well my 98 blazer 4x4 had loose steering. i know i need an aglinment but while i was doing my lower intake and i took the air box out for more room i remeber when i had my truck jacked up in the front i can move my wheels side to side both wheels do. balljoints new wheel bearing also. auto shop said my tir rods and linkage is good. but the question is. is it normal when you grab the steering shaft it moves side to side about a quart of an inch and the steering wheel moves but my wheels dont. is my gear box need adjustment or need to replace the gear box completly. steering wheel moves sisde to side when i grab the steering shaft but steering gear box dosent and wheels dont move when i do this. drives fine just seems like steering is a little loose......

 

I adjusted mine tonight and it made a small but noticable difference.

One of the things I was looking at was the pitman arm and the steering shaft.
The wheels had a little play and the pitman arm would move and the shaft did not.


heres the wright up
Steering Box Adjustment - Some Tips

 

Check tie rod ends, pitman arm and idler arm. I have a '98 Jimmy with play in the steering. Most of it is in the pitman arm as I replaced the idler and inner tie rod ends.

You can also adjust the steering box itself. On the top there will be an adjustment screw. You'll need a wrench and allen wrench. (I don't know the sizes) use the wrench to lose the bolt, then use the allen wrench to make the actual adjustments. VERY SMALL INCREMENTS (quarter turn or less at a time). If you tighten it too much, you'll give yourself hard steering.

Now, I do have one question though. What do you mean by grab the steering shaft and move it side to side? By side to side do you mean that it is physically shifting left and right?

 

yea like ill grab the shaft and i can twist my hand side to side and my shaft will mover along with my steering wheel. but when i had it jacked up once i moved the wheels side to side at the 9oclock and 3 oclock and my whole steering shaft and steering wheel moved too. WTH. idk im lost shop saide everything is tight might be your gear box is going out. someone told me it could be the rag joint in the shaft wth. idk i just dont want to throw parts in it when that wasnt the problem. limited on $$$$$.

 

Any chance you'd be willing to post a video (doesn't have to be long) or some pictures demonstrating the play? It would help me get a better idea of what's going on.

 

Worn rag joint