[Tom of VA]

I had a loose feeling in my column which was very obvious when passing over bumps. I coud also move my wheel up and down a little which felt out of spec. I pulled the wheel and found that the bearing at the top of column was installed wrong. The ball bearings can be installed so that they are not all following the bearing race. I was able to reassemble the bearings using new grease to keep the balls in place so the race could be snapped in place with out the balls moving into a bunch. After I put the shaft and wheel back together the steering felt tight without any thumping transmitting up through the column. There is also an adjustment on the steering rack. I had to replace my original rack because water had found its way inside the boots and collected at the pinion gear and ruined the gear face. I found a used one and cleaned then readjusted it. It wasn't hard to do. If the looseness is in the rack you may want to check it out.