OK, while I was getting the truck aligned a while back, I was told by the Firestone people that I had excessive play in the steering and needed a $130 bearing packing job .
I did not believe them but the Haynes manual does say that . Anyway, I did a front brake job and packed the bearings. I also had someone look at the steering shaft for play while I moved the wheel and I looked at the steering linkage but cold see no obvious play anywhere,
I also tried screwing around with the steering box but I was afraid so I don't think I moved it any significant amount.
Anyway, I took it back to (another) Firestone dealer and had them align it again (I got the lifetime alignment )

It's better now but the steering wheel still has a good bit of play. How should I go about correcting this? I guess I need to know if there are obvious signs of wear or slop in the steering components. I don't want to screw up something (like the steering box) but I don't really know what I should do next. Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

How much play do you have at the steering wheel rim when the steering column is unlocked and the engine off?

 

I would double check the steering shaft. The shaft telescopes and chances are the bushing between the upper (outer) and lower (inner) sections is bad. I would think if there were bad tierod ends that the Firestone would have tried to sell you new ones.

 

Is there a drawing of the parts I can look at somewhere? I don't know how to look for the problem or where to look for it. I agree that if I had any problems with the tie rod ends, the firestone guy would have brought it up and tried to sell me some.
I tried moving the wheels with the truck on jack stands but either I'm not strong enough or they have no play at all in them.....

 

I took these videos of the steering wheel play, the first one is with the engine off and the key on locked position

******** width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JMY943BVo2I?hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JMY943BVo2I?hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed>*********>


The second one is with the engine off and the key on "accessory" position. The noise in the background is the AC fan and the radio. I show a caliper to show the approximate amount of play, about 1.5"

******** width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Hz1i-FYqLcQ?hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Hz1i-FYqLcQ?hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed>*********>

 

I would be willing to bet its that bushing or maybe a bad rag joint. I wish I had kept my old shaft to take photos of but I didnt.

Have somene in the truck moving the wheel backand fourth. Start at the steering box end and follow the shaft up while its being moved and see where the play is. Mine was so bad that I was able to unlock the wheel and turn it from under the hood and see the play. A Borgeson shaft was the fix for me.

EDIT: Just realized you working with a '94. Not positive if its the same.

 

Thanks anyway, it might apply to my truck too. From looking at the video, does that look like too much play for these trucks?

 

Ever get this resolved? I've got the same issue on mine.

 

No, I have not. For now I am ignoring the problem . However, I have decided that the issue is in the steering box itself. I read recently in these forums that a guy successfully fixed the excess play by tightening the adjusting screw 120 degrees... I have not tried that yet, I think the answer is to replace the SB. The problem is the expense of the replacement part as well as the difficulty of the job (for me).
I have also found in these forums, fairly detailed instructions on actually rebuilding the SB. Pretty interesting, although I'm not sure I want to tackle that job either... Good luck with yours and please post if you make progress

 

Will do. I found one post that promising with a guy that fixed the intermediate shaft using a feeler gauge. I'm thinking that's where my problem is because the slack for mine is above the steering box. Might try it this weekend. Good luck!

 

That's a good option! Unfortunately the play in my steering is all below the rag joint... I can't use that fix

 

Yeah, that's about right for these trucks

Really, tighten the steering box. Run it down as far as you can and then back it off about a 1/4 to 1/2 turn. If you run it as tight as it will go then you'll blow seals, wear the box out quickly, and will have very squirrelly steering response. If that doesn't work then it could be anything from the shaft to the tie rods. Crawl under the truck (while taking safety into consideration) and have somebody saw the wheel back and forth. If it adjusting the box does work but comes out of adjustment after some driving then your box is bad.

 

Thanks, I was afraid to tighten the adjustment in the SB because so many people warn against it... It's the box for sure because I've moved the shaft and can see no play to the steering wheel and no movement in the Pitman arm, you can actually feel the slop as the bottom of the shaft turns in the box.... I'll try adjusting the SB, worst that ca happen is that I'll have to replace it anyway