play in steering
 

I did body work on my truck where it sat in the shop for 3 months and I drove it home and the ignition cylinder gave out on my so I replaced it the other day but now I have a lot of play in the steering wheel about 2" on the left and 4" on the right. I was wondering is there anything I could have taken apart when replacing the ignition cylinder that might have not got put back together right that would cause that much play or is it something else?

have you checked your tie rods, ball joints, idler arm, pitman arm, and the steering gear box? those would be my first assumptions, seeing as how i have that exact issue with my 2001 LS Blazer.

well I haven't had time to check any of that yet but I would assume all my steering and suspension parts should still be good as I just replaced all of it last year because a lot of it was going bad I replaced it all with Moog parts. I was just assuming it might be something to do with the steering wheel not being put back together correctly.

Play in the steering wheel is usually caused by a coupler bushing that joins the steering rod from the firewall, to the steering box it connects to. There may be a plastic cover over it at the bottom covering the coupler and pinch bolt. Pull that off, and inspect that rubber coupler bushing, if it's worn looking, replace it. A small amount of play down there equals alot at the wheel. I just replaced mine because of the same problem. Problem solved. It's a pain to change, but only if you are short tempered. lol Any more questions, just ask. Autozone sells a universal coupler bushing kit in the help section. it's a rubber bushing (2" 1/2) with 4 holes in it. Not expensive at all. Be sure NOT to turn the wheels while the steering rod is disconnected while changing this out. Use plenty of lube spray on the steering rod as you will need to adjust/slide it up/down to remove the assembly. A bolt up top to disconnect there, and pinch bolt at the bottom. Be careful when putting the assembly back together. It only goes on one way, but it is easy to mess up the splines if you put it on at the wrong angle. And whatever you do, do not take the bolt completely out of the pinch bolt at the bottom! Just loosen it until it comes out, then thread it back in 2 or 3 times to ensure that it clamps back together properly when you put it back on. This is assuming that any of the suspension components are not bad.

NOTE: The factory bushing setup has rivots (4) holding the bushing in place. You'll have to grind those off to replace the bushing, and use hardware to put it back together.

if what ncsurvival said isnt the issue,then im willing to bet 10 cents its the idler arm. these blazers eat em like candy. Ive gone through 2 or 3.

Especially when you got a lift, and 33x12.5s... :( Anyhow, another possibility would be the pitman arm? I'm leaning more towards the bushing though.