Lol!

I decided to order new inner tie rods anyway! Advance Auto'* 40% off coupons are complete win. Two Moog tie rods for $50 + tax, local pickup. Rockauto'* price was $62.27 after the 5% coupon. I figured I might as well at this point. I have confirmed that it is steering related though. I was in the parking lot and I sat there turning my wheel both slowly and quickly, and at certain moments, I could hear some noises right as the resistance increased. Either the rack is loose or the inners are bad.

Will it be much work replacing the inners? I've never done it, but I noticed there'* a boot and I haven't yet taken one of those off yet. Any pointers?

Check the front motor mount while you're under there. If the original gel-filled type is still there, might be getting "torque steer".

Joel

Mount is brand new. L67 engine swaped in a month ago.

Without any hopping under diagnosis, it could be the rack. And yes..the inners on a GM usually require a special tool to replace them.

Andrie, the lower engine and trans mounts may be causing an issue. Those were the units from the donor engine

What do the engine and trans mounts have to do with steering. Steering rack is bolted to subframe, so no engine movement should cause the issue I'm seeing here, unless I'm missing something.

<-- confused

If they are moving enough, they can cause some very unwanted halfshaft angles and end up possibly binding or causing overall torque steer.

But it does sounds like loose front end parts