Slick 60's

At purchase of truck the shift arm just flopped around, there was/is
a) NO play in rods to trans shift arms
b) NO play in rods to steering shaft arms

I can move the shift arm up and down FROM 1st up as if to shift to 2nd at around 4 inches WITHOUT the arms at the end of the steering column moving, the excessive play appears to be in the column,

I HAVE replaced ALL the known components internally that I am aware of, the major rod/tube, the collar that the shift arm goes into along with the rubber thing that fits between the shift arm and collar.

ANY help appreciated, of course this thing hangs up sometimes while shifting.

DID these things have this much play and shuch a WIDE range/distance in shift points when new?

Hello , when you put it in neutral does the shifter move freely forward and back. if not it needs adj. Hope this helps

You mean as towards dash to towards driver? YES

Plus there is INCHES of play from moving toward roof to floor IN THE NEUTRAL POSITION, in other words ALLOT of PLAY you can move the lever in neutral BEFORE actually shifting to another gear

Is the handle loose in the collar? Is the collar tight on the tube? Is the shifter worn at the end?Was the shift tube identical to the original? Sometimes it's tricky to get the turn signal /upper bearing retainer to go down enough to hold the shift collar snug. There is also a wavy washer between the collar and column at the bottom. If all that checks out the problem will be down close to the shift levers. There are three plastic shims 2 thins on each lever between the lever and the housing and one thicker one in the middle. The longer lever goes down at the bottom towards the steering box. Mine has around 2" play between 1st &rev and around 3" between 2nd and 3rd. Hope this helps. Not bad for one finger pecking