1997-2003 F150 idler arm

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Okay I have to ask. My 01 F150 is now going on its 7th idler arm since i have owned it (2008). 160k miles with a 16 mile daily commute (6 miles gravel with 2 of those miles on rough section line road.

I am getting tired of replacing these, it is [censored] near ever year. The rest of the steering is factory and still tight...but I might as well change the steering idler ever oil change the way it is going. The truck has no lift...I run 285/70/17 trail type tires(KANATI TRAIL HOG)...not overly aggressive, and not much bigger than stock. The truck has new upper and lower ball joints, upper control arms, wheel bearings, CVs, and sway bar links..And was just aligned 4 months ago with no issues.

Since I have owned the truck, only two years of use (2011-2012) were not on any gravel roads.

I have used Motorcraft and Moog. The ball joints were replaced in 2010 with Moogs - both the idler and ball joints greased once a month.

The rest of the steering is holding up perfect...why am I eating these idlers?

EDIT: I should point out...the section line is a bit rought but I could driver my Grand Prix down it if i wanted without issue...not that bad. It is just a good road to take my dog for his run.
 
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How are they failing?
Are you following installation directions (proper torque)?

I don't see new tie rods on your list...
 
Originally Posted By: Ramblejam
I don't see new tie rods on your list...



Why replace when there is zero play in them? They are just as tight as new ones. Boots are good and with a new idler it aligns perfect.

The joint wears out and gives excessive play in the passenger side tire. Jack it up and the drivers side is perfectly tight. The passenger side has a ton of play. Install a new idler and everything is back where it should be.

All the play is always in the idler.
 
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Originally Posted By: Brent_G
Okay I have to ask. My 01 F150 is now going on its 7th idler arm since i have owned it (2008).

....The rest of the steering is factory and still tight...



I think this may be your issue. Though it appears to be tight, since it is 14 years old it may need to be replaced. Apparently the idler arm is the weakest link, and vibration/motion from other components is causing the failure.

IMO of course....


edit: since it's passenger side, I'd look at everything on that side first, including the ball joints.
 
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Have you asked around to see if other people with similar trucks are having this issue?
 
Originally Posted By: zrxkawboy
Have you asked around to see if other people with similar trucks are having this issue?


or looked at other same make trucks, maybe the factory located it wrong
 
I used to own a 2002 F150 and in 150k miles and 13 years of daily driving, never had to replace the Pittman or idler arm.

I did overhaul the front suspension at 100k for the heck of it, but that was just upper and lower ball joints, tie rod ends, alignment cams, and wheel bearings.

Is yours lifted in any way or do the parts articulate any more than factory specs? These trucks are solid as [censored] so I can't see why you would be wearing it down so quickly.

How fast do you drive down the road and does it cause the suspension to bottom out?

Is the steering rack original? Maybe it was replaced before you owned it and the wrong one was put in?
 
Owned two of those vintage, drove one to 163,000 miles, the other to 194,000 miles, never replaced an idler arm. Tie rods though were done on both, and a pitman arm on the higher mileage one.

I'd be looking at the tie rods and center link for wear.
 
Originally Posted By: Brent_G
My 01 F150 is now going on its 7th idler arm since i have owned it (2008).


This is interesting. I have a '97 F250 and I've owned it for about 10 years and it currently has about 250K miles. According to RockAuto, both of our trucks take the same idler arm. In the time that I've owned my truck, I've put about 150K miles on it and I replaced the idler arm about two years ago. I would normally use a Motorcraft or Moog, but I put on a replacement from O'Reillys because it was a Sunday afternoon repair and they assured me that they had it on hand. It has held up fine. The part that I took off was the Ford original factory part. I haven't seen your truck, but my theory is something else isn't right.
 
Originally Posted By: Kruse
Originally Posted By: Brent_G
My 01 F150 is now going on its 7th idler arm since i have owned it (2008).


