I've had a post over in the suspension forums for 11 days, and no replies, so I'm moving it over here.

Here it is.....




so my idler and pitman are shot. Any advice on how to replace them?

I assume the idler arm is basically, take down the whole thing then swap the arm itself.

I've read that I should be able to just unbolt and spin the steering box to reach the pitman arm?

And finally, does this require removing the front skid plate to get to?

Yep, drop the possum pounder(not the diff one). It is a pretty simple job really. Get a new pitman arm, idler arm and idler arm bracket(about $75 @ autozone for lifetime warranty parts). Remove the possum pounder, remove the nut from the steering box that retains the pitman arm(1 5/16 works well) then remove the 3 box mounting bolts to swing it over and get enough room to remove the pitman arm. Take the 3 bolts out that hold the idler arm bracket assembly to the frame. Take great care not to drop the bolts down the frame rail, they can be a bear to get out of there(don't ask:mad:). I personally like to pop the outer tie rod ends loose and do the work on the bench with a vise, but others do them in the truck. It's a pretty simple task as far as front end work goes, shouldn't take you more than 3 hours if you have the right tools(I do them in about an hour and 10 minutes gimped up).

nice avatar, dillweed

I was wondering about the skid plate, since nows it annoying to drop it after I did my homemade PMD cooler, the rear of it is mounted to the skid plate, but whatever, I can drop that.

So you recommend getting the idler bracket as well. Guess it doesnt hurt, I have the pitman and idler already.

The idler arm can be a true M***** F***** to get off from the pivot assembly sometimes. So I just replace them both and save myself alot of trouble.

copy that

forgot to ask....

do you pop the the pitman arm off the centerlink before you try to rotate the steering box and remove it from the steering box?

Grease them every 5000 miles with a good quality grease. That is a part of the truck most miss when they lube it at a quick shop or even a dealer. Mainly because its a bear to get in there at times.

I just did my idler arm pitman arm and it does suck but what can you do. I took the bolts out for the box and put a snap on puller on it and bam popped it off. The idler arm I took out completely and used the same puller on it and only replaced the arm. The assembly will not wear out if it's greased for a long time. It uses a top and bottm bearing so keep that part.

Four words, Pain In The A**

take a cutoff wheel and make a vertical cut on the front side ofthe pitman arm.dont go as far as to hit the splines but as close as possible and becareful of the brake line on the frame. then take an air hammer a hit it at an angle downward and off it comes.no need to remove the box and it only takes about 20 minutes to R&R the arm

Smart idea to change everything that moves while you're at it... Every damn time I try to go cheap with front-end parts and just change the one, I end up back in there 3 months later. Means pulling the 'possum-pounder' lol... I love that... again as well as everything else.

Face it... you're dirty now. Might as well stay dirty for another hour.

PS - buddy of mine is a welder. When we did his, he hot-wrenched it off, cutting a slit like above, most of the way through. It expanded while cutting, and a slap with a hammer put pieces on the cement. I worried about it, but he said "hey, it's broke now... what do I have to lose?"

Welders are so crass.

Normally I am a pretty cheap DIY person...

But on this task I chose to use a shop to do it on the '99 Burb. I think the whole job was $225. Well worth it IMHO.

The PO clearly did not lube at all though :(

I love to lube. Makes parts happy.

mmk, so pop the pitman arm socket out of the centerlink, then unbolt and roll the box and pop the pitman the rest of the way off.

how often does the steering box itself go bad? I got wiggle side to side, but the tie rods are in great shape. Looks like the idler is bad when I wiggle the wheels, so I'm doing idler/pitman/steering stabilizer

If the steering box is going south, it is a little easier to put a new pitman on a new gearbox and re install.

yeah, thats what i figure. Assuming I get paid when I'm supposed to I'm gonna pick up a box to have on standby when doing the rest

take a cutoff wheel and make a vertical cut on the front side ofthe pitman arm.dont go as far as to hit the splines but as close as possible and becareful of the brake line on the frame. then take an air hammer a hit it at an angle downward and off it comes.no need to remove the box and it only takes about 20 minutes to R&R the armAgreed, but dont ever hit it while on the steering box, you could very eaily damage your sterring box. Isnt it nice how you cant get a pitman arm puller in there. Make sure not to booger your splines up.Isnt it nice how these idiots design these things (yes i know for a reason to make it shorter, cheaper, but i want long expensive and easy to work on) if i had that idea id get smacked for it let alone put it on a vehile and repeat it thousands of times(not being able to get a pull er on it.