Axle question...?

'98 Regal LS

When I was checking my wheel bearings,
I noticed that my driver's side axle has some
play to it, i'm able to move it up and down and
back and forth. My passenger side axle has no
play however.
Is this a sign of a bad axle and should be replaced?
Could a bad axle cause a clunking in my steering
wheel while turning?

Yes, that is a definite sign of a bad axle and it will cause the clunking you describe.

yeaaa, couldn't get anymore blunt
than that, ehh?

I found an '04 Century in the boneyard
with a good front end. I'll pull the axle
out of that tommorrow.

Oh btw, thanks for the help.
Greatly appreciated.

so I just got done replacing my axle...
There's no more 'rubbing' sound..
That's good I guess.
But I still have that clunk in my steering wheel...
*&^*((*& hmmm...

The steering wheel clunk is most likely a steering colunm intermediate shaft. It's the piece that goes through the firewall and hooks to the rack and pinion, very common issue on these cars.

I had a feeling it had to be something
with the steering wheel column...
I just did my wheel bearings yesterday
and the clunk is still there.. Had a feeling
it would be...

So how would I fix a problem like this?
What would I have to replace?
How would I access this?