100%. Good luck.

I have been told that I need to replace the idler and pitman arm on my 1/2 ton truck. How big of a job is this? Any suggestions would be great?
FYI my tires wear unevenly and I have some play in steering wheel. Are there any sites with directions on how to do this?


I have a 90 GMC 4x4. I had bought the parts to replace both the idler and pitman arm at a local auto parts store. The idler arm is an easy install. At least it was on my truck. The pitman are arm is in a tight area, and you need a puller to get it off. I ended up changing my idler arm myself (easy), and taking it to a local tire/alignment shop for the pitman are. I told them I already had the part, I just needed them to put it on. They charged me 40 labor to put it on. I then got an alignment. You could save yourself some money by at least buying the parts yourself before hand, they will cheaper than what a shop charges you, and doing some of it yourself. Good luck.

you can rent the pullers from most parts stores for about $10 the allignment shouldn't be affected but you should get it done if the wheel is off center, truck pulls or the tires are wearing excessively.

I did mine.. puller for the pitman costs $29.95, it works on ball joints,tie rod ends and the pitman to centre link joint. Well worth the purchase. On my '92 I removed the steering Gear(box) completely to seperate the pitman arm from it.

Cheers