Wear and tear may come into it, but will also cause other more noticeable symptoms such as vibration on take-off/landing roll, and after rotation while the gear is down.
I did hear of one aircraft (a 737) where there was a history of vibration when on take-off roll that got to the point that the it couldn't be traced to any one point of the gear legs, so a triple gear change was reqd! Apparently when engineers went with a crew to do some taxi tests at 80 knots it was nearly impossible to read the flight instruments due to the vibration!!
Wear and tear to the extent that the gears cause the aircraft to crab on the ground is very unlikely I would think, but I could be wrong. Routine lubrication and inspections helps to minimise wear and tear in the linkages and mechanisms if carried out correctly, if not lubed regularly, wear can be accelerated.
I have worked on 73's for 6 years now, doing major maintenance checks, and never come across this as a reported defect- yet!