my sho has an excellent sense of timing

[Brian Smith]

Greetings to everyone from sunny and beautiful Wilmington North Carolina. I am down here visiting family etc. and having a great time!
The drive down however was one of the hairier experiences in recent memory. I was cruising down I-95 at about 80mph or so when the wheel suddenly pulls out of my hand to the left the car veers a bit then it straightens itsself out. This sort of nonsense continues until I get used to it and can ignore it, figuring I will fix it when I get back. Then this awful noise and vibration starts from the passenger side front wheel. I figure this must be the bearing. I was sort of execting that to go. The combination steering issue and vibration made the drive interesting especially since I was driving through the rainy remnants of hurricane charley.
I just replace the tie rods on both sides, inside and out, yet when I jacked the car up on arrival I had all kinds of play in the front wheels when I try to move them at the three and nine o clock position. 12 and 6 are rock solid. The vibration/noise is not present at slower speeds and is somewhat intermittent at higher speeds.
Is this a combination steering rack/bearing issue? I think its getting worse the longer I wait to fix it. Any suggestions?

 

[Brian Smith]

Well, almost 500 miles of driving today! What an adventure. I now believe that my steering issue must be related to the steering rack. I understand this is a treacherous service procedure, so i am reluctant to accept this diagnosis. Working backwards though, if the tie rods and ends are new, and the the wheel still pops and wobbles as though they were worn out, the next in line would be the rack. Can anyone tell me what are the most common/possible ways that the failure of the steering rack can manifest itself? Thanks for interest.