I am having some play in the front wheels....side to side...not top to bottom....wheel bearings???....I am looking at them tomorrow night...any suggestions.....my rack seems to be leaking alittle...(has for a long time)....I am going to inspect everything tomorrow night.....any suggestions....

 

could be ball joints. You can look in there at the ball joint boots and see if they are torn - I just replaced mine about a year ago. It's not a hard procedure - you just need some wrenches, an angle grinder, replacement ball joints, a hammer and a punch. You have to grind the rivet head off and punch it out, then replace them with bolst instead.

 

The torn boot won't reveal a dead balljoint, you'll need to pry on them to detect play. If it is side to side and not top to bottom, though, it probably is something else. Check the tie rods.

 

Tie rods can wear in the steering rack. The inner ball joint where it attaches to the rack is the culprit.

I have had two of mine wear on my 944-spec car. Car vibrates like hell when they get too much play (at least with zero toe dialed in).

 

The u-joint in the lower steering column is prone to wear in high milage cars and is often overlooked when trying to hunt down slop in the steering.

 

Thanks for the help guys.....I am going to inspect tonight after work....I will update.....

 

Joe's right about the tie rods. I had the same issue and replaced them to solve the play as well as doing the wheel bearings.

 

I checked everything last eve and all seems fine.....tie rods are tight...ball joints are tight....steering shaft universals look good.....the only place I can see any play is in the rack itself....the rack moves about 1/4 of an inch before the wheels turn.....not much but I do believe a new rack is in order.....car handles fine, though....

 

Are you certain it is the rack, and not one of the u-joints on the intermediate shaft? And you checked the inner tie rods?

 

Didn't check the inner tie rods.....are these inside the rack or just inside the boot?......

 

Inside the boot. Grab the part of the shaft that you can see, between the boot and outer tie rod. Work it back and forth and side to side, and feel/listen for a "thunk" sound or any movment inside the boot area (of course, do this when the steering wheel is in the locked position).

 

I'll check this after work....thanks....I wonder if the car is safe to drive (normal conditions not track)...until I replace them....

 

You may be OK, but I wouldn't feel good about it, personally. It's one of those things that you never know. You know? FYI, I broke a tie rod once (not the porsche) when navigating a slow speed right turn onto a side street. I could not steer the car and it went up onto the opposite curb and stopped on the sidewalk. I'm thankful it happened then, and not at high speed, and that no one was on the sidewalk.