Replacing idler and pitman arm.
 

Just took my 2001 f150 supercrew 4x4 to firestone for an alignment and was advised that i need to replace my right idler arm and pitman arm, firstone is trying to charge me 464.98 for a lower right ball joint replacement and 261.49 for the right idler arm and pitman arm replacement, how difficult is it to replace these parts and are any special tools needed for a Ford? Thanks in advance,

I did both sides with new upper control arms (includes new ball joints), lower ball joints, caster camber bolts, half shaft axle seals and hub seals, inner tierod, outer tierod, idler arm and pitman arm for $650 total. All Moog parts.

Is is difficult? Depends on your ability and tools. You need a front end service kit and ball joint kit (can rent both for free) and an impact gun/compressor. You could do it by hand, but you'll hate life pressing the old ball joints out with a wrench. It's all grunt work, the hardest part was loosening the steering box to get clearance for the pitman arm to come off. Those bolts have red locktite on them and they are a bear to remove.

If you've never done it before and have the tools, you can knock it out in a weekend. If you've been in there before, it's a day or less. You'll need an alignment when it's reassembled.

Replacing the pitman arm sucks.

does it??? F**k

damn i have to fix my right one, started to make popping noised, I have the tools just have never done it before any write up on here.

I am just finishing up rebuilding the front suspension on my 2001 F150 SuperCab. TieRods, Upper Control Arms, Lower Ball Joints, Lower Control Arm Bushings, Idler Arm, Pitman Arm, Shocks, Sway bar bushings and End links.

My compressor and air ratchet were too weak to pull the pitman arm. Had my neighbor come over and we used his. Had to run about 150FT of air hose, powerful ratchet, and a hammer to get it off.

Took a torch and air hammer to get the torsion bars out.

The rented ball joint kit was too small to put the ball joints back in and too small to get the bushings out of the control arm. Had to torch the bushings out and borrow a better ball joint press.

At this point, I am hoping I didn't screw it up. But, it's going back together well.

i Guess this is more difficult then i thought. maybe i should do the ball joint and pay to have my pitman arm and idler arm replaced.

anyone have a good write up on replacing the pitman arm. I dont want to jump into it to this repair blind.

I can't remember if I pulled the arm before or after I loosened the steering box, but you can't pull the arm completely from the splined shaft without loosening the bolts holding the box to the frame. You don't have to pull the bolts all the way out, they are long and just backing them out will give up room.

My pitman arm came off the shaft just fine and I'm in the rust belt- I used a pitman arm puller in my front end service kit (KD Tools 41690) and my IR Thunder Gun to pull it. I used the nut and the impact gun to put the new one back on. The bolts holding the steering box have red locktite, so it feels like the bolts are going to strip or break, but they all loosened up and I pulled one all the way out to check the threads and they were fine. You should probably pull all of them one by one and put new locktite on there, but I just cranked em down tight and called it good. No problems in 50K miles since. Don't forget a new cotter pin.

As for the ball joint replacement and the right sized cups- go behind the counter at the parts store and find the biggest front ball joint service kit they have. They typically have more than one type of tool kit, and they always grab the little one with the fewest amount of cup sizes. Get the bigger one (ie more tools in the kit, not larger tools) and it should work.

I didn't mess with the LCAs or torsion bars.

You'll have to get the tie rods out of the way, and pull the idler arm and drag link first. You could probably leave all that and still get to it, but just take it all out and replace the idler and tie rods. Do the arm last once you get the drag link out of the way. It's not hard to do, it's just a bunch of grunt work.

Pitman arm can be tough if you've never done one before. It's not too bad once you know all the tricks and ways to help getting one off even if the puller won't get it off

I don't see why people are having issues getting the arm off. Is it rust? Is the press fit too tight and it just won't budge? Mine came off with a standard pitman arm puller and an impact gun no problem. That was after 13 years of daily driving and salty winters.

i finally did it, it took me about 6.5 hours lol but it is good now

Good to hear. Probably drives a bit better now?

What was the worst part? lol