Pitman/Idle arm Q

[Rizzo]

How can I check those out ?

And is this correct.

Car up on stands, No load on wheels. Left and Right for tie-rod end play, In and Out ( Camber ) for bearings and lastly, Prybar up and down for ball joints.

[85crownHPP]

where are the jackstands? if they are anywhere besides under the outer end of the LCA's the ball joints are still loaded.

Play in any steering linkage will show up with the left to right wiggle. my VA state inspecion manual reccomends checking steering linkage play on our cars with the frame supported and the suspention hanging, and checking control arm ball joint play with the lower arms supported.

[Rizzo]

Right on,Thanks

[gadget73]

Play in the pitman will be seen as movement between the center link and the pitman arm. You'd see it right at the end there if the ball is wobbling in the socket. The idler you'd see there and rocking back and forth at the bushings where it bolts onto the frame bracket. Tie rod ends you'll see as left/right movement. To do ball joints, support the lower arm on a jack. It doesn't have to be fully up, just enough so that the suspension is not on the droop stops. Up/down will check the ball joints for play, though sometimes you'll also see left/right play if the joints are really bad.

[Rizzo]

Alright, thanks.

I am chasing a weird tracking issue reminiscent of my 97 with a bad pitman arm.

[gadget73]

bad idler arms cause bad tracking too. It lets the center link slop around, and makes the passenger side tire sort of toe in and toe out as the link moves about. I've seen them so loose you could spin them over your head like a noisemaker.

[Rizzo]

WOW Jeez.

Is there a tread pattern I can look for ? I have mine @ 35 like the gas door says to, But I have +/- 200 lbs in the trunk.

Car tracked funny B4 load in trunk,

[gadget73]

just check it the same way you check the pitman arm. If it moves and slops around when rocking the tires left/right, its shot. It doesn't neccesarily produce a distinct tread pattern, it just makes the car track really bad.

[Rizzo]

I decided to let the tires tell me my problem while carefully watching the camber/castor.

Passenger side tire is "in" some at the top. The tread is worn on outside and feathered on the inside.

The driver side is perfect.

I have a bearing rub rub rub....

Are these two coincidental ? Or will bearing slop allow the wheel to pitch in like that ?

Pix upon request.

[gadget73]

If the bearing is really shot, yes it could do that. Dead ball joints and/or dead control arm bushings will do that too. Support the lower control arm with a jack, and rock the tire top/bottom and see where the play is coming from. If you can't get any movement out of the tire, the control arm bushings could be wasted, or some idiot didn't tighten the lock nuts down on the adjusting cams on the upper control arm and it just moved itself. Its happened to me before, my car un-aligned itself in a parking garage because the upper arms weren't tightened after it left the alignment shop.

[Rizzo]

Thanks for all the replies mang.