well... I was right... it was cause I had the wheels turned a bit and turned the screw too far.... so I put them back where they were and was able to back the screw out some and get it JUST RIGHT...

man what a difference... like drivin' a totally new vehicle...

Thx for the reply folks.. .here's a little link that shows a little better the parts inside this thing...

http://www.off-roadweb.com/tech/0501..._steering_box/


Here's what I was able to gather lookin' at this thing. that bolt (jam nut and bolt assembly) is actually a threaded rod ontop of the sector shaft the bottom of the sector shaft is actually the splined shaft that goes to the pitman arm. if you look there's also a power piston. what happens is the input shaft assembly is where the steering wheel shaft hooks to. then that connects to the worm gear which is what moves the power piston back and forth in the body of the steering gear when you turn the steering wheel. now look at that power piston see how it has the ridges in it?? now look at that sector shaft. see how it has the teeth in it? the sector shaft rides perpendicular to the power piston and the teeth of the sector shaft slide into the grooves of the power piston.. so when the power piston moves back and forth it causes the sector shaft to turn respectively. now notice the way the teeth on the sector shaft are kinda wedge shaped?? that's so when you screw that bolt in (jam nut and bolt assy) it pushes that sector shaft down respectively causing the gap beween the sector shaft teeth and the power piston grooves to become less and less. thus takin' the "slop" outta the sector shaft. DON'T go too far or when the sector shaft is centered (wheels dead straight ahead) you'll have the teeth on the sector shaft pushin' TOO hard on the power piston in turn causin' the steering wheel to not "auto center" or return to zero and go straight when you let go of it and it'll be stiff as hell goin' straight ahead. if ya have a bit of slop in your steering wheel compared to when the front wheels turn... if all other components under the frontend ie. tierods and ball joints and such are in good condition and not what's givin' you the "slop" you feel. you can back the nut off a bit and then give the bolt a 1/8 to 1/4 turn in.. lock the nut down and try it... still too loose repeat. if ya go too far you'll feel the wheel not center and really stiff when you're tryin' to steer straight ahead.back it off about 1/8 turn and try you SHOULD be good... if not back it off a tad bit more.... now.. one word of advice here... when backin' the nut off... or tightening it... put the allen wrench in the top of the bolt... oh yeah.. bolt has an allen head... nut is a 5/8" wrench.... reason you want the allen wrench in there before you go movin' that nut is for a reference... so if when backin' the nut off or tightening it... you'll know if the bolt turned with it.... so you'll know WHERE you started with the bolt itself... take SMALL TURNS like I said 1/8 to 1/4 turns on the bolt. then lock the nut and go run it around the block... you won't feel that stiff spot in the wheel until you go take a corner and then try to center the wheel back out..... my whole frontend is pretty damn tight so only thing left was the slop in that steering gear.. and if ya do it right and everything else is in good shape.... OH MAN.. WHAT a difference.... like a TOTALLY different vehicle.......


Good Luck!