'06 Ongoing Steering/Handling Issue Summary

[northguest47]

Pared down the post a bit, here are the conclusions. The power steering rack needed replacing and was not the reason for poor handling (prob just rusted from all the salt). The passenger side front end-link adapter bracket was flexing and failing from metal fatigue and eventually broke two days ago. Removed the loose end, tied off the link for now, and am currently driving the car with no sway bar (as was since it broke that other day, but all that was in the city). The handling with no sway bar is waay better than the handling with the malfunctioning sway bar. Its not as precise as with it, but honestly with the coil-overs its surprisingly still pretty darn good, just not good enough, as I now know how much improvement connecting the sway bar adds.
So lets just wait for a response, but I'm thinking the logical followup is to re-make beefed up versions of those brackets (or double them up, ie. order two more sets) and get the sway bar reconnected along with replacing the passenger side control arm for the same one that's on the drivers side because currently they aren't the same (drivers side aftermarket, pass side oem, 3rd party techs recommendation)
The final conclusion for this matter is that with three shop visits, neither shop noticed the failing part, and this is likely the cause of the wonky handling. While I can't expect a shop to notice an 'aftermarket' part (its a simple angle bracket), I find it rather unsettling that they didn't check the sway bar connections very closely obviously, as the rust and failure line would have been noticeable, I bet any money, but we will never know cuz it broke off on its own.

Edit: thought maybe I had a timing belt issue with some noise, but I calmed down and went back under the car while it was idling.. its that lower pulley squeaking and I could see the bearing or collar turning as well, the sound is that of a loose un-lubricated, damaged bearing with the balls squeaking and grinding in that pulley, so its not a big issue but does need replacing. Here is a picture attached of the pulley in question: