Hey everyone. This is probably going to sound crazy, but I have like an inch or two of play in my steering wheel. The funny part is that I have had the ball joints, idler arm, CV axles, shocks, wheel bearings replaced and everything else inspected. I also had the power steering fluid changed last year (it was black and smelly. It is still smelly, but not black. It looks fine.) The whole front end is tight. I just had an alignment a few months ago. I was told that there is "some play in the steering box" when the idler arm was replaced.
Is there some sort of adjustment for the steering box to correct wear that naturally occurs over time or would the steering box need to be replaced to correct the play in the wheel? I have noticed this steering wheel play since I got the truck 32000 miles ago. Is steering wheel play dangerous if all the front end stuff has been checked dozens of times and found to be okay? Thanks.

 

check the rag joint on the steering colum ,the pitman arm and tie rods. or it could be a worn gearbox. i have never heard of "tightining" a gearbox, but it may be possible. an inch of steering wheel play is normal, once it goes past two inches then i would wonder. i have about 2 inches now and i have been fine driving like that

 

Me too but I still need an alignment. And as far as I know you can adjust the gear box. Shep told me how when I put my tie rods in I just never got around to doing it. Something about an allen key and a wrench.

 

By "play"you mean lag right? Like you have an inch of steering where the car doesn't seem to turn?

 

In mine i can turn the wheel about 1.5 inches to the right before the truck actually moves and an inch to the left before it moves. been like that since we got the truck with 19k miles

 

There is a adjustment screw on top of the steering box, If you want to try that. You have to loosen the nut with a wrench, While holding the stud in place Then turn the stud clockwise to tighten the steering. Make sure you snug the bolt back down when you are done & Mark a reference point in case you dont like the result.

 

^^ What he said. There is a nut with an allen head screw inside it. Loosen the nut, turn the screw CLOCKWISE only about a quarter-half turn at a time. Tighten the nut back up and go for a drive. Keep adjusting until it is where you want it. Make sure when you drive that you don't just do a couple swervies. Turn the wheel lock to lock to make sure you know where you want it.

Zach

 

You can adjust the allen screw to take up some of the slack but if you go to far you will be driving the gear into the rack and causing a bind which will quickly wear out the thrust bearing. The only true fix is to adjust the preload on the thrust bearing and then adjust the gear depth but this requires removal of the box and some special tools. FWIW