'00 Protege EX Clunking in Steering Rack

[Mazdafreak67]

My son's '00 Protege EX w/5-speed has a clunking sound coming from the front of the car when he hits a bump or enters a driveway. Spending an hour or so under the front end while moving various parts, it seems to be coming from inside the power steering rack.
Has anyone else had this problem?

What's funny is that the wheels and tie-rods feel tight (no slop), but I can get it to make the clunk if my son turns the steering wheel rapidly while I push up on the bellows containing the inner tie-rod socket.
Bad inner tie-rod socket?

[TWISFM]

i just had this same problem...jack the car up again take the wheels off and have him turn the wheels again..hold the sway bar in your hand... if its vibrating or you can feel the clunking then its the sway bar bushings.. to be 100% sure dissconect the endlinks while the car is in the air and then turn the wheel if its gone theres your answer.... if its not just keep holding diff things to see where the vibration is

[Mazdafreak67]

Thanks for the suggestion, Twis, but already tried that. I read on some other posts that the end links could be the problem. No such luck.
It's definitely coming from the steering rack.

[concept]

I hear something similar, so my guess is that it is a common problem. I have not had the time to troubleshoot, but my first guess was that it was coming from the shock assembly.