Last sunday I loaded my truck and trailer with 5 -6 cords of wood, while tring to leave the grass and mud covered trail I got stuck 5 feet from the road, after floging it acouple of times in 4 low I got the front tires to the pavement, thats when the fun really begain. My front left tire was toed in over 4 inches. My tie rod looked more like a boom-a-rang. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/images/smilies/wtf1.gif What's the deal with GM using Geo metro parts on a $45k 7000lb truck. I had to call my friend to bring me his tie rod off his 02 Dmax, after installing I noticed a lot of play in the steering link. The truck is at the dealer right now heres the parts list so far, pitman arm, idler arm, tie rod and upper ball joint boot which means they have to the hole upper control arm. The dealer is now giving me a hard time about my t-bars being cranked up and says that failures like this don't happen at this kind of mileage. I know lots of people here have cranked up there t-bars for larger tires and wanted to now if any one had simular problems. Thanks Chris

This seems to be the achilles heel of these trucks..........

Look for Super diesels tie rod sleeves.

The pitman and idlers wear out prematurely on street driven trucks at stock ride height. On my site under Suspension is a pitman/idler arm support kit. It won't likely eliminate wear out, but it will certainly help the joints last longer and keep the front end tighter.

My last two trucks needed them replaced at around 50k, '96 Z71 and '98 Z71. The '98 had the t bars cranked 3 turns with 285's, the '96 was bone stock with the stock tires. That is why I figure on replacing the ones on my '04 Dmax eventually!

:eek: Is this problem mainly confined to 4X4s/bigger tires? Do I need to pay a little closer attention to the condition of idler arm, pitman arm, and stuff while I am still in warranty?
This is a stock '03 2wd with stock tires and ride height.