mitsu galant 1996, steering wheel free play

There are six things that usually contribute to excessive freeplay in the steering.

1/ Worn or loose tie rod end ball joint. 2/ Worn or loose rack to tie rod coupling. 3/ Worn or loose intermediate tie rod shaft coupling assembly (if your model has one) 4/ Steering gear rack loose, worn or not set up correctly. 5/ Steering gear pinion loose or starting torque not within specs.(this could suggest that pinion bearings are beginning to fail) 6/ Steering gear complete assembly loose on crossmember, ie mounting bolts need tightening. Looseness of steering should be assessed with the weight of the vehicle on the front wheels. ie while the vehicle is on the ground and (preferably) over a pit, not raised up on jacks or on a body lift. Have an assistant turn the steering wheel left and right (you don't have to swing on it, just gently back and forward will do) while the check for looseness is made beneath the vehicle. By holding on to a tie rod first on one side and then the other side of the vehicle you can often feel a click as the worn part unloads and then loads. A thorough visual inspection with a good inspection lamp should determine where the looseness is. If the rubber boots at either end of the steering gear are damaged and leaking then suspect the steering assembly maybe damaged.

Other possibilities are, that a steering knuckle ball joint is worn or a suspension strut could be loose in the top bearing/support. Unusual though. CV joints shouldn't be a contributing factor although loose wheel bearings could. Sounds like your mechanics need to give up their swanky machines and go back to a few basics. Incidentally, low mileage does not necessarily have anything to do with less wear and tear on parts in a vehicle. How a car is driven is often far more likely to have an effect or cause premature failure at low mileage. Eg, a vehicle that is driven on a smooth road to town and driven straight into/out of a parking space is less likely to have steering gear failure than one that is continually driven over rough roads and continually maneuvered into/out of tight parking spaces (ie full lock steering without movement of the vehicle). Likewise, driving riding the clutch or with a foot on the brake pedal etc are all likely to cause premature wear on parts. Should you drive the car until something breaks? NO. If you know there is a fault have it checked out properly and repaired as soon as possible. It comes down to how willing you are to possibly kill yourself or others.

what is your exact problem---have you ever driven a "tight" car? i am lurking this group after some info on fto-gr machines ----but i look after two cosworth 4x4 group a turbo saphire describe your problems--real not percieved

Thank you for extensive info ;-) I was hoping to get response from people familiar with specific service bulletin - if one existed, but I guess you covered in general all issues ;-)

Actually the car drives just fine and it was one mechanic that spotted the problem during regular inspection. He put car on the hoist and tried to move front wheels with both hands, he was able to tilt right wheel in any direction by 1 or 2 milimeters. This does not happen on left wheel.

Something worn or incorrectly set up in the steering department (rod ends/balljoint etc)---However as this is only on one wheel i am going to put money on a wheel bearing that has come slightly loose (right)--more so seeing the car has only done 30k--probably just requires a "nip up" or a cheap replace