Thanks again for the replies, y'all!
fatmobile:
Correct, the last time I did alignment on my other rabbit, when I got it back the steering wheel wasn't centered radially any more, they told me to pull the steering wheel and turn it, which I did. Haven't experienced any problems with that rabbit yet, that shop did a great job (so far as I can tell, but it was just a different tech at the same place...). Perhaps with this pickup the rack and pinion is no longer centered, and is too far to one side to cause problems? Like maybe over time the tie-rods have been adjusted the same way too many times, and now the whole thing is out of whack. I'll check that this evening, could be problematic. I'll also measure, I thought that might be what you were referring to.
Iamvandemon:
Yeah, no power steering, just beefy arms.
He did drive it and said "woah, pulls right pretty good." Then when I got it back, he said "the alignment's good, brakes are all good, and bearings are all fine, but it still pulls right pretty good." uuugh... brakes were seized, bearings were shot, and the camber was way off. He said "radial slip" was the cause of the pulling and blamed the tires/wheels. I've put on three different sets of wheels/tires (cause I happen to have that many sets) and have ruled out wheels/tires being the problem.
libbydiesel:
Might not be torque steer then, it pulls equally under any load. It's just more noticeable when I'm going faster.
I'm 100% going to get me the proper tools. Bentley manual has the procedure, I've just been too nervous about destroying tires if I screw it up. Figured a shop and $100 would ease my mind, but seems like the wrong shop just makes it that much worse... doing it myself from here on out.
Steps for this evening:
Still gonna take it to the shop. New guy I found really knows his stuff, even told me that it felt like I removed the spacer in the dynamic timing housing... which I totally did. And he only took it for a 5-min joyride. He also complimented my bean-can and hose air intake upgrade. Plus the fact that he has 3 of his own rabbits in the driveway gives me some confidence. I'll pay him for a full inspection and to reset the alignment, like $150 or so, and he'll give me a list of what HE would do if it were his vehicle. I'll do myself what I can, and pay him to do the rest.