How tight is idler arm supposed to fit in bushing?

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   Did some work to the AMX suspension today. I had an NOS Idler arm laying around and decided to replace the OE piece. Used a LONG breaker bar to get the Bushing nut off-man that thing was tight made a loud crack when it came loose, removed the idler arm assembley off the frame.  When I removed the rod (the fixed part the bolts to the frame rail) I saw a 1/16" grove about 2" long along the section of the rod that slips into the idler arm bushing and some uneven wear along the rod.  How tight is that rod supposed to fit in the fron idler arm  bushing? It will slide in the new bushing with about an 1/8" of play back and forth. Once the nut is tightened  it cant be moved by hand. Is that normal spec?
thanks

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348AMX Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List AMC Addicted Joined: Jul/03/2007 Location: Massachusetts Status: Offline Points: 4165	Post Options Post Reply Quote 348AMX Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: How tight is idler arm supposed to fit in bushing? Posted: Jul/12/2007 at 10:16am
	Did some work to the AMX suspension today. I had an NOS Idler arm laying around and decided to replace the OE piece. Used a LONG breaker bar to get the Bushing nut off-man that thing was tight made a loud crack when it came loose, removed the idler arm assembley off the frame. When I removed the rod (the fixed part the bolts to the frame rail) I saw a 1/16" grove about 2" long along the section of the rod that slips into the idler arm bushing and some uneven wear along the rod. How tight is that rod supposed to fit in the fron idler arm bushing? It will slide in the new bushing with about an 1/8" of play back and forth. Once the nut is tightened it cant be moved by hand. Is that normal spec? thanks

Steve_P Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List AMC Addicted Charter Member Joined: Jun/28/2007 Status: Offline Points: 3806	Post Options Post Reply Quote Steve_P Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Jul/12/2007 at 10:51pm
	it's a slip fit but that sounds too loose. If you want to change it, i'm sure I have some nice used bkts with no damage but it will be a few weeks until I can check.

348AMX Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List AMC Addicted Joined: Jul/03/2007 Location: Massachusetts Status: Offline Points: 4165	Post Options Post Reply Quote 348AMX Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Jul/13/2007 at 3:15pm
	Sure let me know when you find one. The bracket rod isnt perfectly cylindrical it has some wavy looking wear to it, so it could be worn out of spec, its the only piece in the suspension that hasnt been replaced and the rest of the parts were pretty worn so it wont surprise me if this one is junk, but the steering was tight with it, but that means it might be even tighter with a better one.