I did a search and found a couple of threads on this issue before, but I just wanted to get more of a definite answer than what has been provided before and share my experience..

I have about 35-40 degrees of play in my steering wheel before it makes contact to turn the wheels. I replaced the inner and outer tie rods and idler arm last night and the ball joints are relatively new. I bought a pitman arm and expect to replace it along with the control arm upper and lower bushing. I didn't gain any tightness after my 4 hours of work last night, but I guess every little bit adds up in the end. So could the play in the steering wheel be from my steering gear box or can a pitman arm and bushing really throw it THAT far out of wack?!

Edit: Forgot to mention its a 1994 4.3l Vortec CPI "w" 4x4

 

Im in the same boat as you. all my tie rods are good,new idler arm. All i have left is the pittman. I was told these trucks have ragjoints on the steering shaft right before the steering box. If you wanna pull the round plastic cover off the back of the steering box and see if you have one let us know.

 

i had everything replaced in mine accept the gear box and the rag joint was the only thing that made any difference. i still have a little play but im assuming its from the gear box. but yes, the rag joint will cause alot of play if its worn out. its pretty easy to do yourself but the compression rivets were a big PITA to get get out. nothing a little persuasion from a grinder or drill bit wont handle tho lol

 

You're not alone, the pitman arm design on these is notorious for having a bit of slop. Even with everything in top shape, there can be a little play.

 

thanks!! i never thought of the rag joint.. ive replaced EVERYTHING but the control arms and the steering column pretty much and i still have quite a bit of play. im goin to get a new rag joint this weekend and put it on. hopefully ill finally have some legit tightening in my steering.

 

I've done both the rag joint swap and the u-joint swap and I much prefer the U-joint. You can either pull the correct shaft from a Jeep Cherokee or buy a Flaming River u-joint. I got the Flaming River joint and I absolutely love it. It's wonderful and made the steering very precise.

Before you actually replace the joint you should check to see how the current joint is doing. Have someone turn the wheel while you look at the rag joint. Watch the steering shaft and see how much it turns before the steering box input shaft starts to turn. That will give you an idea of how bad the current rag joint is.

 

i keep reading about that and how awesome it is.. i know of a few junkyards in DE that have ton of older jeeps in them... is it hard to make the swap?

 

sweet i'll have to do that!

 

See the link below. I replaced my steering shaft with one from a Jeep Cherokee and love it. It eliminates both the Rag Joint and the Tulip joint.

https://blazerforum.com/forum/builds...g-shaft-48693/