Almost wasted efforts today. Used ramps and crawled under the car to check out shifter bushings. To my regret they are on top of the tranny, in the middle of the tunnel, and can't be seen. Inspected the steering drag linkage and discovered the ball joint connected to the idler arm is bad. The rest of the drag link is good. Don't know if the ball joint is replaceable or not. It's not super bad but will have to be dealt with in a while. Hope I won't have to buy a whole new steering drag linkage. Underside looks good with no leaks.
UPDATE @ 11:20PM- No parts found for the knuckles on steering drag linkage. (Searched Amazoo and eBad.)