I am at house in Florida 500 miles from my dealer. I developed a slight popping sound in the front end mainly going over rough surfaces and is pretty much constant now so getting worse. Yesterday, we put it u on a rack and the guy down here, not a Lotus technician but a former Porsche technician, though it to be in the rack in pinion as it kind of pops when turning the wheels side to side. It now does it when I push down over the front right wheel. Is this a shock or the rack and pinion?

I need to get the car to a dealer, but don't really want to have to pay to flat bed the car on my own dime 500 miles just to get warranty work. The steering is not lose, but I am not sure if it is safe to drive.