Ford Repair: 2003 Expedition EB 4X4 loose steering, wheel alignment, ford dealership

Question
2003 EB Expedition 4X4 with 78K miles.  Had the truck for about a year and over that time have noticed that the steering is loose, allowing for about 1" play at highway speeds.  Ford dealership says that it might be the rack/pinion but says there is no adjustment--just replace.  Service records from previous owner showed another dealer corrected by adjusting rack/pinion. I have had a 4-wheel alignment done just 6 months ago and all is good.  Tires are wearing normal(no cupping or odd wear).  Is this a common issue on these vehicles ?  Anything that I can check without the help of the dealer ?  Thanks in advance for your help.

Answer
First, check the basic linkage.  Ball joint, steering arms, connecting rods.  Make sure that they all are solid, no loosness or cracking while turning.  If all that checked out good.  Then it could be the rack/pinion.  For info on adjustment, check out Autozone.com, look in the repair section for your model, for adjustment.  The odds are, it could be adjusted if it was once done.  Additionally, check the steerig column assembly.

Sam