Hey Everyone,

Did a search and didn't come across anything. I am about to put a RC 5" lift on my Ranger, and my shop is recommending a new steering rack. There are a ton of options out there, so thought I would ask this group for your recommendations. Anyone have any guidance to a certain brand of rack? I'm vcery interested in what you may have learned or what I need to consider.

Thanks!

 

Be weary of aftermarket replacements down the road when you need to replace the inner tie-rods. I put a rebuilt rack and pinion in my 2003 around 2014. Now, the inner tie-rods have play, and I need to replace them. Unfortunately, none of the aftermarket inner tie-rods will fit in my rack and pinion, which basically means I'll have to replace the entire rack and pinion again and HOPE that I'll be able to replace the inner tie-rods on the next one when that time comes. I tried calling Cardone who remanufactured the rack, however their tech line is worthless, so I have no other options. Just something to keep in mind if you go with an aftermarket reman.

 

"Unfortunately, none of the aftermarket inner tie-rods will fit in my rack and pinion,...". How'd you find that out, unscrew a tie-rod end and saw (test fit attempt) the new one didn't thread in?

That's nuts.

 

Yep, shop told me to replace it before the alignment, so I tore the truck apart after buying the replacement inner tie-rod, and when I pulled the old one out, I noticed the threaded piece had a much larger diameter than the replacement. I thought maybe they gave me the wrong one, so I switched it out with another, and the same thing happened. Finally took the old tie-rod with me to the store and we tried every part number for every single Ranger Based vehicle from 1998-2011 and nothing was the same size as what I had. I tried calling Cardone's tech line, but two hours of on hold and no answer led me to decide it would be easier to just replace the rack and pinion than deal with that crap.

I still haven't replaced it since it's such an annoying job on a 4x4. Luckily the inner tie-rod was only starting to show slight wear and hasn't changed much since then. I set my own alignment and just rotate my tires often to make sure there's no issues there until I finally replace the entire rack and pinion.