2007 Craftsman 3500 DLS lawn Tractor

I have had steering problems with this mower stemming from a bent right drive link. After trying unsuccessfully to find the right part, I decided to try to bend the existing link to original shape with some success. Now my steering is really feeling loose. It's like a gear or bushing is worn out, but I don't see any such part on my mower. I've checked the tire pressure just to see if the was the cause. It wasn't. Any ideas?

 

You'll have to look and see where the slack is. Could be just about any moving part of the steering. Without a model number, I don't know what type steering you have.

 

I took some pictures of the front end of this tractor, but didn't see any way to upload them.
The pictures show the tread wear: on the right front I have about 1 inch of tread on both outside edges of the tire with the 4 inches in the middle are worn, the left side shows 2 inches of wear in the center with good tread on both outside edges and again the tire pressure is right. With the front end on the jack both tires slide about 1/2 inch on the spindle, but they do not wobble. The steering wheel has a little slack. It takes about 1 3/4 turns of the steering wheel to go from hard left to hard right. I've had to steering assembly off and didn't notice any wear and tear on the gears. I did notice there is a bushing in the area of the gear plate but I did not know how to check it when it was apart.
Help!!

 

The model #for this tractor is 917288132.

 

On that model, I would suspect the play is in the ball joints on the tie rods more than anywhere else as these don't usually have bushing problems. Mowers normally have sloppy tolerance in the steering anyway, I'd probably let it be unless it's enough to be a problem.

 

10-4. Thanks for your time and help!