ok update....so i get the wife to move the steering wheel to make it loose or whatever, and i inspect under the hood, i hear nothing, but the shaft itself is moving ever so slightly. so i grab where you all told me to check where one shaft go's into the other and i can move it about the same distance as the steering wheel, and my wife says she can hear the same noise and feel it in the steering wheel when i do this so thats just peachy!!!!!....so now what? i had a friend's truck do this same symptoms and they had to replace a hole steering box and it fixed it, a shaft didnt do it....what do you all suggest? any other test i can do??? blah. expensive.

 

your play is most likely in one or more of these places.
1 upper shaft ujoint
2 overlap slide joint
3 lower shaft ujoint
4 steering box

do this... with front wheels on the ground get wifey to wiggle steering wheel back and forth. put you right hand on the upper section of the steering shaft and feel how much its wiggling. now put you left hand on the lower section. if your right hand feels more movement than the left, your overlap joint is worn out (its covered by the rubber boot).

if your getting much movement in the lower shaft, then tighten the steering box like this...
https://dodgeforum.com/m_657750/tm.htm
you may have to adjust it a good bit. i adjusted my adjusting bolt about 1 turn in and got the steering wheel movement down to about 1/4 in. of travel for $0. you've gone too far whenever you make a 90 deg turn and let go of the wheel and it won't straighten up on its on. if the box won't adjust enough (lower shaft wiggle wont stop), then you need a new box.

if money is no object then replace it all.
if not, and the problem is in the overlap joint, you might can make some shims to tighten it up. just keep in mind that the 2 sections must slide over each other as the body bounces up and down on the springs, so don't get it too tight.



http://www.borgeson.com/TruckProductDodge.htm

This BORGESON replacement assembly incorporates a needle bearing u-joint on one end of a telescoping shaft and a Vibration reducer / u-joint on the other. The heart of the BORGESON assembly is the precision needle bearing u-joint. The telescoping shaft not only gives an added safety feature, but also accommodates aftermarket body lift kits.

All BORGESON truck steering assemblies are easy to install with common hand tools. In 20-30 minutes your truck will be back on the road with vastly improved handling characteristics.

there are several steering box companies. search them out, here is one. (they also sell borgeson)
http://www.pscmotorsports.com/index....bde536509e2903


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man thanks for the info. big help you are! i will try these things and look more into it. just found out my wife and i are having our baby next friday so this may be on the back burner till after then.....thanks again! I hope i can fix it myself and maybe tightening the steering box will help....done this ??? is it hard?