I am in the process of changing most of my steering parts(tie rods/idler arm/center link). When I got my car inspected the guy said I have a little "play" in the steering box. He said its not bad, just old.
So my question is, will the play in the steering box mess up my alignment and possibly shorten the new steering parts life? Would this also cause vibration at higher speeds? Thanks

 

The gear box will not affect the alignment. Unless it is a huge amount of play most likely all you may notice is more movement in the wheel before the car reacts (freeplay). The centerlink, tie rods and idler arm have the most effect of toe settings. If you are replacing all 4 tierod ends I would also suggest replacing the sleeves, not required but it makes replacing and the alignment easier.

 

Thats what I thought, I just wanted to double check myself. My steering has gotten worse all winter and I dont want to chew up my summer tires.

Doing that too, I got some Edelbrock sleeves from Summit.