Steering Play

[WxChaser]

Over the past month or so, I've constantly had to hold my steering wheel to the right to keep the truck driving straight at any speed. I took it in for inspection to find out that they failed me for my steering mechanism... which they pointed to the front wheel bearings needing to be re-packed. Prior to that visit I was told by my mechanic to replace the idler arm bolt (I think...). He had me look at it, and told me to beat the sh** out of it with a hammer for the bolt to drop out, but not to hit where the zerk bolts are. I'm thinking I might just replace the whole idler arm, if that's what it is. If anyone's unsure as to what I'm talking about, I can try to post a picture to better explain.

 

Also noticed the driver side rear caliper is dragging the pad on the rotor. Rotor looks fine but the pad is definitely burned out. Going to get a new caliper soon and replace that along with the pads.

What I'm basically asking is, is the wheel bearing one of my issues leading to my steering problem, or could it just be the idler arm issue coupled with the caliper dragging?

[ahardb0dy]

If you need to hold the wheel to one side because the truck is pulling it could be low tire pressure, tires out of balance, tire wear (alignment), caliper sticking,

 

I don't think the wheel bearing or idler arm being bad would cause a pull, a vibration probably.

[Trogdor636]

Idler arm bolt? Maybe if a bolt had come out, its held in by 3. Have you checked for center link or tie rod end play? The box itself could even be providing the sloppy steering, it can be adjusted as well.

[ahardb0dy]

sloppy or loose steering is one issue, pulling is another

[adamzan]

Maybe the mechanic thinks the idler arm is just bolted to the center link. How it works is the center link has a ball joint that bolts to the tapered hole in the idler arm. So you don't just change the bolt you change the whole center link.

 

If the bearings are loose enough it could cause a pull...Bad idler arm will make it wander and cause the tires to wear funny.

 

In my experience I would replace the idler arm and the center link at the same time, because (at least on my rig) if the arm was loose it took out the CL or vice versa in a very short period of time. (I'm talking like 2 months of driving)

Edited June 13, 2013 by adamzan

[WxChaser]

Awesome, well I will go ahead and replace the caliper and pads, then do the CL/Idler arm stuff as well. Might repack the bearings if it's still acting funny. I doubt it's the alignment because it pulls so bad. Thanks for the help thus far!