Everyone with Calminin steering.

I installed some new shocks today and noticed some play in the idler arm. With the wheel off the ground, I grabbed the tire and pushed it back and forth. There seems tom be some upward movement in the bushings. It even makes a metal clicking noise when it moves. Does anyones else's do this?

I will check mine out tomorrow. I heard someone else talk about some play in the idler arm side. They had the first batch (blue) and I believe it was attibuted to the powder coating.

Keep us posted.

BTW.. were you able to tighten the idler arm bolt?

I have one from the second batch. Yeah I cranked the nut down pretty good today. It was a little loose but it still moves and makes some noise.

I have one of the blue ones and it has been tight. A few months after installing it the idler arm was loose and so were the lock nuts on the centerlink (probably due to the powdercoat) I tightened everything and it has been good since.

During GONE I continually checked the steering system for play or loose nuts and bolts and had no issues. I must also note that we did some hard wheelin for the three days I was on the trails.

Is there any kind of torque specification or do you just crank it until the noise goes away?

I ran into this a couple weeks ago. I just got a huge breaker bar and cranked it down as hard as possible. Eventually the play went away. The bracket is a mild steel that will give before the bolt.

Mine's a little loose too...just wear from the paint and stuff. Probably something we'll just have to tighten once in awhile.

Don't forget to lube the centerlink ends once in awhile too!

Just an FYI, I believe the Calmini instructions mentioned to check ALL bolts and nuts associated with the steering install after 100 miles (something like that) or every time wheeling.

Mine was loose too. Cranked it tight and now the truck steers all over the place. Bumpsteer came back and the wheel won't return to center. I got the powdercoated setup. Going to try adding lube to the idler arm bushing and bolt. Steve at Calmini said the powder coating probably caused the slop/loose feel. Great but now what??? Do I have to take the idler arm apart and lube it everytime my steering goes south....????

I've noticed that mine has been loose a couple of times. So I've tightened it.

I have other problems though. Ever since installing the steering I have a weird 'whobble' in my the front end of my truck. I have gotten numerous alignments, and my tires balenced, and rotors machined, nothing seems to fix the problem. Also, I occasionally hear a loud 'clunk' when steering. Usually happens at rather slow speeds, either going forward or reverse. Anyone have any ideas??

Sounds like you need a new centerlink ....kidding, I know Elroy has the new Calmini SS.

I had mine for 2 months now, I haven't checked for any play with the truck raised, but I don't have any steering issues or noises to complain about.

Are you still on your original set of ball joints? Have you checked for play in the ball joints? I was getting an odd clunking and found one of my ball joints was toast.

Which ball joint? and how would I go about checking it?

thanks.

Jack up the truck and grab the wheel top and bottom. Try rocking the wheel. Look for any play in the system. On mine you could see the upper ball joint moving in ways it shouldn't.

If it's not that check the wheel bearings. Have you ever repacked the bearings? Was the retaining nut torqued correctly. Lastly check loose bolts in the front suspension.

I haven't repacked my bearings in awhile, but plan to here shortly with Chris' help. It really needs to be done.

I'll jack up the truck tonight and see what I can find out.

Thanks Steve.

I would also check your tie-rod ends for play as well. That would cause some vibration. My old worn-out centerling beat the crap out of mine. When I installed the Calmini system, it made it more obvious. It sounds like you have the same problem as I had.

You don't happen to have the part number for the tie-rod ends do you? How much do they usually run?

Xterraparts has them HERE

Or as a complete assemply here

How do you pick left or right handed threads?

good question..

They fixed it...
HERE is the right handed thread...

and HERE is the left handed thread..

Good eye Steve. :-)

On the Calmini idler arm play issue. I have the new plated version and I have the vertical play spoken of. I would suggest that getting out the super gorilla wrench is not the answer. The inner sleeve will not allow you to fix the issue by simply over tightening it. All you will do is bind up the thrust portion of the bushings and cause more wear.

Get a feeler gauge and see how much play you've got and make some shims from brass shim stock to eliminate the excess play. A little bit of play is OK. Even with the amount of vertical play that I've got it doesn't affect the play in my steering wheel, it just makes annoying noises on bumpy roads.

As far as the tie rod ends go, I think it's cheaper to by the whole assembly. I can get the complete tie rod assembly for less than a hundred bucks.

Feeler gauge? Can I use one at a strip club without getting thrown out?? JK

Seriously- I need this mod now and was wanting to know from people who've had the system for awhile.

Does it seem like it's going to hold up? I know it's hard to tell since it's a newer product, but what are your reviews.

Thanks- Just want to make sure before I drop the $500.

