steering and other problems

[citizen]

Symptons:
-it takes progressively more force to turn the wheels to the left as it gets closer to lock. Turning to the right requires much less force and the amount is linear through to lock. It does this at all times, even when the car is not moving.
-car pulls slightly to the right at all times, not tires, wheels or alignment
-there is an intermitent shimmy in steering at approx 75mph. It will be there then ill go around a corner and it will be gone, then come back again.
-creaking and popping from front suspension at low speeds, stopped, or braking
-the worst is the horrible tracking at freeway speeds, wheels track in every little variation in the road and during high speed cornering (50+) when the car hits a bump it feels like the car shifts towards the outside of the corner, feels like the front end is floating over the wheels

Attempted corrections:
t/c rod bushing
steering rack bushings
tein tie rods
alignment

Suspicions:
-my steering rack is fubared-- a few months ago the pressure relief valve on the pump opened up while driving, drove approx 30 miles home with no fluid.
-strut mounts are binding and doing other wierd things
-ball joint on lca doing something wierd

Questions:
-What do i check for when inspection strut mounts? Cracks in rubber, rips, how smooth should the rotation of the bearing be? Is it acceptable to have ANY play laterally?
-Could ball joints be causing this, what do i inspect for?
-If its steering rack, could symptons be caused by the line failure, if not what else? Ive read about the adjusting screw spring, could this be causing the steering problems? If not, should i just replace the entire rack and pinion?

Next steps:
Since im poor im replacing the cheapest and the most obvious things first, next on list is lca bushings. I can also pick up the steering rack for cheap.

Help me with some direction with the next task.

[Dream240]

I had some of the same simptoms, the shimmy that comes and goes. and the creaking sounds from the front end.

I have all new suspension all the way around, including new pillow mounts and all bushings, and I STILL can't locate where the creaking is coming from. Somawhere in the passenger side front. I'm thinking it's a sway car bushing issue cause that's the only thing I haven't replaced. Also the shimmy is a combination of things. Souns like you've hit the main problem. Your rack. If you've got play in there whether it's right or left, then it's toast. I had the shimmy but replaced my busted up tie rod ends and got an alignment and alls good. But since you've done that then I would say it's the rack. Seems like that's the root of most of your probelms. Also with the floating, that sounds like bad struts and worn pillow mounts. Has the car ever been hit in the front? If so then that would contribute to premature wear on suspension parts that are out of whack even though you can see the damage until you take the suspension out of the car. I didn't even now I had a bent pillow mount plate until I took the strut assembly out of the car and couldn't get it back in cause one of the bolts was bent outward from the bent plate. So go rent a spring compressor kit from Autozone and pull the front assemblies and see if there's any worn or flat rubber pieces in there. Also after you pull the assembly apart, test your strut for stiffness if you compress the strut rod by gently pushing it against the ground and it does not extend itself out or it takes a really long time to extend then it's bad.
These are just a few tips to get you going. I know it sounds like alot but most of it is pulling the strut assembly apart, once you got that the rest is simply inspecting the parts for wear.

Good luck

[citizen]

*update* i used a stethoscope to help isolate the sound, it would appear to be coming from the lca bushings. so after replacement ill see if that solves most the problems.

[citizen]

*Update* well i feel stupid that i didn't notice this while replacing the steering rack. WHen i turn to the left the left tie rod end actually hits the lca. when i turn to the right it stops at the normal spot. I looked at the the rack to see what was up, the left stop on the rack is inside the housing and the right is outside the housing, so the rack and travel about .5inches more into the housing when turning to the left. So i think what i'm gonna do is make an insert that sticks inside the housing to move to stopping point so its equal to the other side. Other than that im still waiting on bushings press to replace the lca bushings.