"floating" steering problems

[EvoRage]

Hey everyone, I've been around here for a while and I can usually figure out problems by searching and what not but I have an issue that I cannot seem to figure out. The problem is that my steering feels floaty when I'm driving it. The problem occurs at pretty much any speed but it does get worse as I'm getting up to highway speeds. It is also pretty terrible when I accelerate. I've put the car up on the lift and checked every possible thing such as the axle nuts, tie rods, ball joints, suspension parts, etc... The strange thing is my friend is having a very similar problem just not quite as bad as mine. The car is a 94 Mirage with all evolution 1 suspension to include the hubs, lower arms and rack and pinon.

One thing I did notice while the car was up was that when I would turn the wheel all the way to the right, it would become very loose coming back the other way and then it would tighten up. I'm thinking it might be the rack but I want to see if there is something I'm not thinking of before I go and take the rack off. The poor car is just sitting there unused because it is unsafe to drive. I would post this in the handling section but I do not have the appropriate number of posts yet.

 

[Rob10_99]

How much play does the rack have with the wheels straight and the tires on the ground? with the car off try to move it and it shouldn't take much at all for the wheels to almost start moving. Like when the rim moves left to right.
Could be a worn strut?

 

[luv2rallye]

Check steering rack not being held securely in it's mounts.

 

[EvoRage]

It doesn't seem to have any play when the car is up in the air, I can move the wheels back and forth and there isn't any play that I can see. The struts seem alright, I haven't taken them off to see if they are blown or not. It seems to be localized on the right side for the most part. I have replaced the mounting bushings for the rack but that doesn't mean they are not already busted. I'll have to check that as well.