Front Suspension wear question

[Whitetail Addict]

Recently I have been noticing some odd tire wear on the two front tires of my truck...the left one is choppy on the inside, the right choppy on the outside.

I can move the wheels a good bit and notice play in the idler and pitman (centerlink rotates)...I had a mechanic diagnose a bad idler but the pitman was alright. I thought the pitman was the worse of the two when I inspected it.

The truck also wonders a bit when going down the road...and has a little play in the steering.

Anybody have any input?

 

[Whitetail Addict]

No one knows the symptoms of a worn idler arm?

I was just trying to get some more opinions before I throw parts at it.

 

[sparepartsracing]

whats the mileage on the truck?

 

[Whitetail Addict]

129k...

 

[sparepartsracing]

steering box could be taking a shit

 

[DAVe3283]

I had the same symptoms (worn tire edges, loose steering, wandering), and 2 days ago my pitman arm snapped. Thank God I wasn't going very fast, because when that happens you have NO steering at all.

Honestly, if your idler is worn, so is your pitman. A fatigued/flexing pitman arm would cause all the symptoms you describe. The pitman arm is relatively cheap (cheaper than the tow bill from the middle of nowhere, ask me how I know), so I'd put a new one on while you are in there.

However, as sparepartsracing says, your steering box could also be going out, but that would only cause the wandering and slop, not the wear on the edges of the tires. So at the very least, you should replace the idler and pitman arm, and see how it drives.

Good luck!

 

[sparepartsracing]

always start with the cheaper things:thumb:

 

[JIA's Dad]

Both of those listed in posts above plus possibly worn lower ball joints.

 

[Whitetail Addict]

Thanks guys.

Thats honestly what I was thinking - the pitman arm was showing the most wear/movement when I checked it. I just didn't want to blindly throw parts at it without getting some handle on similar symptoms.

DAVe, I definitely don't want the pitman arm to snap...I don't drive slow enough for that to end well

 

[DougSmith]

I agree, I had both of my pitman and idler replaced at 115,000. Also, check your front hubs, if they are going bad, it can wear tires odd too. Stock ones only go about 70 to 100,000 miles safely then need replaced.

 

[Whitetail Addict]

Thanks man.

I checked both hub assemblies (both were replaced ~73K) and they are both tight...they were the first things I thought of too.

 

[sparepartsracing]

try running 40 lbs in all of them 50 is to high i think personally, like riding boulders

 

[Whitetail Addict]

I keep the front at 55psi (door sticker) and the rear at 40-45psi if I'm unloaded. Trailering I put the rear at 70psi, or there about, depending on the load.

The dealer I get parts from is about 35 miles away and I haven't had time to get the parts...they did say there are two different idlers and they stock both.