My buddy has a 94 F-150 and he can't legally drive so has to have his woman drive him around and the steering is very sloppy but drag link, tie rod ends and ball joint's are all good and it just passed inspection. You can steer from say 10 to 2 before it feels like its grabbing. The garage said that these trucks are known for sloppy steering but this kinda play shouldn't be the norm. The trucks body/frame has 209k on it. Is there a better aftermarket replacement steering box for these trucks to make them drive better? I would swap a steering box from a Silverado on it if I knew it would work since they have good responsive tight steering.

Thanks for any helpful tips any of you can offer.

 

Look at Redhead steering boxes. Also, has anyone tried to adjust the play in the box yet? If not that will help big time if there's still adjustment left.

 

Thanks for the suggestion and I'm not sure if it's ever been adjusted....the dude who had it before beat the crap out of it engine wise, we finally got this gem back on the road under its own power at its full potential so working out the other bugs now that it runs great. I read earlier about some for nut and set screw, trying to find a picture of it because I've never adjusted a steering box or knew it was possible.

 

After watching my neighbor break 3 impact sockets trying to remove them, I had my 96 F150 4x4's ball joints replaced by the local community college auto tech. classes. Took them about 8 business days to finally get it right.
Reason I mention it, they told me it was ready, but I found there was a huge amount of play like your bud's '94. They were able to tighten it up enough to work, although there is still a little play.
Take it in for an alignment & ask them to try & tighten it, if you don't want to get into it yourself. If they can't improve it, a Redhead is the way to go. Best wishes.