Restore the baseline first
Control-arm bushes, ball joints, top mounts, rear subframe bushes and trailing-arm bushes influence the car more than fashionable hardware. Replace failed parts with coherent quality components, then align the car. Mixing one very stiff bush into an otherwise tired system moves load rather than solving it.
Ride height changes geometry
At the rear, lowering adds negative camber and changes toe through the semi-trailing-arm path. At the front, tie-rod and control-arm angles affect bump response. Choose a usable ride height, confirm suspension travel and measure alignment with the normal fuel and driver load.
Diagnose steering play by source
Steering-column joints, rack mounts, inner and outer tie rods, wheel bearings and front ball joints can all produce vague response. Have an assistant move the wheel gently while each joint is observed under load. Replacing the rack before identifying the movement is expensive guesswork.