Steering shaft

[65-72 chevytoys]

I finally took the blazer for a drive the other day and noticed the steering has a lot of movement in the shaft before the wheels turn. I checked under the hood and turned the steering shaft about a 1/4 turn each direction before it catches. Will replacing just the rag joint tighten up the steering or does the steering box need to be rebuilt?

[lowriden58]

i would think its mainly in the box. mine does the same thing and i am too cheap/lazy to fix it

[68gmsee]

Originally Posted by 65-72 chevytoys

I finally took the blazer for a drive the other day and noticed the steering has a lot of movement in the shaft before the wheels turn. I checked under the hood and turned the steering shaft about a 1/4 turn each direction before it catches. Will replacing just the rag joint tighten up the steering or does the steering box need to be rebuilt?

Manual or p.s.?

When you say movement in the shaft, is it the shaft itself or is the movement transferred inside the gear box?

I've had this problem on my 68 GMC and other vihicles and there are several factor involved besides the rag joint or coupler. Worn gears in the gearbox, loose tie rod ends, ball joints. All of these can add up to slop in the steering wheel.

On my 68 GMC before I converted it to p.s., I tightened the adjusting screw in the gear box and removed a lot of the slop.

[65-72 chevytoys]

It is power steering and it seem to be mostly in the shaft, I will look again to check if there is any movement in the box.