Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Control arm / alignment problem

I've been having an alignment problem for the past year on my '96 SE, where the car consistently pulls to the left. I've had 2 different alignment shops do 4 wheel alignments on the car, and it has come back still pulling slightly to the left. This last time, I brought the car back and told them the alignment wasn't done right as it still pulls. They put the car back on the alignment machine, and found it was out of spec again (after just 1 day and 100 miles). They asked if I hit any potholes, and I told them no, as I hadn't. Puzzled, they took the car for a test drive again after re-aligning it. They said it drove straight for the first few miles, then later it started pulling to the left again. They figured something must be loose in the front suspension to do this, so they put it on the lift and looked for problems. They found the lower control arm bushings on both sides were very worn, especially the left side, which was nearly shot. He showed me the play in the control arm bushing by yanking on a pry bar, which I felt for myself - it was easy to move the control arm. I could also see the bushing was missing chunks in some spots and just looked worn out and in poor condition. He said that this was the problem with the alignment.

However, I'm trying to make sure that this is in fact the cause of the problem, as replacing the control arms (you can't buy just the bushings) is an expensive and labor intensive proposition. He's working on an estimate now, but I figure it will cost at least $400 in parts, plus probably another $300 in labor.

So my questions are:

1) Could a bad control arm bushing throw off the alignment? It's not like it jumps back and forth - it consistently always pulls to the left slightly. Also, it handles and steers fine - no play at all. No noises, no clunks.

2) If I choose not to replace the control arms and just leave everything alone, is there any safety hazard with bad control arm bushings?

Thanks for any help / advice.