meechuacon

Hey everyone, I took my car to a shop today that is owned by a friend of the family b/c my power steering was leaking. I noticed it leaking after I had raced my buddies WS-6 Trans am, and by the way I won. But anyways, I knew it was leaking from the rack b/c both sides of the rack were dripping fluid. I called them today to see what the damage would be and they said with labor and alignment it would cost $740 to replace! Am I getting shafted?

meechuacon

Also, do you think that the torque from racing did something to the power steering b/c I know I hadn't hit anything that would cause the leak. The guy at the shop asked me if I had hit anything b/c he said it was split and the tie rods were bent as well. Any info you guys could supply would make me feel better about spending $700 on stupid power steering.

P Zero

It sounds like they wanna give it to you in the poopar.[:@]
Call around to local shops and see what they say, and if you do need a new rack get a Ford racing one or something.
Im sure theres a shop in your area that specializes in rack and pinions and rebuilds them or has rebuilt units for pretty cheap.
-P.

Derf00

Go online and get prices for the R/P then ask a shop how many hours it takes to install + alignment. Find out what your 'friends' hourly shop rate is. That should be close to what you're getting charged for. If not, go somewhere else.

Rack&Pinion + Alignment + (Hours of labor X shop rate) = ?? 740 seems a bit high to me but the I haven't priced a rack for our cars nor do I know what your friend charges per hour.

meechuacon

Well, I told them to go ahead and do it b/c I have had work done from them before and it is quality. Besides, if he does doa botchy job I can give him flack at all the family get togethers. I just didn't think thata steering rack could cost that much to buy and install.

meechuacon

Hey guys, went online to 50resto and they are selling a new rack for $579 so I guess $160 for labor and alignment isn't bad.

Fryguy22

are you going with the stock rack?

cliffyk

$138, including $18prepaid return shipping for the core(+$99refundable core charge) , and probably another $18 to ship it to you; and I would guess 4 hours max labour to swap out the rack, refill fluid (bleed, etc.), and do the alignment (only toe-in is necessary, unless there was some prior problem). [/align][/align]So $740 (and let's say there's a 25% markup on the parts) would work out to $195 for the rack and about $136/hour labour--I'd like to be your friend too...[/align][/align]Find a local CV Joint place, theyoften do steering gears too and are usually no-nonsense people.[/align] [/align][/align](edited to add initial shipping cost)[/align]