We can only offer SWAGs until you tear into things a bit more, but I'll throw mine in:
- You can check the king pin arrangement by getting all the weight off the front wheels, grabbing the wheel/tire firmly at the 12 and 6 o'clock positions and try to move the wheels back-and-forth vertically and horizontally. There should be essentially no travel whatsoever, but a tiny bit is probably acceptable if you don't plan on driving the car a whole lot. If there's a lot of play--say, more than a 1/32" on the top and bottom of the wheel--your king pin bushes, and possibly the king pin itself should be renewed at your earliest convenience (check/repack wheel bearings, etc. while you're at it). If there's a lot of lateral play--shouldn't be since you replaced the tie rods--something might bind when steering.
- Unless you've changed to Torrington bearings, the entire weight of the front end weighs on some bronze thrust bushings and shims. With the wheel off, check vertical movement of the king pin in the top and bottom trunnions. Ordinarily, a little movement is not an issue as the car sits on these bearings, and on the road there would only be much (relative) movement if you pull negative Gs (i.e. bouncing or getting airborne). Again, if there's more than a smidge it may be time to check/renew the bushings (consider the Torrington upgrade).
- Other than the aforementioned, unless you spot something obvious, move all the front suspension around--'manhandle' it--and look for anything that feels tight or binds, or just "doesn't feel right." The problem you have is usually caused by the adjusting peg being too tight--I say from experience--but wth 2" of steering wheel play that shouldn't be the problem.
- Please report back what you find.
Edit (after second cup of coffee): ".. the entire weight of the front end weighs on some bronze thrust bushings and shims ..." is
incorrect; the bulk of the weight of the front end sits on the coil springs, so a teeny bit of vertical travel of the king pins shouldn't be a problem (I'll be corrected if that isn't true
).