Still have play in idler arm assembly after new bushings.

[per eriksson]

I have recently replaced the bushings for the idler arm in the search for a small but irritating steering "defect".

today i had the car up on jacks while putting summer rims on and noticed that on the right side I can move the wheel fore and aft while this can't be done on the left side wheel.

The only thing I can see or feel that causes this is that the idler arm moves radially in it's bushing allowing it's tip moving up and down when jerking on the right side wheel.

How much movement is allowed here?
My feel is that it should be almost rock solid as the steering box is.

The bushing were not bought from a dealer but had the same manufacturer as some other parts I bought there another time.

[per eriksson]

Another thing I wonder is if there should be some type of thick washer between the idler arm and top bushing.

My car only had the thin "hat" washer 2mm thick that acts a cover but in the Haynes manual there is also a thicker (~10-15mm) washer shown there.

What's the deal here?

[Arthur Dalton]

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No more than .5mm with moderate force.

[per eriksson]

Then I'm waaaaaaaaay out of spec, grabbed a helper and measured it to about 5mm wiggle on the wheels outer perimeter which translates to about 3 mm on the idler arm.
This is achived with very moderate force and the same done on the drivers side produces no visible play whatsoever.

Like the cheap doitallbymyself type I am I'm gonna turn me some new bushings in teflon with the inner sleeve from the old ones as the base at work tomorrow.

I'll report back with my experimental results.:p

[Arthur Dalton]

You should test the arm at the point that the drag link connects
to it.
Turning wheels is measuring total tie rod/ drag link wear.
The book ask that the up/down measurement be done from the chassis floor for the test.
New OEM idle bushing kit [ bolt included] is short $$.
If you have play out of spec with a new one, I would recommend a different brand,,,,