Quote:
Originally posted by xoc:

Bushings and bearings are service parts, they are designed to wear over time. Some people are seeing accelerated wear, and others are seeing none at all. I myself am on my 2nd set of bushings, and they are worn, and the steering is sloppy. I too am looking/waiting for a solution.
I may be incorrect, but I don't think they are a standard machine bushing. I wouldn't know though, I haven't really looked into it. But I will on Monday. Interesting.

Quote:
Originally posted by xoc:
I (and others) believe a tapered roller bearing is the solution. Tapered bearings (like the wheel bearings on your Xterra) are designed to handle radial and thrust loads, that's how your wheels run true in a straight line, but also handle side loads from cornering. It remains to be seen if this will help the problem, since once again, you will have a bearing that is only being loaded in a small area, and bronze or ball or roller, they will still be subjected to wear.
That's not a bad idea either. Of course you would have to harden the bores in the idler arm, and bore them to accept the races for the bearing. That could potentially drive up the cost of the idler a good bit..

At any extent, I think that having to pay $40-50 every two or three months if you offroad hard, is what excites some of us here. That being said, I will rotate my bushings and see if it helps until new ones arrive.

Thanks Ian for allowing us to discuss this openly here.
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AQUA X