OK, just found this and want to compare to see if it's normal. I was checking something under the hood (looking for a rattle) so I grabbed the steering shaft (under the hood where it runs from the firewall to the steering box) and it has quite a bit of play in it. I could wiggle it around pretty dang good laterally. No play/movement longitudinally, just lateral. No slop or funny-ness in the steering while driving. Would never guess anything was wrong had I not tried to move the shaft.

So, can someone with an '02-'03 truck go check that steering shaft for me and see what happens??? See if something's wrong with mine?? Thanks guys.