This is interesting. I have a '97 F250 and I've owned it for about 10 years and it currently has about 250K miles. According to RockAuto, both of our trucks take the same idler arm. In the time that I've owned my truck, I've put about 150K miles on it and I replaced the idler arm about two years ago. I would normally use a Motorcraft or Moog, but I put on a replacement from O'Reillys because it was a Sunday afternoon repair and they assured me that they had it on hand. It has held up fine. The part that I took off was the Ford original factory part. I haven't seen your truck, but my theory is something else isn't right.


These are the years where it gets really murky with Ford trucks. There was a F150HD and a F250LD which had 7 lug wheels and the F150 front suspension. Normally the F250 and up trucks had a twin I-beam if they were 2WD or monobeam if they were 4wd or over a certain GVWR. The trucks with that style suspension don't use an idler arm.
 
IIRC, '97 was the new F150, but the F250 and F350 were still the old bodystyle. Then in '98 they dropped the F250 and F350 completely so they came up with the F150HD and called it a F250. Then the Super Duty came out in '99, so the F150/250 went back to being a F150HD or F150 7700.
 
Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
IIRC, '97 was the new F150, but the F250 and F350 were still the old bodystyle. Then in '98 they dropped the F250 and F350 completely so they came up with the F150HD and called it a F250. Then the Super Duty came out in '99, so the F150/250 went back to being a F150HD or F150 7700.


They had the light duty 7-lug F-250 in 1997 as well. It came out alongside, or within months of the rounded new body style of F-150. The 1997 F-150s were out in early 1996, like around March or April.

But technically, for the 1998 model year, the light duty 7 lug "F-250" was the most heavy duty Ford pickup. Of course, there was enough production of old body style trucks through 1997 to last until Super Duty production ramped up in early 1998 for the 1999 model year.
 
Okay, that makes sense. I knew they were early in the model year.
Looking up 1997 F250s, I see that they added "Heavy Duty" to the badge. That was how they differentiated the light duty F150/250 from the heavier old style trucks fro that one year.
 
Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
Okay, that makes sense. I knew they were early in the model year.
Looking up 1997 F250s, I see that they added "Heavy Duty" to the badge. That was how they differentiated the light duty F150/250 from the heavier old style trucks fro that one year.


Like I said, it is confusing. That is why I always get a VIN from a customer. It is amazing how many people don't know what year their vehicle is.
 
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Originally Posted By: Kruse
Originally Posted By: Brent_G
My 01 F150 is now going on its 7th idler arm since i have owned it (2008).


This is interesting. I have a '97 F250 and I've owned it for about 10 years and it currently has about 250K miles. According to RockAuto, both of our trucks take the same idler arm. In the time that I've owned my truck, I've put about 150K miles on it and I replaced the idler arm about two years ago. I would normally use a Motorcraft or Moog, but I put on a replacement from O'Reillys because it was a Sunday afternoon repair and they assured me that they had it on hand. It has held up fine. The part that I took off was the Ford original factory part. I haven't seen your truck, but my theory is something else isn't right.


These are the years where it gets really murky with Ford trucks. There was a F150HD and a F250LD which had 7 lug wheels and the F150 front suspension. Normally the F250 and up trucks had a twin I-beam if they were 2WD or monobeam if they were 4wd or over a certain GVWR. The trucks with that style suspension don't use an idler arm.


My truck is the light-duty F250 with the 7 lug wheels and the 5.4 engine. I can assure you I know the difference between the various F250 trucks that Ford manufactured for a few years. I can also assure you it has an idler arm or I wouldn't have posted to tell the OP that it has.
 
Originally Posted By: Kruse
My truck is the light-duty F250 with the 7 lug wheels and the 5.4 engine. I can assure you I know the difference between the various F250 trucks that Ford manufactured for a few years. I can also assure you it has an idler arm or I wouldn't have posted to tell the OP that it has.


My comment wasn't direct at you, I was just saying that MOST people that have these trucks don't know what they have. The mid year changes can get really confusing to the person behind the counter who is presented with a ton of options and the customer saying we are morons because our magic 8 ball can't tell what their truck was built with.
 
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