steering rack leak

RAYMAN975 · **Posted:** Sun May 18, 2008 1:50 am

so just the other day i noticed oil on my passenger side lower control arm, i traced it up and its on the sway bar, whiich in turn is coming from the steering rack boot. the fluid is coming out of the boot and running down the tierod onto the swaybar and down onto the lower control arm. can i replace a seal in the steering rack, or does the whole rack need replaced, has anybody else have this problem? do u guys think it had anything to do with my lift?

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Sun May 18, 2008 8:06 am

RAYMAN975 wrote:

so just the other day i noticed oil on my passenger side lower control arm, i traced it up and its on the sway bar, whiich in turn is coming from the steering rack boot. the fluid is coming out of the boot and running down the tierod onto the swaybar and down onto the lower control arm. can i replace a seal in the steering rack, or does the whole rack need replaced, has anybody else have this problem? do u guys think it had anything to do with my lift?

Yep you blew the rack seals,you need to replace the whole rack,you can't get just the seals which would require you to remove the whole rack anyways to replace,and disassemble the whole rack.

RAYMAN975 · **Posted:** Sun May 18, 2008 11:31 am

son of a!! i heard that is a BIG pain in the butt. how much money am i looking at about? is this a napa auto parts thing, or should i go to the dealer and get it? of course ill need another alignment , i just got one a few weeks ago. AH

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Sun May 18, 2008 11:36 am

You can get a remaned rack for about $200-$400 depending on the quility you want(Napa and CarQuest are the better remaned racks).They are easily replaced without removing the front diff,HD cooling makes it a little more time consuming the way I did it.A shop or dealer the job will cost you over $1200 in labor easy,by the book it takes about 10-12 hours or so to replace the rack in a KJ.I did one in MOAB in a campground in 4 hours.

RAYMAN975 · **Posted:** Sun May 18, 2008 11:38 am

is this something i hsould get ASAP? or can i just keep a bottle of power steering fluid and keep filling it? or will it keep getting worse and worse? will it happen again from my lift? from it being at a steeper angle

edit: well i do have my warranty that i bought extra for my jeep, and they have been great, they paid for my calipers, UCA, and tie rods, i just call em ahead of time telling them i need soemthing fixed and they will talk to the dealer/shop and work things out, it should only be about 50 bucks deductable. ill prob just take it to the jeep dealer

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Sun May 18, 2008 11:43 am

RAYMAN975 wrote:

is this something i hsould get ASAP? or can i just keep a bottle of power steering fluid and keep filling it? or will it keep getting worse and worse? will it happen again from my lift? from it being at a steeper angle

It should be fixed ASAP,but it's your Jeep,if left un-fixed it could suddenly worsen and fry the PS pump also,it will worsen.I doubt the lift did it,I have been lifted since '04 and my rack is just fine,the rack is like anything else it will go when it wants to.

RAYMAN975 · **Posted:** Sun May 18, 2008 11:45 am

awesome, thank you very much!! ill call them tomorrow

RAYMAN975 · **Posted:** Mon May 19, 2008 7:13 pm

so my extended warranty that i bought when i got my jeep used, the one that i thought was a mistake for buying after the fact, is NOW starting to pay itself off!!! next wed im takin my jeep in to get a new steering rack installed, $50 deductable, plus whatever small shop fees

just a few weeks ago i got new tie rod ends and a new passenger UCA for 75 bucks(50 deductable plus shop fees), was going to be over 700 without that warranty. they still wont pay for a new windshield though, darn

jerbacher · **Posted:** Tue May 20, 2008 10:09 am

you lucky duck. that probably would have sucked to have to pay for that! man, youve had to repair a lot of stuff lately! i hope my 02 isnt going the same way!

tommudd · **Posted:** Tue May 20, 2008 10:54 am

I think the extra weight of his tent may have caused his problem :twisted:

So you must have a pretty good warranty going there for sure. Good luck with it! And like tjkj said the lift would not or should not of had any affect on it, yes some extra due to tires etc, but look at how many people are running lifts and no problems.

Jeep Dawg · **Posted:** Tue May 20, 2008 2:10 pm

tjkj2002 wrote:

You can get a remaned rack for about $200-$400 depending on the quility you want(Napa and CarQuest are the better remaned racks).They are easily replaced without removing the front diff,HD cooling makes it a little more time consuming the way I did it.A shop or dealer the job will cost you over $1200 in labor easy,by the book it takes about 10-12 hours or so to replace the rack in a KJ.I did one in MOAB in a campground in 4 hours.

YOU ARE THE MAN!
I wish we could shrink you down and put you in every freaking tool box I own. You would come in handy.

You seem to be DEAD ON at every issue that some one post here.

HaHa

Guest · **Posted:** Tue May 20, 2008 11:11 pm

Jeep Dawg wrote:

I wish we could shrink you down and put you in every freaking tool box I own.

I can't stop laughing

Rayman...if you have full coverage...most companies will replace your windshield free.

My company allows up to two free windshields a year...and I haven't needed it since the first windshield I got replaced:| (was cracked when I bought the Jeep).

steering rack leak

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