Steering Nightmare Help....

Pittman arm at gear box

 

Pittman arm into control valve

 

Idler arm to frame

 

Idler arm to centerlink

 

That part of your frame rail by your idler arm looks pretty 'toasty'. I'd start fixing THAT before I'd spend any money on front end parts...

 

The ball and sockets couldn't be in too bad of condition or it would have already ripped dust boot to shreds... Boot failure allows dirt, sand, water, etc to enter the valve, that contributes to wear...

The idler appears to be the biggest offender in those pict, though I'd also be worried about that frame rail...

 

Always something lol. Its not as bad as it looks. So i took the idler arm off. And the frame end actually doesnt look that bad, but the bushing is toast. Rubber fell right thru when i removed the pin. Still scratching my head as to how to get the metal part of the bushing out. (Having pilot bearing flashbacks lol)

 

I removed my bushing sleeve with the center link off the car. After I got the rubber out, I cut reliefs in the sleeve with a reciprocating saw and the used a chisel to knock the sleeve inwards where the rubber used to be. I set the cut end of the bushing on my vise anvil and gave the center link a few good taps and it pretty much popped right out. You could always use a big C-clamp press or the like.

 

Yes you have some rust that you need to address,for safety reasons! The pictures do not show me any thing serious in the parts,but you can get them checked for almost free. Those parts are really easy to replace,the draglink ,below the steering Gearmay need a special puller. As for the frame you could patch over the rust,but you need an experinced welder to do it!