ok, bear with me. The idler arm is on the passenger side correct?
and the pitman on driver side. I have a 00 4x4 f150 and the front end is clunking and have it isolated to the idler arm.Now does anybody know if these vehicles are the 2 1/2 inch or 3 1/12 inch idler arms. And is this something I can replace myself.Any special tools,pullers? etc. Thank you.

 

there is no way to know witch one you have 2 1/2 or the 3 1/2 without measuring from were it ataches on the frame with 2 3/3 inch bolts, you will need a pickle fork to get the idler arm off were it ataches to the drag link, it is easy to do 2 bolts and one nut and then you just stick the pickle fork inbetween the joint were it attaches to the draglink and hammer on it till it seperates, if you have any Q" i just did mine last weekend took my a half hour

 

thanks.I wanted to pick up the arm before I removed it.I didnt know if they had a standard size per model year.
What did you pay for the idler arm? Autozone it is priced at $50.
What does a pickle fork run? I'm guessing maybe 20 bucks.Guess I will find out.
I have a haynes service manual somewhere but am unable to find it,hence my questions on how to replace.It doesnt look very hard to do,but it never does until you start getting your hands dirty.
Anyways,I assume it is still safe to drive,I've just been hearing a clunk lately and wont have the funds for another two weeks to replace it.
Once again,thanks.

 

50$ is a good price, a pickle fork should cost like 15 bucks,you wont need the manual it is a straightfoward job very easy

 

while your at autozone they rent tools and im sure they rent pickle forks

 

or you can use a small gear puller instead of a pickle fork

 

if you haven't ever greased it,then grease it and it will fix it.mine started doin that a long time ago and i've greased mine like 3 times since i've had my truck.it now has 120,000 miles on the original idler arm

 

I thought of greasing it,but the bar that the idler arm attatches to is kinda loose when I shake it.It is fine by the pitman arm and doesnt move at all.I'm guessing that the bushing is just worn and needs replacing.Thanks for the answers fellas.