Steering wheel play after replacing rack and pinion

[Javier Espiritu]

I recently replaced my rack and pinion on my 2008 silverado 1500 2wd thinking the play was gonna go away because my bushing where going out and the steering wheel still has a lot of play. I'm thinking its the steering shaft might be the problem.

[davester]

maybe?  I would suggest testing it by grabbing the shaft just where it goes into the rack with your hand, and have someone else rotate the steering wheel left and right.  You should be able to tell if there is play in the shaft doing that.  If there is, perhaps the u-joint in the shaft has failed...