Alright the steering in my truck is pretty sketchy to be honest, I have about four inches or more of play in the steering wheel before it affects the wheels. I know it could be pretty much anything in the steering but I was wondering if y'all could help me out with what to start with or point me in the right direction to what it might be.

 

A good place to start is getting under the hood (truck off) and turn the steering shaft by hand to see if you have any play in the steering box. Then, push/ pull on the arm and any other parts that come off the steering box. This will help you to locate what's causing so much play.

 

From what I can see this joint is the cause of most of the slack. I'd rather not put a bolt through it to fix it. I can't find it on rockauto, anyone know what it's called and where I can get a replacement?
Picture with the bolt through it isn't my truck, second picture is. Hard to get a good picture of mine.

 

That's a sector shaft. At the end, under that plastic cover, you have what's called a 'rag gear', which is around piece of reinforced rubber that connects the sector shaft to the steering box (it helps reduce vibrations to the steering wheel). They do go bad, I would check that first off.

 

Didn't know about that, I'll check it when I get home.

 

Putting a bolt in it is a bad idea. It will not collapse in a front end wreck. Turns your steering shaft into a spear.

 

Yeah I read about that. I'd rather avoid that and just replace it.

 

I've read this too and my thinking is if you're in a wreck and hit hard enough where your steering shaft collapses then it will break a bolt too wouldn't it?

 

??? I'm not a ford engineer so I really can't say. If you think the shear strength of the bolt is low enough to give in an impact then so be it. Personally I find it stupid and cheap to bet on "it should break" instead of just changing the part that costs less than a tank of gas. It amazes me. Drop tons of $$$$$ on useless add ons / mods / sound systems but then cheap out on a $100 part.

Morning rant over..... Sorry

 

Checked the rag gear (thanks Chris) feels tight. Seems to me the 4" at the wheel is coming from that shaft. I'll head to town today or tomorrow and see about getting a replacement.