I was checking my tie rod ends and they seem ok, but there is alot of slop when I move the wheels from side to side (with opposite one on the ground).According to the GM manual they shouldn't have verticle slop, and they don't. But....

It seems like there is alot of play between the pitman arm and the center link rod, where the rod rotates quite a bit when I move either wheel from side to side, besides the back and forth motion, and when I drive into a turn there's some clunking. Either wheel has about 1 inch of slop total. I'm assuming this means the pitman arm needs replacing, but I couldn't find a direct check anywhere. Anyone know if this is right?I tried moving the pitman and rod with my hands and they seemed tight.. I checked the torque on theretaining nutand it was right.

 

get under there and pull/push/shake all the steering fomponent. Which one moves excessivly is bad