To start, I am having some issues with having slop in the steering. About 5 or 6 months ago I was able to turn my wheel about 1/2 turn before actually moving the tires. With the help of a friend I checked ball joints on driver and passenger, tie rod, tie rod ends, track bar, drag link, lower steering shaft, bolts that hold the power steering box and the track bar mount. Mostly everything was either 100% destroyed or was well on its way. So I replaced all four ball joints, new tie rod (old one was bent) tie rod ends, drag link upper and lower shaft and my lower steering shaft. I re-tightened all of the bolts and did an alignment to toed in a 16th of an inch and the axle now has a caster of roughly 5 degrees facing upward. Now I still have play but its only about 1/4 turn before I actually turn the tires. Steering box is brand new (I blew the old one up because I was dumb) and I'm really hoping that it's not anything in the steering column. Any suggestions as to where I should look next? I know I literally replaced all of the steering components but I really don't like throwing parts if I don't have to.

1989 Jeep XJ Limited 4.0
Lifted on 4.5in Long arm suspension
Upgraded Track Bar with Drop down Bracket
31x10.5R15 tires with stock XJ wheels

 

What pitman are you using?

 

It's not the factory one, I ordered my long arm kit from rough country and they sent be both a track bar lowering mount and the pitman arm is also a drop down to account for the lift.

 

Three things stand out. The steering box was never replaced, correct?

steering box bolts were checked, did you notice any cracks on either side in the steering box bolt areas or near

You replaced all steering joints?

My 4th thought is 1/4 isnt that bad for a xj with steering geometry that isnt that good

 

The steering box is brand new and has not been tampered with or adjusted since putting it in. Yes, all of the steering joints have been replaced and greased and give me 5 minuets to go check the frame.

 

Okay, no visible cracks on the frame. So would 1/4 play really be considered normal? If that is the case its not like I can do much more than I already have.

 

I would check the steering shaft and all it joints to if they have play .

 

Already done, with an extra person as stated in the original post.

 

Have you triple checked track bar. Sometimes bolt hole wollows out on axle side allowing movement

 

New or rebuilt steering box?
Is the pitman arm moving immediately when the steering shaft moves?

 

Did you use quality replacement parts? It is not uncommon for a cheap steering part to fail within a few hundred miles.

Dont rule anything out just because the parts were replaced months ago

 

new steering box and from what me and my buddy could tell everything was moving together but I will recheck that once I get off of work.

 

I will triple check that as well.

 

dont just grab it and try to wiggle it around. There is alot of force being applied with steering components. Get a pry bar and try to force it to move all directions.

 

Problem SOLVED.
Looking at the track bar mount axle side. It appears that when the factory one was in, it wallowed out and spread the mount open. No visible cracks but the track bar just slid in there, not a tight fit so even if the hardware was "tight" the track bar still moved. I took a rubber mallet, tap, check fit, tap, check fit until it was a nice snug fit. Even though the bolt holes are a little wallowed out there is now barley any movement and the body no longer moves before the tires. Next step will be to drill out the bolt holes and go up a size in hardware to eliminate the problem all together. The second thing is the clamp that goes around the adjuster. My last two brain cells put it too far up the shaft instead of on the very end of either side so even though it was tight it was still able to bend up and down, I loosened it, brought it down to the end of the shaft and tightened Problem eliminated. Thank you all for the help, it is very much appreciated.