'03 Suburban 1500 pitman arm?

i have an '03 suburban 4X4. the last 6 mos or so there has been a rattle in the front end. i think i finally figured out that it's the pitman arm. i pried against the bolt of the pitman arm, and there's about 1/4" of play.

it looks like i have to take the steering box out to replace it. is there any way to do it on the car? looks like the sway bar is in the way. just trying to figure out which is easier - taking the sway bar down or the steering box out.

thanks

i have a new theory.
i discovered that there's a lot of play in the idler that connects to the tie rod on the pass. side. Also discovered that there was a grease fitting there. safe to say that it's never been greased as long as we've had the car (103K on it). i greased it and the noise and rattle mostly went away, so i think that's it. guess i'll have to replace it now.