I drive a 2005 ford escape. The steering just will not stay right. ive had it aligned 3 times since i bought it. There is free play in the steering only after hitting a hard bump at first. then the free play goes away until you have to make another turn. You execute the turn just fine then it goes free immediately after the turn for just a split second. The tires are also cup wearing. On inspection i found a bad drivers side lower control arm ball joint and i also know that the passenger side front wheel bearing is bad. I purchased a ball joint and bearing and will be replacing those asap. What (if anything) can i do to fix my problem with my steering. The power steering pump was replaced back in 2006. Belt squeaks a lil but it goes away, i was thinking possibly the pump is going bad considering the squeaking of the belt. help!?!?

according to the carfax history, it is a one owner. The vechicle was owned by a rich couple from new hampshire. This couple was and probably still are huge nascar fans. From what i was told by the dealership the couple towed it to almost every race. Now back to the carfax, it states that it has no accident record and is clean. The only thing that was documented in carax is the change of the power steering pump back in 06. to my knowledge this vechicle has never been in an accident. However with it having been towed so much this is a huge factor. The odometer has only 16K on it to date. Thats part of the reason why i cant seem to figure out whats going on with it. Thanks for the advice. Do you have any more suggestions ??? Im going to begin work and personal inspection on it tomorrow at my friends garage according to the carfax history, it is a one owner. The vechicle was owned by a rich couple from new hampshire. This couple was and probably still are huge nascar fans. From what i was told by the dealership the couple towed it to almost every race. Now back to the carfax, it states that it has no accident record and is clean. The only thing that was documented in carax is the change of the power steering pump back in 06. to my knowledge this vechicle has never been in an accident. However with it having been towed so much this is a huge factor. The odometer has only 16K on it to date. Thats part of the reason why i cant seem to figure out whats going on with it. Thanks for the advice. Do you have any more suggestions ??? Im going to begin work and personal inspection on it tomorrow at my friends garage