Hey Patch,

Did you get the pictures I sent?
Do any of the parts look like what was replaced on your Barth.

Jim

Actually no.... But I did see the same photos that Bill NY posted... I'm having a little trouble with orientation but it appears to me to be your upper ball joints versus idler arm as the idler arm is on the opposite side of the drag link as the pittman arm (from the steering box). The tie rod ends are at the ends of the drag link which does'nt appear to be what you are pointing at... Ball joints will normally (moreso anyway) apperar to allow the wheel (off the ground) to move (wiggle) top to bottom whereas the idler arm/pittman arm and tie-rod end joints will be more pronounced while wiggling the wheel left and right... It will be much more helpful to have someone else wiggle the wheel while you observe whats actually moving. Either way when you determine and replace the worn parts you will need a front end allignment... I know Chris at MCR will have the parts in stock but if you cant reach him maybe someone else might have those parts? If you know of a good truck mechanic he may be able to help you determine which parts are worn and help you to locate replacements... Whatever happens please post the part numbers here for future reference to all us other MCC chassis owners.... And as always I will redact this opinion to Bill NY's vastly more experienced opinion if he decides to offer it. And maybe he has a basic diagram, that he could post, to help us better understabd the basic concepts of independant front suspension...

Here is the email and the 4 photos again.

This stared out in another thread (king pins (?)) and, for some reason, has moved to here.

quote:

Here are four photos at one angle to the left and two at an angle from the right of the item that has play in it.

Notice the bolt which has a cotter pin in it and goes thru a welded plate to the frame. This is what has play in it.

The mechanic called it a link, maybe that is a slang word for it, I don't know.

In fact I don't know how to send photos yet to the Barth site-- I'm not real good at this PC stuff other than to read & send messages and to search the web.
Barb is the one who can do that. I took the pictures, she put them into her computer & sent them to me. She also printed the pictures out so I could check with the mechanic that I took a picture of the right thing.

Uhoh, after looking at the pics again, and reading you original message, are you reffering to the part that has NO dust boot and/or grease fitting (and I wonder why not)? I may have mislead you as I saw the ball joint as the culprit... Man, now I gotta go crawl under mine just to look at it... I do believe that part is the idler arm, which supports the opposite end of the drag link, then the pittman arm which was bad on mine.. That part may very well be a MCC only part (I'm not used to truck suspensions at all)
A little help here Bill NY? LOL

I'm going to go with Idler Arm Links too... It also looks like, based on the coloring of the item, that these might have been replaced at one time.

Let me know what you find out Jim

OK, heres what I saw under mine... There ARE two idler arms on the drag link in the MCC as the pittman arm is bout 4' forward of the drag link.. There IS a grease fitting on them but it is about midway between the top and the bottom, which leads me to believe that they mave have replaceable bushings in the top and bottom, and I certainly hope so because that looks like a very expensive part. I believe it was about $500 for the pittman arm (just the part) and theese are alot more involved. Also I would reccommend doing them BOTH at the same time... Let us know if they are rebuildable rather then replacing them....

Bill, Patch,

Yes! that's the part in question, the one with the grease fitting half way up on it. You can see the steering stop to the right of it.
It would be great if there were replaceable bushings for them (help cut the cost down-maybe).
Also glad to know it is known by idler arm links.
The mechanic did say after the work was finished he would have to do a front end allignment.

Now I hope someone answers the phone at MCR soon so I can get this job completed,

I forgot to mention the mechanic said since I have a safe-t-steer(I think that's the name)this may have been helping in not noticing the early stages of drift.

Jim

It looks like this idler will have roller bearings in the top and bottom. If you remove the link bolt you should be able to press out the bearings. They will have a number stamped or etched on the race which is a national standard> I would call a Timken Bearing dealer and give them the number and you will get the new bearings direct. I suspect you may have to replace the bolt as well and that will likely be a precision part that is unique to MCC. Beware of bearings like National, and some other brands because they package open source Chinese bearings that are substandard. There are a number of brands that are repackaging outfits rather than manufacturers and bearing dealers can tell you which are best.

Tom K,

Thanks for the info. this should help when I get through to MCR.
I will be taking that info to the mechanic and see what he says about replacing bearings/bushings.
I sincerely hope you are right in that maybe I don't need the whole part and just bearings and a new bolt -- I pray that's it.

Thanks again,
Jim

Go to king pins(?) in the TECH Forum for an update.
No it's NOT KING PINS it is the idler arm links
and they can be re-sleeved.

Jim