I am still not happy with the idler arm. I installed a Dana part several years ago, and it is nowhere near as stout as the one that was in there before. It is just weak. The center tube is full height of the bolt, but the arm itself, and the bearing is not as tall. The space is filled up by a foam cushion. I tried several suppliers, and they all look the same now. Can anyone recommend a good maker of these parts? This is a wide A body suspension, with all big bolt front end parts, including the drag link, pittman, and idler.

One complicating issue, the wheels on the car are aftermarket wheels, with a 1/2" wider track on each side. The stock back spacing is 4 1/4" and these wheels are 3 3/4" which gives a total of 1" wider. This puts a little more stress on the front end, and makes the load on the idler a little greater than original. It feels like maybe when under stress the front end is starting to develope a little too much toe in because of the flex in the idler. I have driven cars with too much toe in, and they feel real twitchy, and unpredictable. This car feels fine until you push it, and then.....who knows, maybe it is the rear spring set up as in my other post. Thanks for giving this your thought, and consideration. If I could put the old part back in I would. I have changed everything over to the big bolt pattern parts to make the front end...,ha, ha,... stiffer. Go figure.Sam

PS, will a B body part fit here, and would it be stiffer?

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Nowtimes, more often than not, the only difference among different brands of suspension parts for our old cars is...

...the box. For low-volume parts, usually just one maker still makes them, and the others just buy and rebox. That's better than the alternative (no real makers still making them, and instead all makers buying copycat trash from China and foisting it off on us). Don't believe a B-body arm will fit, no.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Thank you for your reply to my question about backspacing and tire size. Have you looked at the Moog idler arm? I have not checked but for some applications they still make the standard replacement part and an improved version. I believe they are still the best but like most things these days quality is not what it used to be. I take it you like to corner pretty hard? I have owned a few cars that were set up for handling, really all out street handling, and the idler arms always took a beating. Rough canyon roads really make it worse. This is a problem with GM cars as well, and some of the idlers are pretty beefy on the frame end. I have had TRW idlers wear out in just over 10,000 miles, the same with a Mcquay-Norris (or is it Norris - Mcquay) but the moog ones would at least go 30,000. With more "normal" driving they last a long time.

I did line a delrin replacement for the whole bearing and I have it installed on my car for more than a year W/O increased noise or stress. I did have to replace the crappy bearings and/or idler arm every 3 months or so with stock replacements! annoying! I do have increased stress in my front end due to wider tires and less backspacing (6" rim and 3" basckspacing wich is 1" wider on each side than my car's original setup)

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Juan Ignacio Caino

Please use e-mail button istead of PM'ing. I do log in sometimes but I'll be answering quicker thru e-mail.

I can't recommend parts, per se, but I just put a Moog on mine and it looked as strong as what was on it. There was a foam washer in the box, but there was no comparable part on the existing installation and no obvious place for it. Now it's laying out under my shade tree.

I torqued it according to the spec in the box and it seemed to go great.

Oh, I did see one difference. The Moog had grease fittings.

The foam washer is just a dust seal. It goes on the stud on the frame end of the idler.

I'm not too much into recommending parts, either; but I've never had a problem with Moog...

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