Making front end solid

My old grey craftsman front end is nearly ruined. The channel the front cross bar runs through has been worn and pushed so badly I have a ton of front to back movement. I'm thinking of just running a couple bolts through it on either side of the pivot to make it solid. How badly does that effect handling and off reading. As it stands now I have so much slop in the front end i can't go into 5th or I will end up all over the road/forest. It's pretty unsafe.
Does anyone have a simpler fix other than direct steering? I'm just not interested in doing that right now.