Jim---It still sounds like the wheels may be tilting when the car
direction is in reverse. (A peculiarity of the castor angle, I think)
You can check this by noting the camber angle of the front wheels after
driving forward, then stopping. Presumably the wheels will be near
'straight up'. Next, drive the car backwards about 20 feet or so. Stop,
to check the camber angle again. If it is now in a negative camber, the
brake pads have been knocked back, as noted by Nelson. The easiest way
of reducing this brake pedal drop is to keep the front wheel bearings
snug. Most TR wheels I've come across were very easy to shake, top to
bottom, as a result of loose bearings. (If you slalom your car, you may
notice how many times the tech inspectors harp on the owners about such
things.)
On the play in your rack & pinion mounts, it sounds as if the mounts
weren't in a slack-free position before the U-bolts were secured. Bob
Lang has a good method for setting these. Perhaps he'll repeat it here.
Dick
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