[Lowcountry]

In one particular stance, the harmonic balancer/drive pulley rubs the relay/connecting rod on one of my AWD '03s. The stance of the van is level but straddling the sidewalk where both sides of my driveway slopes away from the sidewalk (tires are on the slopes and middle of the van is over the sidewalk). It doesn't do it when the van is on any sort of level surface or on a slope, pointed up or down. There's no slop in the steering when driving. Interestingly, the van had been in the garage for some minor non-steering work and wasn't doing this beforehand but when I moved it out it started. I haven't lifted the wheels off of the ground yet but when I grab the relay rod and try to move it there is no movement in the idler arms side to side or up and down. I've attached some photos of steering components. I'm the second owner of the van so I have no idea when idler arms, etc may have been changed but to my un-educated eye things don't look too bad under there. In reading, some have said motor mounts but I do have clearance at the oil pan, albeit not much, and I do see Journeys sells motor mount shims if you have this issue. I have read where people have changed their mounts to no avail, however. I also saw a post suggesting spacers at the idler arms. Van does have a 3+1 lift with 245/75/16 tires and the torsion bars are not cranked, but again it's never done this until now in the two years since the lift and it's lightly driven as it's one of five vehicles. Thoughts where to go next?

 

[Rod's Trucks]

I think this is a case where, unfortunately, pictures do not tell much
Yes, they look pretty good, but what is more critical is what happens when thing are attempting to move due to stresses.
In the case of straddling the arched curb, it sound like the tires are each mostly on the inner edges.
I am thinking control arms bushings ( or control arm mounting bolts), and/or ball joints as being the culprits. Due to the angle of the tie rod ends ( not being horizontal with the drag link), any significant force applied from a wheel, is going to try to push the idler arm and/or pitman arm vertically, to some extent.
I would suggest having it looked at by a reputable alignment and front end shop, where they know how to stress the various components to find looseness that may be difficult to detect, or may need two sets of eyes to see the movement.
They you can decide if you want to replace the suggested parts yourself, or have it done for you.
Rod J
Issaquah, WA

 

[Mmusicman]

The connecting arm rubbing the harmonic balancer is typically due to worn motor mounts. I did the spacer under the idler arms before I fixed my mounts, but then left the spacer in place. I feel it's a poor design and this solves any future issues. I will require toe-in readjustment.

Or change the motor-mounts. Massive job on the AWD.

Take note of the oil pan sitting on the front axle tube.
This will eventually damage the pan. There should be a gap there in-between

 

[augidog]

I think this is a case where, unfortunately, pictures do not tell much

right. but, they DID tell me that your steering looks way dry and past due for a lube.

I'm going to take a moment and re-post this FYI. Notice the "wrapping" on the original link-kits and wonder why? As soon as I saw mine (and in over a decade of pro undercar work I swear I'd NEVER figured out this trick) I instantly realized it's not protection but for quick handling on the assembly line. Anyone with AWD knows these things are far more hassle than a link-kit should be...unless you pre-pack your hardware.

 

[Lowcountry]

Thanks all for the replies and suggestions. Glad the pictures did help, and I'll crawl under there this weekend and hit the zerks. Admittedly, I don't have an eye for it but am learning. Heck, I rolled my sleeves last weekend and did the LIM gasket, valve cover gaskets, and spider on this same van, and can happily report no more coolant drips nor did it throw any codes. Changed the oil after the install, took it for a long Sunday drive with teenage daughter, always valuable time these days, and changed the oil again once back. Per Mmusicman, I do have some oil pan clearance, albeit small, so I was thinking of doing the idler arm spacing first to see if that fixed it since my feeling was if I was in so far as to loosen the motor mount bolts to install Journeys' mount shims why not just replace the mounts altogether at that point, or pay someone to do it.

Thanks again everyone. I don't post a whole lot but I do read the forum daily.

 

[Lowcountry]

Finally fabricated and installed 1/4” spacers for idler arms with new longer bolts. Backed her out of the garage and over the sidewalk were it had been rubbing but no rubbing. Cleaned and hit all of the zerks on the front too as suggested by augidog. BTW, to save removing a zerk, I can if needed, does anyone know whether they’re SAE or metric and size? I’d like to convert some to 45 and 90 degrees to making lubing easier.

 

[Mmusicman]

Finally fabricated and installed 1/4” spacers for idler arms with new longer bolts.

I simply added a washer (inward side only)
Worked perfectly.