Ford Ranger Power Steering from Passenger side boot
 

so i have a 1999 Ford Ranger and recently bought it, i hear whining from the power steering so i assume a leak or low on fluid, i bought racks to drive the truck up to look underneath, and theres a leak from the passenger side boot of the pinion. im assuming the boot shouldnt hold fluid, its a very very small leak. is this a known issue? can i replace the boot and be done with it?

I assume when you say pinion you mean the rack and pinion unit. Fluid coming from the boot means the seal on the rack is bad. You cannot just replace the boot, it is only a dust sheild nothing more. You need to remove the boot, pull the tie rod and replace the inner seal or it will just continue to get worse. It can also allow air into the system which can cause noise and excessive wear.

I wont lie, its not a fun job. I may have "oversimplified" in my first post but I was mostly just trying to explain how the boot does nothing to stop leaks. Replacing the seal(s) is a bench job, meaning removing the entire assembly. Ive never done a ranger (yet) but have done a couple hondas and a cavalier. In those cases no special tools were needed besides snap ring pliers, picks, punches, and patience. Most people dont bother though because you can just go buy a reman rack assembly, usually with new inner tie rods for about 150 bucks so its simply not worth the time it takes to do a seal overhaul. In my case, a seal kit costs 30 bucks and I was working on family vehicles trying to save money and didn't care about the labor. Boils down to your confidence in being able to do a rebuild and how much your time is worth vs how much you love to save money lol.

I wouldn't do ANYTHING until you pull the boot back and 100% verify the leak is coming from inside the tube where the inner tie rod is.

Here's what I found to be a funny video of why most people just buy new racks...