Sloppy steering

[mntoy]

I recently purchased a 1974 C20 pickup truck, first thing I did was put a fresh 350 in it and the truck runs great. I have only owned this truck for about 3 months and for one month the truck was down to put in the new motor and it looks like the previous owner rebuilt the steering gear. The steering is sloppy, I have to move the steering wheel back and fourth about an 1/8 to 1/4 turn to go straight. The sloppy steering is kind of annoying and I have never had this kind of problem before does anyone know where to start looking to fix this or what the problem might be? Thanks,

[smashingchuck]

First thing I would do is put a new drag link on it. Look at the tie rods as well. (inners and outers)

[magnethead]

loose pitman arm? Loose coupling at the box?

[craig@ridetech.com]

You might want to check the "rag joint" where the steering column attaches to the steering box. They are cheap to replace and normally get ignored.

[mntoy]

Thanks guys, I will take a look at all these items. Seems like I looked at the front items you have discussed and I am not sure how to tell if the pitman arm is loose, it looks tight to me. Is there a torque spec or a measurement as a guideline? Or does it just stop when you can no longer tighten the nut? As for the drag link what exactly am I looking for will it be loose or sloppy because it looks fine, what is the test for the drag link? Also what is the test for the rag link or coupling, I can replace all these parts but dont want to just throw money at this problem. Hopefully there are some simple test for all your suggestions. Thanks again.