Posted: 3/29/2005 1:02:17 PM EDT
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Wife just took the gmc safari to get an alignment. They told her that it needed new" idle arms" or it would not hold an alignment. They want $410 for that +alignment. I'm not in town and have no idea what the hell they are telling her. Help needed. |
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Idler arms are part of the steering linkage. I think the one on my Dodge cost about $120. I only had one. You may have two, but most have one. My advice - go to Autozone and buy the part yourself. They are surely chargin horrendous markup on the part. That way, you have to pay them for the alignment (varies) plus labor to instal the idler arm (Maybe $50) |
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An idler arm should cost you approx $45, and only takes 15 minutes to install... Only two bolts hold it to the frame, and a ball socket passes through your center link, held together with one castle nut. Not a big deal at all to replace. On a difficulty scale of 1-10, I'd say it's a 2. Your steering linkage is "held up" at each end. One end actually moves the linkage via the Pitman arm (attached to the pitman shaft in the steering box), the other end is just "held up" by the idler arm. Not an uncommon problem, so nothing to panic about. You can replace it in your driveway, and don't even need a jack to do it. All you need is a socket set, a couple wrenches, and a hammer. |
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I dunno... I did one on my 80Chevy pickup and it was $18 for the part. I cannot imagine an idler arm for a Safari being THAT expensive. go for a second opinion, or at least get another estimate ETA I dont know your year, and if AWD or anything, but I did a search, and seen they range from $35 to $50 each |
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your van needs the set, the safarivan has more of a steering setup than a typical gm car but you can do them yourself and may not need an alognment when done you need a couple wrenches, and an appropriate sized(cant recall the size) maybee 17 or 18 mm deep socket done in the driveway.... |
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You really should already have at least a cheap manual for this auto. Most steering and suspension parts need a good whack with a hammer or mallot to loosen them but you should only do so when you know that's what you need to do. Take your other auto and drive to the store and buy a $10 manual, jeez. |
Thankssssss 
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No...no...no...no. Trust me. First off. If she can wait a few days till you get back without driving then do so. Get a second opinion when you get home. Idler arms, while basically easy, are a dirty job. Think laying on your back for an hour or two getting all greasy and shit unsure of wtf you are doing. And even after/if you do get it replaced it will still need to be aligned which is IMPOSSIBLE for you to do. So get the second opinion. I am guessing a QUALITY shop will run you about $80 for the parts, $120 in labor, and $70 in alignment. This way you will also get a warranty and you will be helping the American economy. And you can watch someone ELSE get dirty while you drink coffee in the lounge or go to the bar and have a beer. After all, wife ain't there right? Check out Les Schwab Tires. Sgtar15 |
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Just sent you an IM mrclean... Smack the centerlink directly alongside where the idler arm stud goes through. The shock from the hammer will free it from it's tapered fit. Don't beat on the threads, it'll never come off. You 'gotta smack it on the centerlink. Trust me, it will bust apart if you hit it hard enough. |
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I do at least one GM idler arm a week. It is a easy repair. Both bolts and the center link need an 18mm wrench/socket/whatever. If you can't pop it apart by smacking it with a hammer (It takes awhile to get the knack for this) then get a ball joint separator (AKA pickle fork) and use it to pop it apart. Order of repair; 1. remove castle nut from center link/idler arm end. 2. separate idler arm from center link using hammer bash or pickle fork method. 3. Remove both bolts holding idler to frame 4. Place new idler arm on center link and start new castle nut by hand. 5. Tighten castle nut down. This is the hardest part, the tapered shaft must not turn when tightening castle nut or.. well, it won't tighten down. a. The way I do this is place the idler arm on the tapered shaft, then pull down on the end of the idler arm opposite from the center link, this will cause it to bind in place and thus allows you to apply torque without the tapered shaft turning. 6. Place the upper part of the idler arm in place, hand start both frame bolts then torque down nice a hard. 7. Wash hands awhile yelling "Hey woman! get me a sammich and another beer!!!! 8. Bask in the glory that is being a real man, complete with greasy fingernails, cold beer, sammich and pissed off wife. |
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Astro/Safari vans use a dual idler setup Good quality Idler arm's are $70-100 each . Book time is around 2 hrs + alignment . Depending on the shop's labor rate , $410 might not be out of line . I don’t have access to my estimating program with current parts prices here at home , so I could be off a few dollars , but I bet I'm pretty close . You could do the arm's yourself since it's pretty much a nut & Bolt job , but the alignment needs to go on the rack . ETA I should include this warning . There are two thing on a vehicle that you shouldn't fuck with if you have any doubts in your ability . That’s Steering & Brakes , If you lose an idler arm on that dual setup , you go from being a driver to being a passenger  |
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+1 on getting a second opinion. I once took a car to Sears for a front end alignment and they quoted a really high cost and lots of parts. I went to Firestone and payed far less not requiring any of the massive list of parts quoted by Sears. YMMV. edit: Never mind, I'm too slow. |
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What do you mean you CANNOT align the vehicle? Hell, we do it every weekend to the race car. We use 4 jack stands, 2 pieces of string and a tape measure. We get the same results as the guy with the 4 scale pads and computor controlled laser alignment machine that the rich mope paid $10,000 for!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!! Let's buy new tires for each session with the money we saved! |
Tires plus chain. Worse was when she called firestone to ask their price and they wanted to know what the other guys quoted. She told them to give her theirs first. They said $475. She then told them it was higher by about $60. They then tell her ohh well we can do it for $375. Rat bastards. |