Was everything square and straight before you changed the idler arm? Did you compare the parts before installation?
Yes, it was perfect;
The mechanic that replaced the idler arm (he was doing an insurance safety inspection for me) told me that the design had changed from the original (twenty one year old) part that he removed, and that was why the steering is clocked slightly different.
Many of these replies seem to miss the fact that we are talking about a component which connects to the centerlink which is a revised design from the way the truck was built, and last aligned.
If it was on an alignment rack for a check they would have certainly noticed the wheel off center. It's part of the process. Totally common to have to correct the alignment/center wheel when replacing sloppy wore out parts and totally unreasonable to think you shouldn't have to. An alignment check is not an alignment.
I have the updated version(Moog) on my 92. The fitment was fine and it got aligned after.
You only paid for half the job, and got half the results. I think you chose who did the job and called it leeway because most shops would not have touched it without an alignment also being part of the job.
It was not on an alignment rack.
The mechanic that did this for me only has a small shop, and would have had to send it out for a proper alignment, something I did not want - in part because around here at least alignment shops don't want to touch your alignment unless new tie rods ends are installed (probably so they don't have to deal with rusted components and chance breaking anything).
To be amply clear, I never paid for an alignment, as a part of the saftey, the alignment was checked - not corrected for the different design idler arm.
You are correct, most shops would have required that more parts be replaced, and it get realigned - I was hoping to avoid this.
I could realign it myself, but what would be ALOT less work is to find an original design center link (GM or aftermarket) and re-replace it with the same design part that the truck originally had - that would be two bolts, and one nut.
That's what I'd really like to do.
You don't understand alignments.
Do you have any idea how much of an idiot keyboard warrior you come off with that statement?
I'm not twelve, but thanks for your condescension.
The idler arm--in good condition--has NOTHING to do with where the steering wheel points when the wheels are straight-ahead.
Unless the idler arm is a
revised design - and it re-clocks the center link.
I digress, we've gotten off track here...
One of the main purposes from creating this thread was to know how to identify the original part (and aftermarket parts based off the original design) from the replacement part.
I am going to have to guess that no one can tell me what precisely changed (eg: offset of joint, or length of arm) and go back to looking this up myself - too bad I just missed out on one.
