Well I had my truck into ford for an oil change and when they looked it over, they said my idler arm has play in it. What does this mean??? How hard it is to fix??? They said I need an alignment after I fix it and they wanted $350 for it. Someone please help me....

 

If the idler is worn, you may get play in it. This will affect your toe-in, the truck may wander a bit, and can affect tire wear on the front. It's relatively easy to repair. Part is about $65 Ford, and the repair only requires a pickle fork. Easy enough to change.

 

You have directions or pictures of it. Seems like an easy job.... Want to get this done soon. Not paying Ford $350 to do it.

 

Ford Just changed mine for $150 P&L and $70 for an alignment.

 

get one with a greaseable fitting but ya 350 is wayyy too much i would think. its an easy job ... my 14 year old cousin who is just learning trucks did it on mine while i was on vacation ( i inspected of course after) but he did it right and its simple. just rent the tools at autozone.

 

Interesting! My ford dealer told me the front end didn't need a realignment when replaced.

 

It probably doesn't.

However, performing an alignment on a vehicle that doesn't need on is immensly profitable and it somewhat covers the butts of the dealer in the event your tires wear funny.

If the alignment was correct before the idler arm failed, it will still be correct after the arm is replaced.


Steve

 

Yeah. Going look around see who else can do it..... Not much time at all to do it, so maybe have to pay someone.....

 

i dont kno about other places, but sears ( i work there) in the auto shop will do an alignment for 60 bux. they set it up and everything and if everything is good and it doesnt need one u wont be charged for it. depending on how **** the manager is ( our manager is ok with it on slow days) they will let u get an alignment check ( even if it needs it u can say no and its free) we also have to give the paper work to show what the numbers for toe and all that were and what spec is. the ones that are out of spec should be highlighted ( depending on the tech) or they will have a * that the printer puts on it. that means that needs to be adjusted. just a thought if u wanted to see if it needs it or not.

 

I had new lower ball joints installed along with the idler arm and also new front brake pads.

idler arm. $150
ball joints. $500
front brake pads $100 ( and turn rotors )
alignment $ 70
TOTAL $888

Smile on dealerships face... $PRICELESS$

 

Yeah. I am back up at school, so I am going to call around getting prices and see who does it the cheapest.