Hey guys, hope someone can send me in the right direction. My steering feels absolutely direct and immediate turning toward the driver's side, but there's very obvious and significant play towards the passenger. I'm wondering if this could be the rack itself. Besides that and wheel bearings, I have replaced every single other part. The entire suspension is new and it aligns perfectly on the rack. The steering coupling was done as well.
I suspect the problem could stem from when a shop had my car and ostensibly drove it over a curb. It did enough damage to blow out the front control arm bushing; it was entirely detached from the carrier, just clanking around in the housing. After this I replaced the arm, tie-rods, and end links. The problem persisted. I didn't want to replace the strut, mount, or bearing, since they were then brand new, but I've come around to doing that chasing this issue. I did them piece by piece, and the $20 bearing, of all things, made the most significant difference. It was knocked out of round and fell apart in my hands as I took apart the strut. Yet the problem persists.
Could contact with a curb destroy the teeth in the rack or something of this nature? It does not leak. The key thing is that the problem is strictly to the passenger side. There is no noise to indicate bearing failure, so I can't think of anything else to replace besides the rack.
The only bushing still on the car from the time of the accident is the RTAB, which is what the shop was replacing-before I realized how you can do it in thirty minutes with the proper tool...However, I don't believe the rear wheel made contact with whatever was hit, as there was no sign of anything.
Would appreciate any reassurance before spending more money.