symptoms of bad steering box?

Like the title says, I've checked my ball joints and tie rod ends, there fine. I still have a lot of play in my steering wheel and I can feel the tires "moving" or steering the jeep even though I have a tight grip on the steering wheel. Is it the steering box or gear? And how do I adjust it or tighten it? I was looking at it and I cant see any nut or anything that indicates an adjustment. Thanks for the help, I can barely keep this thing on the road.

Grab the steering shaft where it comes out of the steering box and twist it back and forth to see if there's excessive play. Mine was really bad.

Another check, best done with two people, is to get down under the steering box while another person gently wiggles the steering wheel back and forth with the power off, just enough to put some pressure on the steering linkage but not to start turning the wheels. Look for side play in the pitman shaft (the one with the arm on it). Check whether you can see the shaft move sideways a little before it starts to rotate. A tiny bit of this is almost inevitable, but more than a little will make your steering feel slack even when the internals of the steering gear are fine. Try if you can to have someone at the wheel who can understand your instructions, so you will know how much wheel movement is going on as you watch. I know that should go without saying, but it's surprising how difficult it can be to explain what you want.

Hey, thanks for the info! I'll try both of those things in the morning. I've got to get this figured out. Also forgot to mention my alignment is fine. Doesn't pull to either side and tires wearing evenly.:repair:

"symptoms of bad steering box"
Any steering box that is in fact" bad", probably steals, smokes, and is rather unethical in nature. Probably drives a Jeep in which he takes many girlfriends >: ) BAD,,, bad steering box.:firedevil

snow drifter said:

Hey, thanks for the info! I'll try both of those things in the morning. I've got to get this figured out. Also forgot to mention my alignment is fine. Doesn't pull to either side and tires wearing evenly.:repair:

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Yeah, my 95 tracks perfectly straight down the road. Unfortunately, it still tracks straight down the road when you turn the steering wheel. Gotta do something about that one of these months.

I have a clunking sound coming when I am pretty close to lock on either side. Well I was checking things out and found that the shaft coming out of the box moves. I steers fine but does kind of wander around some. What should I watch out for in the mean time while I am looking for a new box? What can happen?
Thanks