my steering definitely feels loose. im suspecting the steering gear box because i can grab the steering column and twist it quite a bit with my hand. I know other things can cause the feel of loose steering so i guess my question is should i be able to twist the steering column that much or is that amount of play normal. i ahev attached a video.

http://youtu.be/HU0vBAfV0jg

i checked out everything else on the front end and it seems to be fine. no connections are loose or appear to be worn.

also i have to hold the wheel at 11:00 as apposed to 12:00 for the jeep to go straight. if i let go of the wheel it straightens out but the jeep drifts to the right.
thanks for any help

 

anyone?

 

I suppose it'd be a worn out steering shaft.

 

If you can move the input shaft that much without any movement from the output (pitman), the box is out of adjustment, or just plain worn.

There are two adjustments on the box. First is the worm gear. Look closely where the steering shaft enters the box. If you can see any in and out movement when you rotate the steering shaft, the worm preload is wrong. This isn't too common.
The second adjustment is the sector shaft preload- the screw/nut on top of the box.
You might try 1/4 turn clockwise and see if the slop tightens up. If not, try another 1/4 turn. Hold the slotted screw in place when you loosen or tighten the locknut.
If you get ANY binding or problem with the wheel returning to center, put the adjustment back where you found it. Overtightening can destroy the box in short order. If it doesn't improve anything, put it back where it was.
Note this is not the correct procedure to adjust the sector preload, but it will tell you if it's out of adjustment. The proper procedure is to pull the box and set it with an inch-pound torque wrench.

Finally, put your hand on the pitman shaft and have someone else rock the steering wheel. Careful you don't get your fingers pinched. You should have absolutely NO side to side movement in the pitman shaft. If you do, the bushing is worn and you'll have to pull and rebuild the box.

Your alignment also appears to be off.

 

I had the same problem with my XJ when I bought it. I tried doing the adjustment on the top bolt but it only improved slightly but still bad.
I took the box out , sent it away and had it rebuilt, now its perfect. They shot blasted it and resprayed it too but it cost about £200 ($300).
The 3 big bolts that hold it in are quite hard to get at, and 1 of mine snapped off. I think I had to buy a new one.
The drifting is another issue and needs looking at.

 

You might want to check to see if all the steering gear box bolts are still attached. My top one snapped off in the aluminum spacer when I was checking the fit on a bumper and the steering got loose fast. Two bolts are not enough to hold a steering gear box in, I ended up getting a JCR steel spacer after fishing out the bolt.