My Durango has play in the steering wheel.What would cause this? Its when the wheel is in the center and it has about a half inch of play ether side then turns fine.Is it tie rods how do i check them.Thanks for the help.I just did the rear brakes on this for firt time 155000 miles on her drivers side had bad wheel cyl.other side looked like new.I love this durango.

 

To check the tie rods you jack up the side you want to check and try to move the tire in and out, like its being steered. You should have alot of resistance if the tie rods are good. If they arent it will move easily then have resistance. I hope that explaination helps.
I dont consider a half inch alot of play, but I am coming from Jeeps where if you have more then an inch either side of center you are good. I believe that having play in the steering wheel is for the people who want to wheel it. If you are wheeling and have no play then everytime you hit a rock or something it will turn the steering wheel right out of your hand. I could be wrong about the Durango though.

 

It could be a number of things. But one weak spot on our Ds is the intermediate steering shaft (it goes from the steering wheel to the floor). It can be found in some online parts shops... check the FAQ thread for more info on that repair..

 

make sure you look at this one though.. I have the same issue on mine and I looked at it for a few minutes last night.. For me it seems the steering shaft is solid all the way to the steering gearbox which is the T union between the steering shaft and the steering linkage..

 

Thanks I will check that and let you know what I find out.It started doing this about a week ago before there was no play.

 

Sumamerican thats where its loose on my durango too where can i get that part is that a dealer item.sorry for long time between posts.

 

The play is still really bad on mine.. haven't gotten around to fixing it. Ive had a mechanic tell me that the steering gearbox can be tightened, but he also told me that was a bad idea because it often leads to more/ bigger problems.
As for the part; i found it at rockauto for $99.79 to $186.79(after core) (www.rockauto.com) if you buy from them though make sure to do a google search of coupon codes, you'll save a consistent 5%.
I did a similar repair on my neon last winter and it ending up being out for at least 4 months. It can be a pain in the a$$ if you have any rust or corrosion. The steering shafts are held in my compression type C-pins. These can be very hard to pound out. They are steel too so don't even try drilling them. Use lots of pb blaster and if you can pull the whole assembly and pound the pins out on a work bench. I had a real hard time finding the pins too; almost no parts stores carry them, until I checked a hardware store and they're a dime a dozen there.
you will also have to do an alignment after you're done.
To sum up... don't do the repair yourself if the durango is your only vehicle. a quote from a shop may be worth it in this case.. If you have backup transportation to get you to work, at least make sure the beer fridge is full before starting.

 

They stopped installing steering boxes in 2000, so yours (Sun) has one and it is adjustable. However his is a 2002 and those have Rack & Pinion as they changed over in late 2000's -2003. There is no adjustment.

Check the fluid level and maybe do a fluid change, but short of that maybe you need a new pump and R&P.