My 01 has got 107k on it now and I've noticed that I need to turn the wheel to the left slightly in order to go straight now the road.. I can also "jiggle" the steering wheel a considerable amount and the wheels don't turn as much as they probably should.. What causes this and is it an easy fix? Thanks

 

With the engine off. Get under the front while someone turns the wheel back and forth. Watch the tie rod ends for slop. You may have a combination of "not too bad" tie rod ends adding up to give you a lot of steering wheel play.
I would also check the ball joints. To do this you need to get a floor jack under the lower A arm and jack the tire off the ground. Then grab the tire at the top and bottom and try to "rock" it. If there is any obvious movement then there is a bad ball joint or unit bearing.

 

kinda sounds like an alignment issue to me, id say take it to a local shop and have them check ur alignment.

 

yea it does sound like an alignment issue. I have a 94' s10 blazer 4x4 and it had kinda the same issue when I first bought it, the wheel was considerably loose and I had to hold the wheel to the right about 2-3 inches while going straight, also when I straightened the wheel out perfectly and held it going down the road, it veered off to the right a little.

 

Clue, did getting an alignment fix the problem?

 

I would say it is a combination of steering slop and possibly alignment.

While you are under it looking for play in the various connections of the steering linkage, check out the rag joint where the steering shaft meets the steering gear box.

 

I had this same issue. I replaced the pitman and idler arm because they were so sloppy the alignment shop couldn't work on it. After the replacement and the follow-up alignment, my steering is solid.

 

Is replacing the pitman and idler arm something a non-mechanic perosn like me can do in my driveway? and how much did the parts cost?

 

The idler arm, maybe. The pitman arm, probably not. The pitman arm can be a royal pain to get off the steering gear box.

 

You ain't just whistling dixie there. Air hammer and pickle fork and lots of swearing.