Hey all,

Just picked up a 4x4 1995 Jeep Cherokee XJ. The seller mentioned to me that the steering had a lot of play, but that the solution was simply to tighten the steering box. Today, I picked up the tools and got to work. I struggled with this for a long time -- apparently they are infamously difficult to loosen. I finally got it to loosen. Once it was loose enough, I used an allen wrench to tighten the center bolt about a quarter turn. After using the allen wrench, I spent an hour attempting to tighten up the nut I spent an hour loosening. It wasn't getting tighter. I left and came back to it and realized:

The nut had loosened all the way up the stud. It was spinning in circles as I tried to tighten it.

I'm wondering If this is because the tread on the stud is gone or If I'm doing something wrong. I may have moved the steering wheel after loosening the nut, if this could cause it? What's the solution? Do I need to get a new steering box? Or do I need to push the nut down with a screwdriver + hammer?

Attached are some pictures. Thanks for any all advice and guidance. I'm just now getting into project cars/trucks and I'm learning from scatch.

Upside down picture of the nut, all the way at the top of the stud.

Top down picture of the nut.