Usually, the recentering procedure is not necessary just to adjust the backlash. If you do the adjustment, do it a little at a time until things just tighten up to where they need to be, but not so tight that the wheel will not self-return after a corner (due to the adjustment being too tight). I usually like to do it just a quarter turn at a time or maybe 1/8 turn at a time. I've read the Chrysler service manual adjustment procedure where you're supposed to have an inch-pound torque wrench and have the steering linkage loose from the pitman arm, but I've had just as much luck with the method I mentioned above, done with the engine off (some of those exhaust manifolds are a little close!)
Sometimes, the backlash adjustment will not take all of the free-play out of the box. In that case, see if the stub shaft is moving in and out of the input side of the box as the wheel is turned from center. There's an adjustment up there too!
Leaks? Most every Chrysler that I've bought that had power steering leaks usually had "red" fluid instead of clear fluid in it. When I flushed the old stuff out and refilled with Chrysler Power Steering Fluid (or the similar GM fluid, but Chrysler used to sell it in a metal quart bottle that had a rolled lip on the threads so it would not drip as you ended the pouring activity), the leaks usually stopped soon thereafter. Since at least 1962, Chrysler and GM have spec'd "power steering fluid" for their power steering systems--not automatic trans fluid (where the red color comes from).
Most service station people will or did use ATF to top off a power steering system, but if there's a leak, the system is soon full of the wrong fluid. Similar viscosity but different things in it. The seals in the system are not spec'd to deal with ATF and they'll usually end up leaking. Getting most of the ATF out will usually stop the leak, from my experience.
Earlier systems might have spec'd Type A ATF, and that is fine, but the later systems did not.
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