I'll be digging into this today but figure I'll put it out there for you guys. I replaced the idler arm and bushing on my '71. The old one was pretty trashed and fell right off. I did notice that there were TWO washers below the idler arm castle nut, one thin and one thick. I think the think one might have been added to take up some slop in the bushing. I didn't think much of it at the time. I replaced everything and torqued it down. Now when driving the car, the wheel doesn't want to come back to center when driving, it's like it sticks slightly to the left or right of center. I'm going to remove that second washer and retorque and see what I have. Open to suggestions. I am aware of the issues people have had with replacement idlers being tight, and that roller versions exists.
If removing second washer doesn't help, hit bushing with some silicone spray. May need two or three applications. After replacing idler arm bushings in my '64 Galaxie and having stiff issue, I've always replaced with bearing units. Never a problem.
Yeah I may be shopping for a bearing unit myself. I took it apart and checked it out and it's slightly better with some lubrication, but still sticking left or right of center.
