Trailblazer with Loose Steering
 

I had a 2002 Extended Trailblazer that I had to get rid of (long story). The steering on it was very tight and it was fantastic in snow and ice. I loved it. To replace it, I found an almost exact relica; a 2003 Extended Trailblazer. Both vehicles had around 130-140K miles on them.

The 03 however, has very loose steering with what seems like 3-4 inches of play. It's actually quite unnerving in snow and ice because the 'play', and moving the wheel with no response feels exactly the same as slipping on ice. I HATE driving this thing in bad weather.

My question is, is this something that can be corrected for a reasonable amount of money or is this just the 'personality' of the vehicle that I have to deal with. I've had cars in the past where some were tight and some loose, but none this bad.

The tires on this truck were shot so I changed them out with the ones I had on the 02 which were only a year old. That didn't seem to change anything.

Thanks for any thoughts on it.