What needs to be done to remove several inches of steering wheel play. Thank you for a response.

 

Several inches? Wow, that's pretty severe! Sounds like you need a rack or new tie-rods. You should have an alignment shop look at it.

 

start by jacking up the front end of the car and shake the wheels up and down and back and forht. if there is any play, even a little, you'll need to check/replace tie-rods, ball joints, wheel bearings. how many miles on your steering rack? it's possible that the rack could be shot. if you end up changing the rack, be sure to refill the power steering system with the correct fluid in your owners manual, should be Mercon V ATF depending on the year of your vehicle.

if there is no play when you shake the wheels down, get an alignment, sometimes a simple alignment is all you need.