While driving my truck it goes straight down the road for the most part. I do have to occasionally correct it left/right as it wonder a bit.
I've already did luke's link/polyurethane bushing on track bar, that improved it a lot and also did steering box brace.
I notice I can turn steering wheel left/right about 3/4-1" inch before it turns steering shaft. Is there some sort of play adjustment remedy for this?
Thanks

 

The play could be in the steering shaft (common) or in the column it's self (been there). First thing to do is find out which. Have someone SLOWLY turn the steering wheel while you watch the steering shaft and see if there is any slop at the ends or the middle. If there is, replace the shaft. If the slop is in the column, then the best thing to to is take it apart and find out why or replace it.

 

Exactly, I just had my shaft replaced after finding slop using this method.

 

Did you use OEM shaft or went with aftermarket ie Borgeson?

 

Borgeson. Dodge has the OEM on national backorder, Dorman, the aftermarket/ auto zone guys would not line up correctly so I ordered the Borgeson, nice beefy unit that works well with the new Redhead PS gear box.

 

I think the dorman part is far superior to the borgeson, but the Dorman only goes to OE style box stub, so I can't run one. I have had the *insert cursing* set screws work loose in the Borgeson shaft more than once. Why they don't weld it is beyond me. Especially considering the u-joints could be put in after the welding.

The advice to have someone else turn it is good, but I'd also try having someone gently turn it back and forth and run your hand up and down the shaft to find the slop. There's a bushing in the column itself that sometimes wears. It doesn't cause rotational slop, but it feels like it does because it clunks. Some guy on here makes replacements out of delrin, probably will come up on a search.

I'm not entirely clear on the 1.5-2" of slow before it turns the steering shaft... I wouldn't even *consider* driving a vehicle that had slop like that before the steering box, but about that much slop in the steering box is normal. If you take more out you risk having the gears bind up. Some "slop" is from the gears needing clearance, and some is from the flex shaft which controls the hydraulic flow.

You need to be sure which it is. If it's not in the box, that's seriously dangerous. If it's in the box, it can be adjusted with the over center sector shaft adjustment. If you take *all* the slop out the gears will bind up making the steering "jerky" and the box can bind up completely so *beware*.

PS I haven't heard of it happening in Dodges, but in Fords the tilt column U-joint supports break making the column really sloppy. I've swapped a bunch of Fords to non-tilt due to this. Don't forget to look for slop there too.