Watched my steering box while my son turned the wheel and my play is between the idler arm and the power steering cylinder. The bolt coming out of the cylinder has play in it so my question is does the idler arm hold that in a locked position so that it is the idler that is bad or is it signs of the cylinder needing to be rebuilt

 

Man those old stangs have the sloppiest steering systems ever. You can replace everything and still have play in it. If it was my car I would convert it to rack & pinion and free yourself of those worries. By the time you finish rebuilding your system, you would have payed for the conversion. You can always keep the original system in storage for originality purposes but if you really like driving it, convert it.

 

She is original and am trying to keep it that way hence all the posts but help would be appreciated

 

The play is translating to 4" of steering wheel slop.

 

Really sounds like the box to me.

 

Boo. I heard that is a head ache

 

Well are all your bushing newer or no? And yes those rams go out all the time. Just had mine rebuilt on my coupe. I redid the entire suspension and it wasnt to bad. If you do it yourself that helps alot. Is the idler arm bushing good? And are the bushing on the end of the shaft good meaning the ones on the little 2 inch bracket that hangs down