add lightness

So I just finished a depower with welded pinion along with poly rack mount bushings on my NA6, and was disappointed to discover that the popping noise it made when wiggling the wheel when parked hasn't gone away. Took a closer look and noticed the rack clearly shifting by a solid 1/4" along its axis when doing this. This car has always had slightly squishy steering on-center, and I did all this work hoping to make it feel as good as my other, low-mile, PS-equipped NA6, which has incredible steering feel. It still isn't as good. Obviously I've found the source. The brackets are both tight and seemed to clamp down on the rack firmly when installed. Has anyone else ever noticed this issue? I never looked closely at the stock 150k bushings beforehand to see if there was motion, but judging by the consistent noise and feel, I can assume it was behaving the same. Should I put some shims under the driver's side mount to get the bracket to clamp it tighter? Can I get a more rigid bracket? Has anyone investigated rack braces yet or should I be the first?

Video for reference! -