Steering problems - 1948 Dodge D24

[Bruce48D24]

I am hoping to get my 1948 D24 Custom Club Coupe road worthy again for a tour in April. This was a very dependable car until a number of years ago, it suddenly developed sloppy steering, for no apparent reason (no collision, or hard bumps occurred - that I know of). Now I have to turn the steering wheel 8 to 10 inches before the wheels turn!

I checked the bolts that mount the steering box to the frame, and they are tight. I have tried to shake the tie rods and pitman arm with the car jacked up but with allthe suspension still connected - and did not notice any movement. I have also tried turning the adjustment screw for the worm and roller, with the suspension still connected, to no avail.

I am now ready to pull off the pittman arm from steering arm and try the worm and roller adjustment again since I located a spare pittman arm for that procedure, as outlined in the shop manual; and check for "end play" of the steering shaft.

I also have a steering box and column off a 1950 Dodge for extra parts or shims - it looks the same except the mounting bolts look to be in a different position.

Has anyone else experienced this or worked on this problem before? Any advice as to how proceed to fix this problem?

Thanks for your help.

Bruce

[buds truck]

first thing I would do is have someone turn the steering wheel from one end of the slop to the other while I was under the vehicle(safely blocked of course) and see if it is coming from the column or elsewhere. just a thought. Bud

[Dave72dt]

You'll probably have to test for movement with a load against the wheels. Jacked up with no resistance to turning, your steering wheel play is less likely to show up.