Well I have noticed a noise from my front end lately while going over bumps and just in a couple days during slow turns well it ends up there was more than I thought going wrong. Spent about an hour messing with it and now the one tie rod end doesn't touch the frame, but it needs a rebuild which is going to happen ASAP.

Not really bothered by it since I have been looking at kits that come with idler, pitman, 4 ball joints for anywhere from 90 to 180 bucks shipped, seems really cheap to me but they come with 12 month warranties at the least, anybody know of a place thats decent that sells the same style kit for a 96.

Now to the video, its no good, and if you look above the tie-rod end you can see black on the frame thats were it was rubbing


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKWMWdU4DXw

 

damn.
just think how much better its going to drive with about $350 worth of new parts.

 

wow death wobble much??


Are you still driving it like that? hang the f%$& on if ya are

 

Actually cant notice anything while driving, other than the noise not sure how long its been this bad but after tonight I'm gonna try and grab the keys to the spare truck but might have to wait a couple days before I can...tropical storm hitting soon and my mom will need the spare truck.

What is scary is that I was following my brother earlier on the expressway doing about 85 maybe a little faster and didnt notice a thing wrong, the only bright side is all the nuts were tight but I think the main part wrong with it is the idler arm

Sucks though two weekends without my truck to drive I might start having withdrawls

 

Well the first part of the fix came today, went by advance to get an idler arm, it was $40 and some change, wanted to get it cheap because it might get changed out within the month plus it was in stock.

Went home after first job and if any of you watch the weather there is a tropical wave/storm hitting, so I was out in the rain working on getting the old one off and new one on, cant tell ya if it made a difference yet because my dad would kill me if I took his jack out in the rain, so waiting on that to take a new video but I got a feeling its fixed

Was surprized by how much heavier duty the new idler arm was compared to the one on the truck

 

yeah, its a brute. what brand name is it ?
it doesn't look like the Advance picture of the $40 OE.

 

It definantely is the $40 dollar OE brand one from advance, I could even tell the difference at the counter, when the guy first pulled it out the box, I was like damn this thing is huge compared to the one on the truck but it fit nice and tomarrow I can jack the truck up again to see if all my play is gone

 

Definantely fixed the problem.

Now has anyone used OE brand ball joints, tie-rod ends, pitman and idler arms?

Would like to know what you thought about them, and how long they lasted or how long they have been on your truck, seems like I can get them CHEAP on ebay and they have a 12 month warranty.

Also anybody had a problem with energy suspensions control arm bushings, found the kit for the upper and lower control arms for like $80 bucks or so and was thinking of getting them

 

Go Moog on the ball joints and tie rods. Rock Auto is your friend.

 

Polyurethane bushings are great, but you've got to keep them greased or else they squeak like crazy. You're probably best off with some OEM rubber bushings.

And no Moog ball joints. Apparently people that keep recommending them have never seen the inside of one. XRF for the ball joints. Moog TRE's are okay, but you're paying for the name. Most places offer a house brand with the same quality and warranty for a fraction of the cost.