I have a good amount of play before the wheel starts turning. Is there anyway of tightening it up. I looked under the hood and see the way it connects up. I assume you would have to do something there. Or im thinking it could just be worn out. any help would be appreciated. thanks

 

you can tighten it with the screw on top of the box.. in the pic, you see the bolt and nut in the middle of the plate held on by 4 other bolts?? you can tighten that to tighten up your steering.. just remember, it is VERY SENSITIVE to adjustment.. go 1/8th turn increments or less..

 

I am assuming that you mean there is a lot of steering wheel motion before your wheels start to turn?
IMO,
Lot's of play would be caused by worn out parts. Ball joints, tie rod ends, centre link, pitman and idler... In the steering coloum the rag joint start to wear out....Your steering box could be showing its age. etc etc.
How many miles on the car?
I don't think there is any way to tighten anything up (someone can correct me), instead, first, I would attempt to figure out what is causing the play in the components (ie: bad ball joint, worn out rag joint) and replace with new parts. As a start, have a friend turn the steering wheel slowly, while you watch specific components for excessive motion (or lack of)- this by all means may not show you anything if at all, but it may be a start.
Just my
-Andrew

 

i corrected you before you spoke.. i had alot of play and my dad tightened it with the bolt i described in my first post..

 

Its not to bad just one of those annoying things when your driving. What do you mean don't tighten it to much. like if you barely touch the wheel it could do a sharp turn. is that what I would expect if i over tightened it. Did you have the same paly before you tightened it

 

my car has 139,000 miles on it.

 

sort of.. adjusting the screw just brings the gears in the box closer together, tightening the tolerance.. and i had it at one point where just the slightest turn would change direction.. and i did have quite a bit of play..

 

For what it's worth, I found play within the steering box upon inspecting my car. The steering column shaft that connects to the input shaft of the steering box would turn an inch or so (at the steering wheel) before the pitman arm coming off of the steering box would have any effect on the centerlink (and therefore, tie rod ends -> wheels). I have replaced the rag joint and the tie rod ends, and will soon replace the centerlink. I am confident that our steering boxes develop some play in them over time, but I would appreciate if anybody could disprove that (since they're such a pain to rebuild).
Also, in regards to the adjuster nut on top of the steering box - I'm pretty sure that it only stiffens up the steering, as opposed to tightening any slop that has developed in the box over time. Correct me if I'm wrong.