i have an 84 chevy scottsdale 6 in lift 36 x 14.50 micky tires. my steering has a lot of play any help would be nice. it dose have a dual stabilizer on it and what gears should i run its just for casual driving.  

Your steering parts are likely worn out due to the wide tires. Might be time to replace tie rod ends and maybe a pitman arm. Your steering box could be getting tired too. Check to see if the frame has cracked at all around the steerign box, GM trucks are notorious for this, and the result is sloppy steering as the box applies leverage to the frame.

As far as gears, 4.56 matches 36 tires the best, even if you are on the road most of the time. The performance gains from a gear swap will really impress you.

Many aftermarket companies make the steering box brace, either weld or bolt in, and may be worth looking into even if its isn't cracked. With large tires, expect parts to wear much faster and require replacement. I agree w/ guy, 4.56's would probably be best.  

You may want to look at your front sway bar bushings in addition to what 'guyonmob' said. My steering play tightened up when I changed the frame & end link bushings on mine - they were really shot!  But with the tires you got, most likely what 'guyonmob' said. Your steering gear box may be shot.  

Some of those frame re-inforcement plates behind the steering gear cause problems in themselves - once you change the position of the steering gear in reference to the rest of the components. I had mine crack from a bad off road 'argument' with a tree stump, and I had it welded & re-inforced from the inside of the frame so the steering gear box position did not change from the original location. I know that section of the frame loses it's temper once you weld it, ( just like leaf springs do when you weld them), but I had a crack in the frame and that was the only way I could afford to have it fixed at the time. I had a frame shop do the work - with some coaxing.

hey man thanks for the info. how hard is it to change the gears. what all has to be changed . i had people tell me just the chuck. and i priced it being done at local 4x4 shop and they told me $2000.i will probly just go with the 4.11  is there any kind of speacial things you have to do to the pinon angel or will it be ok

thanks

Changing gears is really time consuming, which is why shops charge so much. Its pretty precise work, and requires some speical tools. If you haven't done it before, you will need the shop manual for axle, and a freind who has donw a set of gears beofre would help too.

4.11's are a poor choice for 36" tires. Seriously reconsider the 4.56's. Do the math yourself on cruising rpms, don't let the neighbour three doors down go on about stories about how the 4.10s in his truck are killing his gas mileage. The 4.56's will offer more torque multiplication, and only be a few 100 rpms higher on the highway.

Pinion angle should have been corrected when the lift was installed.

I have an 86 chevy K10, with 6 inch lift and 35's, after I put my lift and tires on I found that I had a lot of play in my steering too.  I replaced all tie rods, ball joints, pitman arm, steering coulmn, with no luck.  I then replaced my steering gear box, i put in a "good used one", but that too wore out quickly with all the added stress of the big tires  and constant turning in the mud.  So I did some research and decided to try putting a hydroulic assist on it.  I drilled and tapped the gear box myself, I did this to another "good used one" and have had it on almost a year and the steering gear box has yet to get any more play than what it had when i put it in.  there are some companies that sell complete kits for this set up but will run you anywhere from 175 to 1200, I did mine for a lot less.  And works just as good.  

I've heard that hydraulic assists can get squirley at higher speed highway driving - when hitting a bump or pot-hole . This due to the steering being much more responsive than just the conventional steering box. Have you noticed this to be the case ? I don't know if you do any highway driving at speed in your rig.

I have not noticed, but then again that is what my truck was doing with out it on there too.  My steering was really bad, it would go from lane to lane even over a small bump in the road.  The main reason i put it on my truck is because i am getting tired of having to change out gear boxes all the time.