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Mike Stager
Dodge Dakota
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10/23/2006
21:47:01
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 Subject: Rack and Pinion wear and tear
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Message:
While paying attention to the noises on my truck, it sounded like a wheel bearing was starting to growl, so I jacked the truck up to give the wheel the "shimmy' test and noticed the wheel had movement left to right, but not top to bottom. So, I look to see if I'm getting movement in the steering. I can see the arm out of the rack moving a fraction of an inch. I lowered the truck, lifted the other tire and locked the steering. I could get that tire to do the same.
The reason I'm a bit concerned is that every once in a while, I can feel almost what feels like the front tires deflect while doing a turn ( like a worn idler arm would feel like when doing a hard left turn ).
I've got wear on the outsides of my tires, which gives me concern that I may have a problem in the rack, or ??? I don't want to buy a new set of tires only to have them wear our prematurely, y'know?
I'm not much of a suspension specialist in my dealings with cars, so I'm in uncommon territory here. Anything I can do to verify if there is a problem or???
I plan on replacing the wheel bearings anyway, since I've got warped rotors to replace in the near future. I'm just wondering what level of concern I should be placing on this considering it's a safety issue.
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fotodak
Dodge Dakota
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10/24/2006
11:25:42
| RE: Rack and Pinion wear and tear
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Message:
What is worn is either an inner or outer tie rod end. They are replaceable, although the inner is a bit more difficult. You'll be able to see the worn part if it's the outer, just as on a conventional setup. If it's the inner, and that's which one that usually goes out of course, you will see the tie rod move in and out, but the tie rod end is inside the bellows.
I've had both inners replaced at the shop, and later I replaced the entire rack and outer tie rod ends myself, at less cost than the shop doing the inners. Took just a few hours. Quite easy to do.
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Mike Stager
Dodge Dakota
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10/24/2006
20:49:27
| RE: Rack and Pinion wear and tear
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Ah, the rack and pinion is new to me insomuchas wrenching on it goes, so I was not aware of serviceable parts within the boot...cool! I think that's what is going on, I'll have to check on that once I've finished monkeying around with the exhaust manifold bolts. ( which cost me $58 at the dealership for enough to replace all of them on both sides...yikes! )
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Scott C
Dodge Dakota
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10/26/2006
23:47:48
| RE: Rack and Pinion wear and tear
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yes the inner tie rod is replaceable on SOME dakotas pending the year of it.... some of them call for the replacement of the WHOLE rack & pinion just cause of the inner tierod going bad... ran into that on a 96-98 dakota... check with the dealer or your local parts store on that.... at the shop i work at our one parts supplier sent us the tierod but the OEM rack & pinionthe tierod wasnt serviceable.... had to replace the whole rack... come to find aftermarket replacement racks are serviceable...
Scott C
Royal Auto
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Mike Stager
Dodge Dakota
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10/26/2006
23:55:13
| RE: Rack and Pinion wear and tear
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Message:
Ah, well that's good to know. My service manual ( haynes ) does mention having to screw them out..which seems weird, but actually getting the part is another issue.
I'll probably bring it into an alignment shop and get a knowledgeable eye on it.
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