If you have a loose or sloppy gear box here is the proper way to adjust it.

Get the front wheels off the ground a couple of inches.

Gentle bend the plastic intermediate shaft cover and pull it loose from the P/S hose nut and slide back.

Remove the bolt between the intermediate shaft and the gear...11mm head.

Take a prybar and push the shaft almost all the way off the gear.

Take a very dull unsharpened chisel and hammer and loosen the large lock ring holding the adjuster plug.

Loosen the pitman arm shaft adjuster nut and back out the allen screw about 2 turns to make it real loose.

Now you will need to take a spanner wrench (mine looks like a pair of scissors with the handle cut off and two dowel pins at the very end) and tighten the adjuster plug till it's snug. Rotate the steering wheel from lock to lock and then check to make sure it's still snug.

Mark the outer housing and the adjuster plug (I use a center punch and line up the adjuster holes then just mark the outside of the gearbox). Loosen up the adjuster plug 13mm(or 1/2") and then tighten up the lock ring. Make sure the adjuster does not move when tightening up the ring.

Make sure the wheels are dead straight ahead.

Go to the pitman arm shaft and screw the allen screw in all the way till it bottoms, then back out one turn and lock it down.

slide the intermediate shaft back down and install locking bolt and cover.

Your done! Have fun.

 

What type of play will this correct? play in the screw, play in the gears?

My box has play on the output shaft. I can wiggle it side to side a slight bit. The service manual shows the output shaft as going through a needle bearing. This I do not think is correctable. Should I start searching junkyards?