Finally tore into the front axle, half the screws were loctite-ed, and the other half were loose. The cause of the slop was a loose set screw on the ring gear, and a loose set screw on the passenger side CV joint. I lubed all 9 wheel bearings including the pinion bearing with white lithium grease (my plan was to use marine grease but it didn't seem to be getting inside the tiny bearings) and put it back together with blue loctite.
With a torch I bent the steering tie rod even further but it still wasn't quite enough (guess I'll have to she'll out the dough for the aftermarket one). I also moved it to the closest hole on the servo horn and shortened the horn for more clearance between it and the third member.
After that I installed the big Mn 90 super soft crawler tires. They scrub a little when the wheel is turned to the right and your at full flex, but not enough to matter. They made a big difference in crawling though. I lost a little bit of torque (3s brushless is next) because of the larger diameter, but it'll go over anything now.
