What's the real way to test idler arm?
 

I had my 90 d150 inspected by a mobile mechanic for the safety inspection. That mechanic told me the idler arms were loose and need to be changed. He showed me under the truck by taking like a crow bar and then moving the idler arm and I could see it flex.

So I took the truck to my corner garage to have it fixed, but they phoned back and told me the idler arms are fine. So which mechanic do I trust?

I've heard of two ways of testing idler arms 1) lift the truck and then move the front wheels side to side by hand and see if there is free play 2) try to move the idler arm itself by hand to look for play. Which is right?

I didn't get them fixed, but i had them do an alignment. That was a few months ago and I think it's out of alignment again. I don't know if that's because of the idler arms or just from all the pot holes we have.

Anyway the truck feels a tad difficult to keep straight but that may well just be me and not the truck.

Which mechanic do I listen to since they all seem to say something different?

On any ball joint test I prefer to use a large set of channel locks to squeeze the joint to check for play as this isolates the joint better. If I can't get on the top of a joint then a pry bar should tell you if there is movement in the joint. If the vehicle is jacked up the geometry of the suspension is changed and can mask a bad joint. A bad joint may be stiff enough to hide the play if hand pressure alone is used.

I try to move the idler arm up & down by hand. Moving the front wheels side to side is more for tie rod ends than anything else.

Ok, well the second mechanic laughed when I told him the first mechanic checked it with a crow bar, because he said "well yea anything can be moved with a crow bar".

I'm some what of an inexperienced driver though so proper steering is a big deal to me in order to handle the vehicle properly. It's also my first truck so I'm not used to driving a large vehicle (only drove sports cars before).

The front tires are really worn on the outside edges but the second mechanic told me that would just be from a simple alignment issue.

The mechanic with the crow bar had the truck jacked up. Can I test it myself without jacking it up?

If you're skinny enough to get under it without a jack. Best to jack it up to get any tension off every thing.