Steering Rack question for techs

[Blackjetvette97]

Hi all,
Is it normal to have ANY play in the steering rack pole with the teeth on it? Meaning, if you grab the inner rod attached to it and work it up & down, should there be ANY movable up/down play visible with it? I have a click/clunk noise when turning and was going to have my mech replace the inner/outer tie rods, but he found "play" in the rack. There is NO click/clunk in the steering while the car is on the lift and the tires are OFF(I did it myself to test). I am at a loss of what could be causing the click/clunk and don't welcome spending over a thousand bucks to replace rack with reman'd one. I searched "Steering Rack rebuild" on here and read a couple posts by Weasel and others about other possibilities. I'm very confused and frustrated.

Steve