The steering on my 96 blazer has a lot of play in it. I can turn the wheel about 1/8 each way before the wheels turn. I tried to tighten up the steering box but now it's hard to turn and still has a lot of play in it. The allen screw will not back out again. I'm thinking the steering box is bad, but what should I replace while I'm in there? Pitman arm? Rag joint? I replaced the idler arm about a year ago along with upper/lower ball joints, upper/lower control arm bushings, tie rod ends and sway bar bushings. 160k on the clock.

 

It would be easy enough to check the rag joint, just have someone turn the steering wheel while you look at the joint and see if it looks loose. Also check whether the steering box output looks like it is moving as much as the ragjoint.

In my case I tracked the problem from the ragjoint, thru the steering box, steering components and down to the control arm bushings. If you investigate you can find exactly what's loose. Good luck if you haven't finished already