Not only will it hold up, but it will probably out last the truck. Also, the system is modular so individual pieces could be replaced fairly easily if necessary. Calmini really did their homework IMO and came up with a great system at a nice price.

I had this for a while. I didn't have the Calmini system (it's in the works )...but I had just installed beefier tierod adjustors. Everytime I put it in reverse or made a left turn, I heard a big clunk. I don't know how it happened, but the angle of the tie rods must have changed....because of this, the tie rod on the driver side would hit a bad weld that was in the area. I took and sanded down the bad weld with a dremmel and it hasn't made the noise since...

Get under your truck and have someone turn the wheel for you while you look. Check how close your steering gets to the undercarriage...it might just be a bad weld.

DKX01 :
when you sad your steering system hits the frame
do you mean the nut on top or the tie rod hits the frame rail ?

that would be a sign that your centerlink should have been changed a while back, and you are just asking for a broken tie rod adjuster

Sorry, I wasn't real specific, the nut on top of the tie rod end was hitting that bad weld...

Since I sanded the weld down, no more noises, my steering is a little loose (I attribute that to the lift), but I'm not all over the highway.

Yeah, this is an old thread, but I ran into this problem after ECXC and made a little video:

Idler Arm Banging

Now if you're bored: X-Treme Idler Arm Banging

I tighted as much as I could, though I'll try using a breaker bar and later an impact wrench. I just feared breaking something. Also, anyone know the exact size for this bolt is? Is it metric/standard?

Jorge,

Thanks for the video. I think that is the source of my rattle noise. I always thought it was the skid plate rattling, but maybe it is the idler arm. I only get it on bumpy roads at higer speeds.

That doesn't sound like the idler arm, since I hear this whenever I turn, even when going very slow (standing still even).

The sound you here, does it only appear when you're taking a turn on a bumpy road? Does it feel like someone is hammering the bottom of the body?

Looks like you were bored

I don't know if you guys remember me complaning of a similiar sound at ECXC. I have yet to track it down. Jorge, I have the same noise when I jerk the tire back and forth. In fact, I made a video as well and sent it to Steve at Calmini. He replaced my idler arm. The sound is still there. I'm thinking it may be the tie rod ends are bad. Mine have 93,000 miles on them and have never been replaced.

I always thought my noise from my engine skid plate banging on my front diff. It sits rignt on it. When I saw (heard) your video the noise was similar. I'll keep looking.

Jorge,

Hard to tell with the video but kind of seems like the wheel is wobbling way too much and the tie-rod ends are toast.

BTW do you have a steering stabilizer installed? If so which one? Wondering if that has ever contacted with anything? or loosen up/ could also be making noise?

Has anyone found out what size bolts those are? :rolleyes: I just found out that mine also needs to be tightened or...done something about it. Yes, I get to hear that "clunk" right now...

I just received the steering system about a week ago and plan to put it in within the next week and a half. I'll report any problems.

I think the size of the nut and bolt is 19mm, but best to check with a wrench. Beacuse we are dealing with a Japanese car, I think it will be metric. The idler arm shaft,shaft and brace came pre assembled and tightened to spec from the Calmini, so it will be plug and play for me. I also painted the steeering system with some marine/industrial paint to increase the corrosion resistance.

Wanted to chime on the "clunk"ing and Idler arm play issue.

I've been experiencing a rattle on the passenger side when I hit a speed bump or a depresion in the road when I'm traveling at 10mph or more. I checked on the play in the idler are and did see that my Calmini arm was moving up and down a little bit. I also noticed that my tie rod ends on the passenger side feel much looser than I would expect, and looser than the pitman side. I just had the Calmini system put in in the Feb/Mar timeframe and we replaced the tire-rod ends on both sides at that time. I took the suggestion of other in the thread to tighten the idler arm bolt/nut(I assume everyone was talking about the large bolt that the idler arm/assemble pivots on.) I don't know for sure what size the nut was, but we used a 1-1/8" wrench, which had a slight amount of play, but never slipped. We threw on a long pipe and proebly got the thing to turn 3/4 to 1 full turn. The up/down motion seems to have gone away or diminished, but the clunk/rattle still remains.

One other observation, with the wheel firmly planted on the ground and the ignition in the ACC position(to keep the steeling wheel from locking up) I can move the steering wheel every so lightly and hear a knocking noise. The pitman and idler arms we not moving, but I could still hear the noise. It sounded like it was coming from the steering column area.

So the questions I have are:

Do I have a bad idler arm that move more when its under "driving pressure"?

Are there any other components I can check for to see if they are causing the clunking/rattle noise while i'm moving?

