I first developed a cluck noise when turning the steering wheel and noticed my car pulling to the right enough that my tire on the front driver side was wearing on the outer edge. I thought it was the intermediate shaft from the clunk noise but I was turned to thinking maybe it was a bad tie rod. So I replaced my inner and outer rods on both sides and took it to be aligned. The guy at the shop said it could also be a bad strut. So i replaced the struts on the car and the sound went away. After a couple months the car wanting to turn to the right came back but not any noise. I took it back to the guy at the alignment shop said my control arms were also bad so I replaced them as well and got another alignment but the guy said there wasn't really anything to align it was in specs already and charges half labor. Well the problem never really went away and the tires prematurely wearing had me worried so now 6 months later I am able to afford taking care of the problem. Thinking the first shop may have not had used properly calibrated equipment I decided to take my car to a different shop and they showed me that my toe and Camber were off they made the proper adjustments and everything was in the green I watch them do the whole thing. For the camber they had to readjust on the strut. Anyways I go to leave the shop and it seems to drive somewhat okay but still not right after getting off the highway and making a couple of turns the problem seems like it was only worse it wanted to steer right if you hold the steering wheel straight and it would be crooked going down the road having to always steer to the left.
Now since I've owned the car the steering wheel has never locked
When sitting on a flat surface and the car off I can turn the steering wheel a bit to the left and to the right before it starts to engage the wheels making a loose clunky noise.
Visually inspecting the u-joint while jiggling the steering wheel it doesn't look like it's really binding or loose but it seems the loose part would be at the rack and pinion
What should be my angle of attack?
Rack and pinion? Intermediate shaft? Both? Steering column? All three? I feel like I'm going nuts trying to solve this problem and getting back from the alignment shop in my alignment being worse is just a nightmare.

 

The back and forth is free play, when it slows down that's when the tires begin to turn

https://youtu.be/vrnQL4CeO6Estart

 

After spending all those $'s on tie rods, struts, lower control arms and who knows how many alignments, and it still isn't resolved? Why not take it to a shop for a proper diagnosis?
Or just shotgun it yourself, and replace the Rack and Pinion, the intermediate shaft, steering column.

 

guy
if the car stubbornly asks to the right - something is crooked.
You replaced what you already wrote about.
Let's think about where else Satan can hide.
1. Something is distorted in front part of the car:
1.1. The guys rightly pointed to the steering rack. Those symptoms that you described do not indicate the steering rack directly. But if you have a couple of extra hundred bucks - replace it.
1.2. Subframe (cradle) - this thing can be curved or mounted crookedly. Perhaps, the cradle attachment points are shifted, this happens when the car spars are deformed after an accident. What is the history of the car ?;
1.3. The right suspension elements may be the reason ... I'm talking about the shock absorber strut and the steering knuckle.
Paragraphs 1.2 and 1.3. can be checked visually. Upon careful examination, the cause will be identified. The shock absorber strut will have to be removed for inspection.
2. There is something curved behind.
In principle, only a beam is behind. If it is curved, an inexperienced worker will not be able to properly set the front wheel toe-in / camber. Because when setting up the front wheels, aim at the rear wheels. I know this because I also have a curved rear beam. The master makes a small roll to the left to compensate for this, then the car goes straight.
Write when it all started. Perhaps this will help narrow your search.

 

Did anyone think of hubs?

 

I went ahead a replaced the rack and pinion since it was available same day. When I took the old one out the play in it was ridiculous. Especially compared to the new part which was very solid. I'm guessing this was the problem the whole time.. the reason I replaced all the other parts is because I have stupid high (236xxx now) miles and it all needed to be done anyway and for whatever reason neither myself or anyone I took it to mentioned the RnP. But anyway, on the way back to the shop for an alignment I could already tell it was riding so much smoother and solid. No rattles when braking (thought I just had a warped rotor) or odd behavior anymore.

 

When I replaced the RnP on Oldblue, the alignment was perfect. No adjustments required. A GM factory rack , included inner and outer tie rods.