Hey folks: beginning my winter project - front end rebuild, and I'm in the middle of dropping all the steering components. I've seen differing opinions on how to deal with the idler arm, leave it bolted to the frame and disconnect the relay rod from the socket, or un-bolt it from the frame and drop it all as a unit. What would the experienced mechanic do? If I go the way of un-bolting it, how do I prevent the shorter bolt (upper one I think) from falling into the frame? I'm sure I'll have plenty of other reasons to use nasty words and throw tools. Thanks, Jim

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You're prolly gonna want to replace the idler arm anyway, if rebuilding the front end. Take it all down as one unit, imo. Use a scrap of paper inside a socket to hold the nut/bolt in the socket when removing/installing it. 

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Joel Adams
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