I recently replace a front idler that was making some noise- (bearings were completely gone). I bought a brand new (aftermarket) idler but I noticed that piece the idler bolts to, which is a sort of slide piece that gets pushed out by the tensioner- has some side to side play in the frame. This means the idler, and thus the track, can move side to side (closer or further from the opposite side track) by almost 1". Is this normal? There doesn't seem to be any abnormal wear and nothing appears bent but I was surprised to find this much lateral movement in the front idler?
There's going to be some movement for sure. How much? Not sure. The idler needs room to slide, while getting packed with dirt and whatnot.
You should not have that much play in it .I will check my manuals and see if give the specs .But would think a 1/8 to a 1/4 is more then enough .
I have a Takeuchi TB135 mini- ex and the angle iron track that the tensioner slides in had broken welds and had a lot of slop in the side to side travel. Not sure how yours is set up but it is worth checking as the idler probably slides in the same track as tensioner.
This is the system below. In the lower view, the idler bolts onto the front part to the left of the large spring. In the upper picture, Item 2 has almost 1" of side to side play in the frame. Nothing seems worn or broken and it definitely needs some clearance to slide, I'm just not sure if almost 1" is too much and there is no spec for that movement in the manual? Once the track is tensioned, the play is less obvious unless you pivot on hardpack. It seems like one side has more play than the other but both sides have some lateral play.