I have bent my front left steering arm and am.

Depends on which arm, how badly it's bent, and what it's doing to the alignment. Fords already are known for poor tire wear and having few alignment adjustments. They also have a lot of trouble with steering and suspension parts that separate leading to loss of control and crashes. If you're involved in a crash, even if the other guy ran the red light, you'll need to explain to a jury why you ignored a known problem. Lawyers and insurance investigators love to find things like that and things people have modified. That is the less-known aspect of not having known problems repaired right away.

There's three things alignment specialists look for on a test-drive before they start an alignment. Is the steering wheel straight or off to one side? Does the car pull to one side when you let go of the steering wheel? What do the tire wear patterns look like. You can see the first two yourself to judge the severity of the problem. Tire wear takes longer to show up. An alignment specialist at a tire and alignment shop can read the tires and determine what is normal for that model and what has a cause that can be corrected.