This does a steering system no good.

 

Did anyone do any front end work? Looks like damage from a pickle fork. Really only a problem over the long haul where road grit gets in and slowly grinds and destroys the joint. Yours doesn't look like that YET but will eventually happen over time.

 

It was like that before I removed it which is why I wasn't surprised that dirt and grit got in there and destroyed the joint as you described. And it was destroyed. This van has over 230,000 miles, used both as a work van and to tow a camper to music festivals by someone who laid carpet for a living and eventually died of a drug overdose. I doubt it had good scheduled maintenance and who knows if the steering linkage was ever lubed. This vehicle had a hard life and I'm not surprised by anything I find. The steering linkage parts have been cheap and easy to replace so I'm just going through it. Fortunately the engine and transmission are doing great.

 

All kinds of fresh grease there so someone was lubing it if it had a fitting. If that's a drag link, you probably are fine without an alignment.

 

how did your RV drive after changing the parts?