89 xj alot of steering play

im looking at buying an xj tomorrow, it has 4.5 inch sky jacker lift, 1.5 wheel spacers, 31 12.5 on it. it has ALOT of steering play, the owner now has done tie rod everyting else seems tight, EXCEPT the pitman arm, its quite loose. if yo put pressure on it it feels better. im assuming it is the stock one. when i mean play it has like8 inches back and forth of play. will tighting the hell out of the nut tighten it? or should it need a farther drop pitman arm?. i know with a lift it will have play but this is alot. everything else seems tight. thnks for any help. btw its an 89 with no rust at all in upstate ny lol:patriot:

Generally the steering play you are mentioning comes from a steering box that is not adjusted properly. I don't see how you could get that much play out of a loose pitman arm. Perhaps you need to look at the arm and shaft and see if they move independently. Steering boxes are easily adjusted if that is all it needs

the pitman arm moves or wiggles i should say 1/2 inch of play in it around the shaft out off the steering box. other then that it leak some oil out of the valve cover. thats it! has original gas tank straps filler neck everything. even has the factory undercoating on the unibody

Might need to replace the box and arm then. Sounds kinda dicey