Did you have someone turn the steering wheel while you looked under the car at the idler ?
And maybe jack up the front so the wheels are off the ground and cycle the steering back and forth again and see what you feel.
You could pull the column and try spinning it around then and see how it feels on it's own, along with grabbing a tire and swinging it left to right with the steering column attached and off to see if you feel anything different. Try and maybe narrow things down some ?
Not yet. With my schedule it's almost impossible for me to do something like that. Aside from bringing it to a mechanic, I have no means to properly lift it and evaluate. I just went out and took some pictures, though. Just found out that I have to post them elsewhere before I can link them here.
