Top dead center of steering wheel there is about a inch of play or so back and forth where the steering does nothing. It my 87 Iroc Failed inspection for this, i replaced rag joint, steering box. I checked the all the rubber in front, its all good not rotted or dried out. Any guesses?

 

How many miles? Has anything else been replaced besides these two components?

I once had a steering shaft bolt at the gearbox that was super loose after a header install, resulting in some serious steering wheel play. Had to Loctite and torque that bolt with a breaker bar, but all is good now and hasn't loosened up since.

 

Like mentioned, either your steering gear isn't properly adjusted and you can do a search for the procedure to do that. You should pull the car onto ramps and have someone turn the wheel back and forth slightly, enough to make the tires move. You get under and look at the steering linkage for any looseness, or anything that doesn't move as one unit. Also look at the frame behind the steering gear. These are known to crack from stress.

 

Check your center link. I had a bit of play on my car and could not find it. With the car on the ground, I had another person turn the wheel(when the car is off) and found that the centerlink was to blame(right at the steering box). Replaced that and everything is perfect.

 

Its not in lower part of system. Its up past steering gear, that shaft, the joint or column. There is no play or wear in the system anywhere else.