If the other knocking noise I'm hearing(while not moving) is coming from the steering column, is there something I can check or adjust to stop that?

Have I totally confused you with my descriptions?

Thanks for any answers. I want to make sure I do my due-diligence before I call up Calmini to ask them.

Thanks,

Andy

2001 4WD SE
Calmini Steering
6 month old tie-rod ends
Sway-a-way torsion bars, cranked a bit.
10% stiffer Billstiens in the front.
Extended Billstiens in the back.
59,000 miles
A few deep water crossings since the steering system was installed.

Click here to see a video of my loose idler arm. I bought mine late Feburary 2003 and when I called Steve he said they had a problem with some of the early ones in the second batch. Steve sent a replacement and it seems to be fine.

Give Steve a call but have your invoice handy as they will want the info.

Richard

I'm on my second idler arm already. The brass bushing blew out on the 1st one which caused excessive play and now I'm having the same problem again. Maybe I should get rid of my 35's and run 28's. That might solve the problem... Maybe?????

You're describing the noise as a "knocking." Now is it a knocking noise or does it seem more like a grinding noise in the steering collum? Possibly , when you are turning the wheel from side to side and you hear an annoying slight grinding noise from what seems like the middle of the steering column when turning the wheel from side to side it could have something to do with a cable or another of the air bag mechanisms.

From my understanding the air bad has some sort of cable connection that can possibly cause a grinding noise when turning the wheel quickly from side to side. Since it is a safety concern , just like seat belts , take it to your dealer and have them check it out.

It could be a totally different noise/thing that you are hearing but I thought I'd trow that out as a possibility.

Tighting also goes so far. Then this will happen to your socket like it did to mine.
[img]http://www.njax.org/image/id-2464/fpThumb-large[/img]

Larger

And it still bangs, it's the bushing, not a loose bolt.

I used a 1 1/8. I think the exact size is a 28mm, but odd;ly enough, Sears does not have a 28mm socket. They couldn't even special order it because the guy claimed it's not even listed in their computers.

I just checked on line and Sears makes a 28mm 12pt half inch drive part #00944276000. They did not have a 6pt part listed

Doug

Very interesting. Thanks, I'll bother them once again.

I found it so odd that they have every metic size up for 32 yet didn't have 28. There wasn't even a space for it on the wall.

The bolt looks english to me. It has the hash marks on the head for Grade 8 instead of a metric class number. I used 1-1/8 and it seemed to fit well enough. I've been using my hi-lift hand slipped over the ratchet to tighten it down with a wrench braced against the body on the other end. My impact wrench doesn't have enough torque to do shit. From what I've been seeing the nut seems to back off over time.

Check the tierod ends that Calmini uses for the center link ends, I had at least 1/8" of vertical play in the passenger side one. I replaced them both yesterday and it's nice and quiet now. BTW I have also gone through two idler arms but I just bought a bunch of the bushings and replace them when necessary. I'm working on putting bearings in but I've been too busy to mess with it.

Todd,

What exactly am I looking for here? Are you saying the centerlink tierod will move up and down an 1/8"?

Andy

OK maybe knocking is not the best description, when I grab the steering wheel and move it back and forth ever so lightly, so little that the tires move very little or not at all, I get a slight tick-tick-tick type noise. It dosn't sound like grinding at all just a ticking or taping noise.

Now something else that I just remembered is while moving, when I turn the steering wheel to the right, I feel a little vibration and hear a little hum, but if I turn the wheel to the left I don't feel or hear it. It happens no matter which way the wheels are pointing when I start.

Andy

Ya, there was enough play that if I turned the steering wheel back and forth the centerlink end would move up and down 1/8" independantly from the idler arm. I am sure that this is where the loud popping sound was coming from.

Ahhh... So far, I've not seen the center link move up and down. I may give Steve a call at Calmini to see what he says.

Thanks!

Andy

I just called Calmini to verify the idler arm bolt size... Someone else answered my call, but as soon as he heard that I'm having a "clunk" problem, he started asking me a shipping address.

He says, "You're more than welcome to tighen the bolt, but it will develop the clunking again. So, we are sending you replacement bushings..." :rolleyes:

Just in case if anyone's wondering, 28 mm socket fits the idler arm bolt perfectly. Or, yes, 1-1/8" is the next closest.

I was never able to find 28 mm socket or open/close end wrench at Sears. I don't remember where I found my 28 mm socket, but the maker of it is: stanley, not craftsman.

Sears also sells a Metric 1/2" socket strip, runs from 20-28mm skipping 22 and 27. I don't know the part number, I'll have to dig through my toolbox to find it.