If someone put a fast ratio pitman arm on it at some point, that could be the issue, too. They are longer than stock and require a fast ratio idler arm to match so you won't run into the exact problem you have.
I was wondering if that could be the case. One of my concerns about heating it and bending it is that it now seems to take a lot of turns lock to lock. Effectively shorten it will only make that worse.
BTW I have a friend who has a dropped axle business. I will get advice from him about doing it properly.
