Following my introduction which was well commented upon with good wishes and advice I have started the basics with investigating my 'death wobble' issue. I jacked the truck up on the front axle and checked the bearing first, small amount of side/side and top/bottom but should be able to adjust out.
Then worked through all the linkages, again some wear that I will have to buy replacement parts in due course but most of the 'slack' in the steering seemed to be in the steering box. I knew from the PO that the truck had PS but looking close reveals a Toyota PS mod using appropriate brackets etc. It is all a bit tight around the mounting point and one of the spark plugs is almost an interference with the steering shaft. Main issue is a large amount of slack on the input shaft before the output takes up movement.
So, is there any short term adjustment to take up some of the play? I don't want to be stripping the steering out until I really need to so an interim fix would be the answer.
I have posted a short video of the observed play in the steering box in my photobucket album, see below, any comments?
Also, it looks like the axle on the driver side has received some attention in the past as it has been 'worked on' but it seems safe enough.


Finally, (for now) do I have a standard beam axle or o lowered type?



Cheers, John





<embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allownetworking="all" wmode="transparent" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" flashvars="file=http%3A%2F%2Fvid630.photobucket.co m%2Falbums%2Fuu24%2FJTB3210%2FFord%2520F1%2FVIDEO0 018_zpsf6d9f170.mp4" height="361" width="600">

http://s630.photobucket.com/user/JTB...?sort=3&page=1

 

That's a standard axle. They all have that little "drop" to them.

 

That stub axle doesn't look quite right to me, almost like it's been damaged and welded up.

 

That's sure how it looks, difficult to understand how it can get damaged like that?

 

It most likely had the outer bearing lock up and spin on the spindle at one time in earlier life.

 

Very likely indeed, good guess.

 

I had a 64 T-bird that had an outer bearing seize in the axle and damage hub, Long story short it looked A LITTLE worse than that. I was the one fixing it and was able to see discoloration on spindle. Your spindle does look like it's discolored on the far side. O had to replace mine, what a chore that was.

 

I'd definitely replace that spindle! If you have a Toyota steering box, the freeplay can be adjusted out. Don't adjust it too tight, there should be a small amount of free play 1/2" - 1" at the steering wheel rim.

 

I've adjusted a few of those Toyota boxes, I found it best to do it with the front wheels jacked off the ground. As most of the wear is in the straight ahead position if you go too tight it can bind on full lock and be hard to pull back, not great on the road. Adjust a little bit at a time and cycle it from lock to lock until you're happy.