98 Ranger 4 wheel drive steering wheel play

[Josh B]

The surface is not always loose, in fact much of it rarely is, mostly rocks and hard packed dirt
Here in the valley the black dirt is rock hard and will be until it gets wet, which could be several months

Those are the only places I will be when 4 wheeling.
There is the option of sand in the river bottoms but that is one place I have no reason to go
I don't do near as much 4 wheeling but I know what's there, and with limited slip it will do a lot of dragging and slipping, and you can't get through those woods without doing a lot of turning

 

[Josh B]

I did manage a trip out there today, although it's like a jungle ATM, and I hadn't been through there in a while. I was surprised to find the ditch still had some water in it. Not surprised however to find the pond didn't, that was not the location it was supposed to have had, at least there's some deer around.
I wanted to get some photos of the cracked dirt but managed to leave that behind :/ I can guarantee you will feel every bit of the limited slip slipping on that dirt just like you would rock or cement
I believe that's an old Model T car frame, I can recall it having wooden slats across it while serving as a farm trailer

 

[frankj]

GW33GP- When I had the truck in for alignment after installing the second (new) rack and pinion, had there been a problem with any of the suspension components the shop would have alerted me. He even noted the play in the steering wheel on the invoice.
I really think I found the problem, see post #12 above. Following the alignment after installing the new rack, the truck tracked down the road just fine, but with all the play at the steering wheel, constant correction was necessary. After pulling that lower pinch bolt really tight, 90% of the play gone. Now I can drive down the road 3-4 blocks and not make a correction with the steering wheel.
Without that suggestion to separate the lower and intermediate shaft I probably wouldn't have found my mistake. Thanks again for all the help and ideas.