i have a 78 chevy 4x4 pickup truck and the problem is the steering, it is very loose when im driving around it like the wheels will turn on there own a couple of degrees before the steering wheel catches up, there is also a lot of play in the steering wheel, i have replace the tie rods, tightend up everyting regarding the steering components but still the problem persits, do i need to replace the steering box??????

You may have excess play in the steering box. There is an adjustment screw with a lock nut on top of the steering box. Some slack can be removed by adjusting it.

Vince

i did that and it improved a little but it still is very loose, it is at the point where i have to correct the steering wheel every few seconds while driving just doesnt stay put in one direction. if it helps i have a 6inch lift w/35"at,

thanks for your opinion.

Ah, now that helped. When you have a lift, usually it will get a little bit of play not matter what, but what I did with my 1977 Chevy/GMC pickup that I had, is I bought a stabilizer bar / strut / shock (whatever you want to call it) and sway bars for the front and rear. I decided to try the sway bars and never even put on the stabilizer. You can pickup a nice set of sway bars for under $200 and they HELP. Trust me, I went through the same thing with this set-up :

1977 GMC Sierra Grande 15
6" Sus. Lift
35" Swampers
16" white powder wheels (no-name cheapies )
Detroit Locker in the rear up to 3.56s
Custom built Drive shaft

How about that Rubber "coupling" between the gear box and firewall?? Mine had small tears on bolt holes on an 86 chevy and it had alot of freeplay.

Yea the coupling will be worn out. and you might try adjusting
for a LITTLE more toe in. not alot, just a little.

Make sure your frame is not cracked where the steering box mounts.

the frame is solid no cracks, the rubber spacer in good shape, so a sway bar would improve the looseness of the steering? is it still possible it could be a bad steering box?

thanks fellas for the help. ill get to the bottom of this soon enough.

Check the Pitman arm! I had the same problem to a worser degree on a 75 GMC, d*mn lucky I finally found it before it broke loose! Good Luck! ...Mark

well the pitman arm is fine, and i just noticed i do have sway bars, so now what could it be?

Well I would suggest you crawl under the truck and have somebody crank the steering back and forth, and see where the "slop" is. That was the only way I found the problem with the Pittman arm ...everything looked fine, but the joint on the end of the Pittman arm was ready to come off! Good Luck! ...Mark