The truck has too much play in the wheel before it engages and actually starts steering. Especially at highway speeds. It feels like you have to turn the wheel about 4 or 5 inches before you actually get any response from the front wheels. So I was wondering if anyone here knew what causes this kind of thing. I would guess the steering box, but I really don't have much experience with steering.
Being rode hard and put up wet too many times. Usually the tie rod ends are the first things to wear out, but what you need to do is get down under the front of the truck and have someone else turn the steering wheel back and forth while you watch for play in all the joints. Then go ahead and jack the tires off the ground but and have someone pry the tire up and down with a piece of pipe while you watch the ball joints. Its also a good idea to check the bearings and pack them with grease while you are doing this. So before you replace tie rod ends measure how much threads exposed and put the new ones back to as close as you can from there, oh you will need a pickle fork to remove the ends. If the ball joints are warn out you will need to have someone press them out and in. Lastly with the front tires off the ground you should grease everything that has a grease zerk. The steering box is usually the last thing to wear out but it can so get back to us if you have any other questions. Tony
Thanks it looks like it was the pitman arm. But seeing as how the truck is an 1987, I'm expecting that once I replace the pitman arm, some of the slack will be gone. Then I'll need to find what is causing the rest of the slack. There seems to be about 2.5" of slack at the steering wheel (not 4 or 5 inches like I first thought) and the pitman arm seems to only be causing about 1 inch of slack. Never know though, I maybe I'll get lucky.
