Play in the steering when cold

Howdy guys,
here's the question. I wake up on a cold day, say 30 deg, and turn my wheel. It will effortlessly move maybe 20 deg. This continues till it heats up. Once it's at running temp, there's no play anymore. Could this have anything to do with thermal expansion in the gearbox? It dosne't feel like the pinnion itself is slipping but i don't know. One other thing. All of this started after my jeep had been stolen and I had to replace the colum. When I received the used colum from a yard, the downtube was a bit short, so I had to swap the "new" colum internals into my old downtube. Any help would be appreciated and I hope that wasn't too confusing. Thanks

Is this 20 degrees of "free" rotation before or after you start the engine?

actually, the free play occurs when the vehicle is cold (first thing on a cold morning) The play only goes away after driving it for 15+ minutes

Sounds like the steering shaft. My 92 had similar symptoms. Turned out, the rubber bushing in the shaft (located in the engine bay, near the firewall) was deteriorating - when cold it had play, but when warmed, it expanded and no play. Next time the vehicle is cold, open the hood and have someone turn the wheel back and forth a little, you should be able to hear/feel sqeaking from the bushing.

cjwalkeriii said:

actually, the free play occurs when the vehicle is cold (first thing on a cold morning) The play only goes away after driving it for 15+ minutes

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I understand that.

Does it have free play before you start the engine, or only after the engine (and power steering pump) has started?

regardless of whether the engine is running or not thanks