LUVTruck.com

Alrighty heres the deal. On my 80 LUV the passenger side pitman arm whent out and has a good amount of slop in it, so the steering has some slop in it. Now my question, could this slop in the steering lead to the upper controll arm bolts backing out over about a 300mile trip? Thanks for the imput.

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...

I would say yes. That much slop in the steering would probably produce some vibration and a lot of pull on the control arm. (from the lack of alignment) That wheel flopping back and forth could knock a lot of stuff loose.

ok thats what i was thinking. I didnt think it was the alignment shops fault becouse i have put about 3000miles on the swampers and last time i had it aligned was after i put the swampers on. SO i guess ill just have to find the trailing arm and replace it and get it realigned

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...

that arm is called the idler arm. and good luck getting it. the problem is the idler arm itself is just a chunck of metal. probably nothing wrong with it, no bushings or anything in it. so its either the steering shaft (the rod from tie rod to tie rod) the bushing for the idler arm is made in that rod. on the other end the bushing is in the idler arm bracket. which you have to replace the whole bracket. mine was bad on both ends i went to a junkyard and bought the whole rod, idler arm and bracket. my idler arm bracket has a bracket for a steering stableizer shock, i couldn't find one that had that so i had to go back with a universal stabilizer. i priced the idler arm bracket new and it was over $100. so good luck. unless something got shook loose, the idler arm itself will not effect allignment when you replace it, cause you don't mess with the tie rods. you can use a tape measure and check your allignment. if you want i'll write you up some instructions. i just alligned mine today.

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1980 chevy luv 4x4 1.8 liter
1979 luv long bed parts truck
1984 2wd isuzu pup parts truck

"A man who says it can't be done shouldn't interrupt a man doing it."

well theres slop on the idler arm. The rod itself is loose on the arm so im guessing that the bushing in the rod is bad. Ill have to look at it i guess.

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...

Its not uncommon for the idler arm shaft bushing to go. They put a zerk fitting on the top of the bracket, the the shaft is threaded at the top and threads into the bracket. The bushing is on the other side of these threads from the grease fitting. End result is that it is almost impossible to get grease down past the threads to the bushing. If its not too bad, you should be able to replace the bushing in the bracket and be pretty much tight again. If it has gone a long time it might have worn the shaft or the bracket both. I've had to replace a few bushings over the years, pretty much every LUV I've owned that I drove. Only one out of five needed a replacement shaft or housing.

The arm should be rock solid to the shaft. If its not, something has come loose, not just worn out. The arm is a taper fit to the shaft and then I believe keyed to stay put. Then the shaft turns in the housing of the bracket.

well i tryed pulling the whole assembly off today. The bolts are being stuborn so i have some liquid wrench soaking on em right now. I was planning on pulling the whole out and looking at it. Probly cleaning it and stuff. And if that dosnt work ill have to wait untill the snow thaws so i can get back to my parts truck and pull that one off. Is the assembly that same from a 4x4 to a 2wd?

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...

I was going to check that once upon a time but I never did. The bracket sure looks the same on the 2wd as it does on the 4wd, but looks can decieve. My gut says the bracket and shaft are the same, and the arm is different though. Like I said, I never did get around to trying this theory out.

I had planned to add an extra grease fitting when I rebuild the next one. Just drill a hole between the threads on the shaft and the bushing in the housing. That way it can get a nice healthy dose of grease without having to work at it all day through those threads.

well i guess ill see on monday. I should have my trooper going this weekend finally so at least ill have something to drive around in...

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...