You are right, I could not see the condition of part 7. I replaced the "doughnut" part 8, but it really wasn't in bad condition. Part 10 on the top of the assembly was perfectly fine, with almost no wear. Since I left the bearing support flange connected, I didn't have to mess with the spring at all, so the alignment shouldn't have changed. I simply pushed the shaft of the strut in far enough to slip the new doughnut in, then guided the shaft back through the bearing support flange and reassembled. I was going for a cheap and easy fix... didn't work this time.

If the culprit is a weak strut, I will replace the parts you listed. From what I've read, if you do one side, you should do both. Just been trying to verify before I spend the cash and effort. If I shouldn't be able to compress the shaft that easily, that will be enough to convince me.