steering chatter?

i have a 07 Sport and for the last 15-20k miles or so the steering wheel jumps to the left and right with every bump and crack in the road, just the littlest bit. the feeling is different than feedback i've felt from any full-size truck ive owned or driven. truck tracks straight even with the wheel jiggling left and right a few degrees, its quite the annoyance and the feeling is much stronger on steep speed bumps. Ive recently moved so i don’t even have the tools to pull a skid plate ATM. looking for educated suggestions of what the culprit is before i start dishing out money for diagnostic time. rack wear? cracked balls? away bar problems?
cheers!

 

Jack the front of your truck up, grab the tire (do this on both sides) put one hand on top and the other hand on bottom of your tire and try and move the tire in and out, then move your hands to front of tire front and back, try moving it in and out, if you can't feel any significant movement or play then wheel bearings, tie-rods and ball joints should be good.
Inside your cab(drivers side) on the floor, where the steering column goes through the floor, there is a plastic cover held on with 4 round clips(no tools needed) remove all 4 and then cover, inspect all parts of the steering shaft visible with your eyes and hands.
These are the most usual suspects, I have 154,000 miles on my truck with a 6 inch lift and 35's and Haven't had one problem with my rack and pinion or inner tie-rods.
Let me know what you find out.

 

I’ll jack it up in the morning. i really hope i don't have to rip out a steering shaft.

 

Could be an alignment with too much caster

 

well, sears did the alignment, and its been almost 15,000 miles, annnnd I was towing overloaded from Alaska to cali, a castor alignment makes a lot of sense.

 

If it is the steering shaft, removing it is the easy part (just did it a few days ago) if it needs to be replaced, paying $200- $300 plus for a new intermediate shaft is the hard part.