Idler arm opinions

[kahjdh]

I was wondering if anybody has replaced the idler arm on their truck yet. Im a shade over 100k miles and doing some work including all tie rods and front wheel bearings and noticed that the idler is a two piece on these trucks. What im wondering is how often does the bracket part wear out vs the arm? I bought the arm but the bracket is an additional $75. Also the rear backing plates rotted on mine so I bought some replacement dorman parts but since I have to take the parking brakes apart anyway I want to know what all is needed to make them operable again? I know I need the hold down clips but do I also need shoes? Any help or experience would be greatly appreciated.

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by kahjdh

I was wondering if anybody has replaced the idler arm on their truck yet. Im a shade over 100k miles and doing some work including all tie rods and front wheel bearings and noticed that the idler is a two piece on these trucks. What im wondering is how often does the bracket part wear out vs the arm? I bought the arm but the bracket is an additional $75. Also the rear backing plates rotted on mine so I bought some replacement dorman parts but since I have to take the parking brakes apart anyway I want to know what all is needed to make them operable again? I know I need the hold down clips but do I also need shoes? Any help or experience would be greatly appreciated.

I replaced the inner tie rod on my 2000 silverado..the rubber boot has a poor seal design I modified it and it now holds the grease and keeps out the water...so 10yrs now and greasing 2X a yr. , with a lithium based grease I have no front end issues.


to replace the inner tie rods you will need a 1-3/8 open end wrench and a pipe wrench..put the pipe wrench on the relay rod do not rotate then with the open end wrench unscrew the tie rod..you will have to use a torch to heat the tie rod /relay rod end to remove ...

on installing you must use medium grade loctite on the tie rod threads. torque to about 70 ft LBS.

the rear brake shields rust out because they were never preped properly when manufactured. I cut my shields in half then installed no big deal....

If you do not cut then the axles need removal....

If your park brake shoes are worn replace them using the new hold down clips that are stronger than the ones when vehicle was manufactured..these clips must lock down those shoes securely ..if not the shoes will flop around and soon be worn out...the park brake is self adjusting at the cable end...you must adjust the shoes so they contact the inner drum when the cable ear is pulled off the shield about 1/4 of the full movement ..you must install and remove the rotor many times to do this and lock the rotor down with a few lug nuts each adjusting ..