I've had a little play in my steering wheel for about 3 months now. My front tires went bad from this problem since the alignment was way off. Well, the Idler arm was bad so I had that changed, play seemed to be gone, but I noticed that it is still there. Feels funny when you are driving, you can move the wheel back and forth a couple of degrees without the car turning. What other parts should I check before I start buying a bunch of parts with money I don't have?

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Zepher
'86 Pontiac Trans Am WS6, LG4 305, 5 Speed, CF DF Clutch,
Edelbrock 1406 Carb, Edelbrock Performer RPM 7101 Intake Manifold.
Edelbrock Open Element Air Cleaner: Flowmaster Exhaust, 160* Thermostat,
Grant GT Steering Wheel, MSD HEI Coil, Taylor 8mm Wires, Leather 96 Camaro SS Seats,
Alpine CD+Changer,Alpine V12 Amps, Premier TS-1040C Subs, Polk Audio highs/mids.
Best ET: 14.94@91.67
High Speed Run: 157mph
WS6 Trans Am

 

I would guess that its your center link (aka drag link). Your car is old enough that the ball joints on each end could be worn. Autozone sells them for $40, which is where i bought mine. I would reccomend getting your steering aligned if you replace it, also.

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1983 Pontiac Firebird SE
LG4-Based Chevy 400
700R4 Tansmission
Modified 4 Barrel Q-Jet Carb
Accel Super Stock 8mm Wires
Edelbrock Pro-Flo Air Cleaner
3.23 Posi Rear
14X7" Cragar SS/T Wheels
Clarion 45X4 CD/AM/FM Head Unit
100WX2 Amp
2 Pioneer 12" Subs in Custom Box
Third Gen Performance
"A four cylinder is only half an engine"

 

Also, check the flexible coupling link between the steering shaft and the gearbox. Might be excessive slop there. Other possiblity is that there's too much play between the steering box gears themselves. I wouldn't think worn ball joints or centerlink/tie-rods would cause several inches of play unless they're about to fall off the car!