Manual steering ball stud adjustment

[peeeot]

I finished assembling my rebuilt steering components today.  I have the factory manual, but the procedure for adjusting the ball stud is not clear to me.  I understand that the goal is to eliminate "play," but how can there be play when the ball seats are pressed against the stud with springs? 

As it is, when I have a helper jiggle the steering wheel back and forth, I can feel motion at the stud relative to the center link, though it is small.  I tightened the cap up a couple of turns but it did not seem to be eliminating this relative motion, only making it a little less substantial.  Am I supposed to tighten it to where there is no relative motion at all and then back it off 1.5 turns, as the manual suggests?

[lalessi1]

As I read the manual

" "tighten it to where there is no relative motion at all and then back it off 1.5 turns"

This adjusts the preload on the spring... just my guess, for what it's worth.

[peeeot]

I tightened the cap as far as it would go, and there was still a barely detectable amount of relative motion at the ball stud, but I figure that's inevitable as long as the springs are not fully compressed.  I backed it off a quarter turn at a time until there was a noticeable increase in the motion, then backed it off 1.25 turns from there.  When I finished assembly and alignment and get a good road test in, I'll reevaluate.  It seems like a weird system to me though.