Sloppy Steering - Help me track it down!

Hi All,

I am having a really hard time identifying how to fix/tighten up my slopping steering (98 4x4 manual V6). I have a video and you can see how much slop it has just sitting here: https://youtu.be/PoCgE8PquEo

It seems that the slop is coming from the internals of the steering rack (the gears?) but I don't know if you can fix this.

Here is what I have replaced so far:

- Steering rack (Maval Reman) + New Bushings
- Inner and outer tie rods
- Upper and Lower Ball Joints
- Upper and Lower Control Arms (with new bushings installed)
- Tack weld/oil bottle plastic steering column fix

As you can see in the video it takes like no effort at all for the steering wheel to rock back and forth.

Is the steering rack the culprit? Is there anyway to "tighten" the internals of the rack?

The car is pretty annoying to drive at highway speeds as is.

 

There's a big nut or Allen wrench, depending on the year I think, on the steering rack that you can use to adjust the steering rack. Do some research before you mess with though, doesn't take more than a fraction of a turn to tighten things up.

 

I see, you must be talking about the steering guide replacement like this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4Hhl225E8A

 

Hey All,

I just replaced the steering rack guide with the updated part. Unfortunately for me it made no difference in the slop. Just to experiment I tightened down the rack guide to the point where you could barely move the steering wheel and the same slop was still present. It's obviously something inside of the steering rack (see updated video below) since you can see the input shaft rotates back and forth but doesn't move the rack at all. I am assuming there is nothing I can do at this point other than get a new rack which sucks because this is a "new" Maval reman unit.

Anyone have other ideas? Also, since this truck is relatively new to me can someone confirm if this slop is normal or not? I can only assume not.