So, all the front end is done. Had it aligned.

New ball joints, tie rods inner and outer, new idler arm + bracket.

I assumed the looseness in the steering would either be allot better or completely back to normal.

Sadly, that is not the case.

Was on the highway today and it's still floaty. When I had it aligned they said there was probably looseness in the gearbox and that the rest of the front end was completely tight (possibly tighter than normal).

Is the steering gear serviceable? I've heard bad things about rebuilds, any thoughts? I may do this sooner than I thought as I don't like the handling on the highway. Are there investigation steps I can do to rule out anything else? Presumably watch the input shaft and the output pitman arm. I'll take a peek this weekend. Right now it looks like I can rotate the wheel almost an inch left and right before seeing movement in the tires.