mrau92me

My car is one owner, mostly stock w/ 165k miles. I retired it as a daily driver a few years ago, but I had been driving it monthly up until about a year ago. It needed a brake master cylinder and blah blah, I just finished the master cylinder work and was checking the PS fluid in preps to fire it back up. System was completely empty and when I added fluid, it quickly leaked, looks like in the areas where the inner tie rod boots are (esp. bad on passenger side). I need it running soon cuz my wife's '02 Mountaineer's tranny seems to be toast.

I'd like some input for the rack and pinion. Has anybody just put a seal kit in their stock rack? If so, how difficult is it once the rack is out? Or, if I should just replace the rack and pinion, what's a good quality OE replacement (dealer doesn't sell anymore)? Also, how do I know which rack I need; I'm seeing something about 1- or 2-piece bushings and Ford or TRW racks? I'm more interested in keeping the stock appearance, but I don't mind a bolt-on performance upgrade if it looks basically the same as OE and the price is not twice. Thanks for your time

dawson1112

Ive never replaced the seals in a R&P , but it is doable with the rack out. They sell a seal kit for them.

IF you are going to rebuild it , while its out I would also suggest the bearing kit and new bellows as well.

Really though it is just as cost effective to get a new one from autozone or other parts store of your liking. They are oem and range between 53-89 bucks. Including mounting hardware. Just take the old one with you as there is a core charge and that way you can get the appropriate one.

mrau92me

I was kind of hoping to find out if anyone knew who the original equipment supplier was to Ford for these racks, and I'd try to go that direction. In the last few years I've gotten burnt on some of this stuff that's coming from China, and it seems that these store brands (like Duralast) almost always from China nowadays.

mrau92me

Thanks for the reply dawson1112 (forgot to say it in my reply above). You said rebuild is doable. Any estimation of the difficulty, tools needed, etc?

dawson1112

LIke I said I never done one, I am guessing standard tools and probly a pair of retainer clip pliers, I am sure though that napa carries oem remanned units that you could order.

BabyGT

I've replaced quite a few racks in multiple cars with the "cheapo" ones from autozone/advance/napa/ect... never had a single problem with any of them. I hear ya on being worried about it though. There are certain things I always go with OEM or better.

mrau92me

Yeah, the one and only review for one like mine on Advance Auto is by a guy whose rack leaked one week after he got it put on.

bruehlc

The racks are basically all made by the same rebuild factory. Whether it's autozone or advance, there are bad and good rebuilds. Who do you think the parts come from when you take your car to xyz repair shop? The parts come from local part shops that buy from where ever be it possibly China.

mrau92me

I realize most of the shops nowadays are buying from the common parts stores. I'm just looking for that possible diamond in the rough. I just had to pay a shop $370 (labor) because only after 20k miles the throw out bearing failed prematurely on the clutch kit they installed on my '94 B3000 (Ranger). Just before I let them fix it again, the manager pulled the part # from my receipt & showed me on the internet that the parts came from O'Reilly (PowerTorque brand?).

mrau92me

It turns out that my LX's steering is a 2-1/4 turn, which I believe means it's the sport steering. In my looking at the rack listings on the common part stores, some say something about having a 1- or 2-piece bushing. Would you or anyone else know the significance of that? I looked at the mounts on mine this morning but couldn't tell much about those bushings, assuming I was even looking in the right place (at the long bolts that fasten the rack assembly to that front rail).