appreciate all the constructive responds!
Bigsyke, thanks for the careful reading! Recalling how I did my installation, I agree that my method was very unware of the steering rack. And I have no doubt this would be an installation problem. In this case, I think my best bet is install my rucas today and then do an alignment.
For the locking plate, I know a lot of people remove them and neglect them, but the problem I have here is different. I left them on together with inner tie rod spacer. By the level of how I manually pryed each of them out, I'm considering it may also be a problem of causing uneven steering angle. Anybody?