Steering box
 

Basically the problem is all road imperfections are fed right through the steering, and you constantly need to correct the steering so you don't end up hitting anything. There's a lot of play in my steering wheel, even after replacing the pitman arm and the linkage.

When I took it in to centre the steering at an alignment shop, I was told my steering gear needs to be changed, and that this is a common problem with these trucks utilising recirculating ball steering. $600+ for a steering box is just ludicrous! Any element of truth in what I have been told, as far as this being a common issue? Thanks!

You should only tighten it a little, and if that doesn't fix the issue, then a worn steering box is indeed the issue. $600 is a little retarded though.

The main problem here is going to be the labor on it. It's way up there, and there is a bunch of stuff in the way. I'm betting that's where the $600 came from.

Many thanks for the info!

Just done some reading up, and looked in the service manual I have from Mitsu. I understand if it's overtightened, the steering will not centre after you take a turn and more effort will be required to steer. Is there any other harm that may result from over-tightening?

I usually do my own wrenching and while I'm tempting to get a professional to do it, I'm not at all impressed with the level of work that's done here. I didn't have the right 'tools' to replace the pitman arm, and I reckoned I would need to get the steering aligned after the job, so I took it to a 'professional'. Instead of using a pitman arm puller to remove it, which I thought they would, they hammered the living day lights out of it - something I could have done myself. So I'm going to adjust this myself. :) Thanks again!