[edit]Scroll down to see my fix and the results <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Just what the title says; anyone here ever rebuild one of these? The press-sealed top cap tells me that the manufacturer didn't intend for them to be servicable; but I can cut the lip off and just weld the cap back into place when all is said and done. My idler arm has over 1/4" of vertical play in the shaft... which translates into a several inches of free movement by the time you get to the tire tread. I assume there are just thrust washers or bronze bushings inside that have become worn over the past 200k miles and years off off-roading. I have a spare idler arm assembly that I am swapping in; but I might as well see what can be done with the old one. If anyone has done this and can share their experience, I'd appreciate it. If not, I'll document whatever I end up doing with mine in case it can help someone else out later. Our trucks are getting old enough that it will become increasingly more difficult to find OEM parts in the next 5-10 years. Being able to rebuild and reuse existing parts never hurts.

This picture of an "aftermartket" assembly looks rebuilt, not new. It also appears that they replaced the large cap with a block-off plate tapped for a zerk fitting. I like the idea of a zerk fitting to allow periodic greasing of the moving parts <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />



I may contact the manufacturer of the above part to see if they can hook me up with what parts are needed to rebuild and where to get them. Sometimes you get lucky and the person on the other end is a fellow DIY'er/automotive enthusiast and willing to help out.

I know that George Reiswig looked at rebuilding his once and ended up building his own.

HE SEAN IF YOU HAVE ACCESS TO A LATHE , YOU CAN REBUILD IT, HOWEVER BE READY FORA SMOKING MESS, THAT THING IS ENCAPSULATED IN RUBBER JUST LIKE THE SPRING HANGERS , IF YOU CAN GET IT COMPLETELY APART TO GET THE MAIN SHAFT OUT AND THEN REPLACE THE RUBBER BUSHING WITH A BEARIGN AT BOTH ENDS AND USE SEALED BEARINGS, SOME OF THOSE IDLERS CAME WITH A NUT ON THE TOP SIDE AND SOME ARE FLARED OVER, BUT IT WOUDL NOT BE TOO DIFFICULT TO REPLACE THE WHOLE THING WITH A TAPERED STYLE WHEEL BEARING AND A COUPLE OF SEALS OR MIGHT BE EVEN EASIER TO JUST MAKE A SPACER AND DROP IT DOWON INSIDE ON TOP OF A SEALED BEARING AND DO THE SAME ON THE TOP AND RECAP IT TO KEEP THE DUST OUT , IT WOULD PROBABLY LAST FOREVER THIS WAY.. JERRY

Jerry always supports my cheapness <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Mine had no side-to-side play at all, strictly up and down. I guess my bushings must still be in decent shape <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> The following pictures are very blury. For whatever reason the autofocus on my digital camera has decided to no longer hone in on the nearest item. The background is nice and clear but what I'm trying to take a picture of sucks. Used to work pretty good, may have too much dust/etc in it from all of the off-road trips???

I did this a few hours ago before you replied, Jerry; so here is what I came up with:

Here is the OEM idler arm assembly. Dare you risk facing the guardian's atomic breathe to attain it? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />



Here is a blury shot of the cap pressed on:



I assumed there was a thrust washer in the end of the cap that got chewed up due to not being able to add grease after initial assembly. My plan was to cut off the end, replace said washer with another washer if possible or a bronze bushing if I couldn't find a replacement washer. Then weld on some metal at the end with a cap and zerk fitting. When I cut the end off, much to my surprise a spring popped up:



So, as you can see, the cap on the end is set up much like the cap on a D60 kingpin with a spring to apply steady pressure. Don't let the small size fool you, that is one tight spring <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/mrt.gif" alt="" />

So that changes the game plan a bit. As I said above, I had no issues with side-to-side movement of the sector shaft, just up and down. That tells me that the spring, tight as it was by hand, wasn't doing such a great job of fighting the forces the truck put on it anymore. I still needed a zerk, though. Searched all of the little odds and ends drawers in the barn and didn't come up with one, so I harvested one off of the lawnmower:



I dug through my bucket-o-scrap metal and found an old door hinge block-off plate that looked about the correct thickness (3/16-ish). Used the end I cut off of the cap as a guide for tracing a circle, drilled a 7/32 hole, and then used a 1/4-28 tap for the zerk fitting:



Cut out the circle for a new end cap. I also found a thick washer which I ground down to fit inside of the end cap. Between the washer and section of cap I cut off, it took up a little more than the amount of slack the sector shaft had, thereby "retensioning" the spring a bit:



I put the spring back in the cap, then the washer on top of that, followed by the new cap and put it all in the press to hold it down while I tack-welded it. Once tacked in place, I moved it back to the vice and slowly welded a bit at a time around the outside until fully closed:



Last thing before putting it back in the Amigo was to pump it full of fresh grease. I just got one of those pneumatic grease guns from Sears. Seemed like an impulse by at the time but it fully rocks. I just held the trigger down until new grease flowed out the bottom. The old grease that was pushed out was nasty <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" />

I couldn't believe the difference in steering! The past year or so I had blamed the shimmy I had between 30-45 mph on shot UCA bushings, figuring at 200k miles I could justify replacing them. Now that I did this, I don't think I need to. Drives completely smooth and steering is effortless. I drove down the road a couple miles and then drove all the way back with one finger <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cyclops.gif" alt="" />

What I would do differently:

While this worked exceptionally well for now and I am able to apply grease as desired, I am still left with cutting and rewelding the end if the spring fatigues more and needs either more washers added or just replaced entirely.

Were I to do this again (and I think I will because a group member has been dealing with his shot idler arm for many years now), I would do the following:

1. Cut the end off
2. Cut a piece of externally threaded pipe of the correct inside dimension to a length 1/8" shorter than the remaining bit of cap
3. Slide threaded pipe over cap and weld in place at each end
4. Get a threaded cap which can screw on to the above pipe, drill and tap it for a zerk
5. Insert appropriate number of washers as spacers and screw on threaded cap
6. Fill with grease

That would allow for now only periodic greasing; but also adding more spacers or replacing the spring as needed. I don't know that it needs to be done as you shouldn't need to add spacer very often; but its one of those "might as well do it while I'm here" kinds of things. Hopefully others can use all of the above for their own rides in the future. Aftermarket pieces are currently available; but that will not always be true. Plus, they cost money and this was practically free... and its just fun to do easy little fab projects from time to time <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Love it!

Randii

Nice job <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />. The thrust is usually what goes out, but I managed to bend the shaft on a couple idlers as well. For the ultimate beef, get a spare steering box and build a "super idler" using the sector shaft & arm with some thick wall tubing and solid bearings like the steering box does. Oh, and a big lathe...

--Dan

You can rest assured that a trip was made to TSC after work today and the lawnmower has a shiney new zerk fitting (and I now have 9 spares). <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

I do have a 'spare' steeing box laying around; but its staying a spare steering box. My OEM box has been tightened several times and its only a matter of time before it needs replaced/rebuilt. Hopefully by the time the current fix wears out, my 5.38'd, chromo axled, CTM'd, high-steered, Detroited HP44 will have moved from the barn floor to under the Amigo and it'll be a moot point. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cyclops.gif" alt="" />

I'll edit the thread title to better fit what the thread has become.

I've always thought a right-hand drive manual box would make the burliest, easiest super-beef box.

Randii