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What causes the steering to be loose on a vehicle? Its a 98 Durango w/ 120,000 miles on it, you can move the steering wheel left or right a good inch without moving the wheels.
Could be a few things. Jack the front of the vehicle up and try to wiggle the wheel from the 12/6 o'clock positions and again at the 9/3 o'clock positions... 12/6 is ball joints, 9/3 is tie-rods. Then again, could also be somewhat normal... IIRC, you can adjust the steering box to help tighten it up a bit... I am new to the SUV/truck thing, so don't take my word on that...
After replacing several front end components, it was finally the steering gear box replacement that made the biggest improvement. I have also heard that the 1st generation Durangos all had a similar characteristic.