Topic: upgrade for IFS idler arm?....why does it not last that long?

[bleakhorizon]

Ok so i have a bone stock (suspension wise) 91 4runner..  Has a bit bigger tires 31" and prob an inch offset on the wheel.. nothing extreme at all.... yet, i can maybe get 4 month out of an idler arm before the bushings are shot... cheap ones, expensive ones, whatever... (havent bought a toyota one, but i re-bushed a factory one once) even ran a brace on one and it still shat out on me...

Well i finally went out and bought a set a brass bushings because i thought they would be the thing..  did work the longest so far...  about 14 months... (supposedly i can rotate the bushings up to 4 times and they are still good  )

well im more looking for an answer as to why its doing it, i mean i can get the cheap cheap ones for 20 bucks all day, swap em out in 15 minutes. but thats not the point really.. the suspension is tight, alignment is good. I know the roads around here are crap but i mean really.... i dont drive much, maybe 800-1000 miles a month so what gives...

if this dont stop im going to route of twistedtoys93 and making my own http://board.marlincrawler.com/index.php?topic=72886.60;msg=1036936 

[emsvitil]

I still have my original one in my 86 truck (~173k)

I made one modification to it long long ago....


I drilled and tapped the body in the middle for a zerk fitting and drilled a tiny hole in the top dust cap.

Every time I lube the truck, I lube the idler arm (until grease starts oozing out the top and bottom).......

[OOPS]

Well if you are willing to spend $370.00, Total Caos has one!!!!!!

[H8PVMNT]

Make or buy an idler arm gusset.  They use to be available everywhere, now days not so much but they always worked good for me when I ran IFS.

[bleakhorizon [OP]]

I still have my original one in my 86 truck (~173k)

I made one modification to it long long ago....
I drilled and tapped the body in the middle for a zerk fitting and drilled a tiny hole in the top dust cap.
Every time I lube the truck, I lube the idler arm (until grease starts oozing out the top and bottom).......

Not a bad idea... might have to do that with the arm i have now.

Make or buy an idler arm gusset.  They use to be available everywhere, now days not so much but they always worked good for me when I ran IFS.

been there done that, seemed to help it last longer, but still crapped out on me..

Well if you are willing to spend $370.00, Total Caos has one!!!!!!

Um.... NO. i would make one before i bought that.

not sure if it has anything to do with anything, but my steering stabilizer is shot... prob scrounge up a new one just because

[Snowtoy]

Since going to Moog(lifetime warranty) I haven't had to pay for one in last 10yrs, and seem to exchange them about every 4yrs or so.  My '91 w/35's seems to go through them a little quicker, this will be its 3rd one in 6yrs.

[Rocksurfer]

They are just not made to endure what we do to our rigs, I have always carried a spare when I've had an IFS truck. A friend of mine didn't heed my warnings and didn't carry one and had it let loose on the trail and I was not there to give him mine. I hear they pulled him backwards to camp since it was the only way it would track, I wish I could have seen that.

[H8PVMNT]

I broke and bent several and even busted the end off a centerlink until I went to some tie rods with heims and high misalignment ends.  After that I didn't mess up any more idler arms while using the long travel style heim steering and the gusset.  The tie rods could probably be made cheaply but honestly mine were too expensive at the time to be a viable solution for most people. It's tough to dump to much into IFS since a solid axle swap always seems to be inevitable.

[bleakhorizon [OP]]

here lies my dilemma with what the last two are saying...  i don't wheel this rig. its my DD the most it really sees on a monthly bass's is gravel roads. which around here are usually as nice or nicer than the paved roads...

On my 87 pu i ran 35's and wore one idler out and only bent ONE, idler in the couple years i ran it. and it was my trail DD rig..

[Cheesemaker]

Sounds like you need to torch out that front end and go SAS!!

[Redsonja]

If you aren't wheeling your rig and you have 31s and they last only 4 months from brand new than there is something wrong elsewhere in your steering or front end that is making it fail prematurely. I wheel my truck and have bigger tires and since adding my own rhd idler brace I haven't had an issue. And I was bending the whole unit not just mucking up bushings. So my point is an idler should lasting than 4 months. You need to investigate why it's doing that before putting more money at band aiding it.


Sent from my atari using Tapatalk

[Cheesemaker]

Toby you need to tell Amber to quite riding the 4Runner so hard!!   

[twistedtoy92]

I had went through 3 or 4 before I did the ball joint spacer lift and went to 34'' tsl's then every trip out would shear the arm right off. Always climbing rocky hills where a little speed was required, hit a little hole and POP! I was running Moog and the quality of the shaft is far inferior than factory. I broke my 3rd one and had my last toyota spare with me, threw it on and ended up bending the crossbar about an hour later. Thats when I said to hell with that!  Started by using a spare 18mm marlin spring bolt and large daystar poly bushings, then it all fell together. Then i figured what the hell, my tie rod ends were shot and 3/4'' heims are not that much money. For right around $200 you can do what I did, run the 3/4'' heims and 1 1/2''x.250'' wall tubing and never have to worry about it again!