2002 Escalade Wobbly/loose Steering Wheel (interior Steering Column Qu

[RLGDiesel]

I am having some steering column issues on my 2002 Cadillac Escalade AWD 6.0. The steering wheel can be jiggled side to side or up and down if I grab the wheel at 12 and 6 or 2 and 8 and shake it. I have read some problems with the tilt mechanism on older trucks but nothing about problematic tilts after '95. What could be causing a loose wheel or column? I can really feel the wheel clacking around if I'm on some uneven pavement. As a side note, I replaced the I shaft and lower column bearing which solved some other clunkiness in the wheel.

 

By the way, my shifter is super loose and I am planning on replacing the shift lever--lock assembly (AKA linear shift assembly) soon. Any advice on what to tighten up when I have the wheel/airbag off would be greatly appreciated.