Considerable play in the steering wheel

Generally, no. However, if your wheels are toed out, the tires catch grooves in the road and wants to wander over the road. It may feel like "play" in the steering. Play in the steering is usually caused by bad tie rods and they let the wheels wiggle while driving and the effect is a car that wants to wander over the road.

First thing to check is the Tie Rod ends.
- Jack up the vehicle so the front tire is off the ground and grab the tire at 9:00 o'clock and 3:00 o'clock. Shake the tire. If you have excessive play in the tire side to side, stop driving it.
After that, check the Drag Link and Idler Arm.
- Have an assistant sit in the driver's seat and move the steering wheel side to side. You follow the steering components under the front end to see if there is any sloppy movement at the ends of the steering connection links.
If any of these components have excessive wear, it takes more steering wheel movement to turn the wheels.

If all of that checks out, I would look at the steering gear box.

You should take the vehicle to an alignment shop and be prepared to spend some money. They can inspect the vehicle, tell you what is wrong and give you an estimate for needed repairs. You definitely want get an alignment after all of that.

Also, look at the tires on the front axle. Are they worn on the outside / inside more than any where else? This is a sign of a toe in problem / toe out problem.
Are the front tires cupped? BAD SHOCKS
If your vehicle is equipped with a sway bar, those bushings should be replaced too.

Sounds like you are getting ready to put a lot of money into the front end of this vehicle.

This could be a lot of things. It could be the power steering pump, the shaft, the rack in the front end. Also you may have issues getting parts and might have to get the front end rebuilt.

Check the tie rod ends, ball joints and suspension bushes for wear and damage.

a bad idler arm/pitman arm, You will have a hard time trying to keep the car going straight, it will wander all over the road.

1. Road walking. When the vehicle wanders back and forth in the direction of travel and it is difficult to keep it straight.
2. When sitting still, there is considerable play in the steering wheel. It can be moved considerably with no resistance.
3. When sitting still, and with the front wheels off the ground, it is possible to move the wheels side to side without the steering wheel moving. If there is to much play in the steering wheel or side to side movement of the wheel when the vehicle is stopped could indicate there is a problem with the idler arm.

3 Symptoms of a bad idler arm,

1. Road walking. When the vehicle wanders back and forth in the direction of travel and it is difficult to keep it straight.
2. When sitting still, there is considerable play in the steering wheel. It can be moved considerably with no resistance.
3. When sitting still, and with the front wheels off the ground, it is possible to move the wheels side to side without the steering wheel moving. also check out the tie rods and Pitman arm,

they may contribute to this also. have a good day!!

Hi, to me the problem sounds like the track rod ends need replacing these are what connects the steering to the hub now when you turn the wheel the track rod ends push the hubs in the way you want to turn but what happens ball joint on the track rod end get play in it is it allows the wheels to turn slightly on their own left and right now once these have been replaced you will have no problems.
if the ball joints where to break you would lose control of the car as the steering wheel would not turn the wheels as instructed and they would be free to turn any way they liked, this would cause damage to the front wings and the hub costing a fortune to put right, but as it stands the track rod ends cost very little to buy and dont cost much to get replaced.

how ever this isnt the kind of job you can do yourself as you would need to get the tracking set up to ensure the wheels are driving in a strait line as their is adjusters that need to be set up after the track rod ends are fitted.

once you have the track rod ends ( tie rods also known as) fitted you will have no further problems and you will then be in full control of your vehicle it will feel a lot more responsive to your control so this needs doing sooner rather than later.

could need a new pitman arm or rag joint or gearbox

Parts do wear out. Try this: Have a friend help you and have the vehicle on a solid surface (garage floor or better yet ramps) have your friend move the steering wheel back and forth just enough to take up the play (clunk to clunk) then go around to the moving parts and you can feel where the play is. Don't overlook the coupler at the base of the steering column. You don't necessarly need the engine running (Less blood that way) This usually works very good finding where the play is. You may even be able to follow the clunk noise. Let me know how this works for you?

Off center steering wheel is very common, a good front end man will drive the car/truck and verify that the wheel is centered, it is not a mechanical problem just an adjustment issue, go to an outside shop or another dealer and tell them u just want the wheel straight, remember the road has a slight angle to drain water off, it's called road crown, tell them you want the wheel centered and to take road crown into account when they do it, make sure the front end man double checks the center by means of a good road test on varied road surface, tell them where it is that the off center is most noticeable, all this is from personnel experience, I am a fanatic about the wheel being centered. If u have more questions fell free to ask, sorry for your justified frustration on this issue.