2016 Ram 1500- rack and pinion replacement.

[Terpjr]

Have a 2016 1500 crew cab No off road package. 88k miles.
It appears my steering gear has gone bad. 1 Month out of my extended warranty. Hoping I can convince Ram to give me a goodwill credit on this. If no, I have an independent shop locally I trust to complete it.
The part number labeled on my rack is p68242957AF
I see on some websites it has been replaced by 68628858AA
Are these interchangeable?
Any brands to avoid?
Anything else I am overlooking?

 

[MetallicA]

Have a 2016 1500 crew cab No off road package. 88k miles.
It appears my steering gear has gone bad. 1 Month out of my extended warranty. Hoping I can convince Ram to give me a goodwill credit on this. If no, I have an independent shop locally I trust to complete it.
The part number labeled on my rack is p68242957AF
I see on some websites it has been replaced by 68628858AA
Are these interchangeable?
Any brands to avoid?
Anything else I am overlooking?

Dang, that's not very many miles on the thing for it to fail! What happened to it? The reason I ask is we have promaster vans at work and dodge claimed we had to replace the rack when inner tie rods failed. Luckily we convinced the higher ups to let us change the inner tie rods with moog aftermarket ones and a bit of red loctite. I would also call the dealer and double check/verify the part number just to be safe. I've been on some local dealers parts websites to look up parts for myself and ended up with the wrong number even though I thought I was looking up the parts by my vin number.

 

[Terpjr]

no idea what caused the failure.
A week ago - temps dropped to around 0 degrees. Steering locked up solid - nothing would move, then thawed. When it thawed the gear was noisy. So I assume moisture got in there.
Dealer said nothing was wrong just that it failed. The electronic component still works gear just sounds noisy and feels stiff- like there is no grease. They did replace a boot a couple years ago but other than that nothing.
Dealer has not been overly helpful - I feel as though they should be on the horn with Ram trying to help but they aren’t.
I also feel as though they should have noticed this impending failure (truck was in for inspection, brakes, alignment, tires and manifold over the last 3 months).

I am certain of my first part #- crawled under there a confirmed that. Not sure if the one ending in AA is an acceptable substitute.

hoping my phone call with Ram on Thursday will be productive. Between the class action lawsuit, NHsTA investigation and mileage and closeness to warranty I feel as though they should try to be helpful.

Making a non serviceable part, seems as though it should be designed to last more than 100K.

 

[MetallicA]

no idea what caused the failure.
A week ago - temps dropped to around 0 degrees. Steering locked up solid - nothing would move, then thawed. When it thawed the gear was noisy. So I assume moisture got in there.
Dealer said nothing was wrong just that it failed. The electronic component still works gear just sounds noisy and feels stiff- like there is no grease. They did replace a boot a couple years ago but other than that nothing.
Dealer has not been overly helpful - I feel as though they should be on the horn with Ram trying to help but they aren’t.
I also feel as though they should have noticed this impending failure (truck was in for inspection, brakes, alignment, tires and manifold over the last 3 months).

I am certain of my first part #- crawled under there a confirmed that. Not sure if the one ending in AA is an acceptable substitute.

hoping my phone call with Ram on Thursday will be productive. Between the class action lawsuit, NHsTA investigation and mileage and closeness to warranty I feel as though they should try to be helpful.

Making a non serviceable part, seems as though it should be designed to last more than 100K.

Man that really sucks! If my time in the trades has shown me anything, service means squat! It's all about parts sales and filtering through vehicles as quickly as possible. Hopefully someone at ram can help ya out! For the part number, it couldn't hurt to ask the ram rep if the AA number supercedes or crosses over from the AF one

 

[Dodge 1500 4X4]

Making a non serviceable part, seems as though it should be designed to last more than 100K.

Did you have the drive belt checked, you could check it from the passenger side inspection port on rack, the belt is $50 It maybe your problem, if salt got into the circuit board it damages the solder connections on the circuit board some have taken it apart and cleaned it and repaired the cold solder connections.

 

[Ken226]

Have a 2016 1500 crew cab No off road package. 88k miles.
It appears my steering gear has gone bad. 1 Month out of my extended warranty. Hoping I can convince Ram to give me a goodwill credit on this. If no, I have an independent shop locally I trust to complete it.
The part number labeled on my rack is p68242957AF
I see on some websites it has been replaced by 68628858AA
Are these interchangeable?
Any brands to avoid?
Anything else I am overlooking?

I replaced the rack in my 2013 sport with p68628858AA back in feb I think.

It was plug and play. Still works good.

Here's the post from back then.

Anyone know where to find a rack and pinion?

Update Removed rack and pinion from truck, was able to do it without removing wheels came out pretty easy. removed cover inspected belt - perfect condition no signs of wear and truck has 140k miles on it now Removed board cover plate - required special 5 point security bit not a torx -...

www.ramforum.com

 

[Terpjr]

Rock Auto has a cardone reman unit - # 1a-17001. $450.

 

[Dodge 1500 4X4]

This is where you can get one.

Power Steering Seals - Precision Fit Rack and Pinion Belt for Dodge Ram 1500 2013-2016 | Electric Power Steering Rack and Pinion | Steering Parts Replacement​

Visit the Power Steering Seals Store

 

[Terpjr]

Did you have the drive belt checked, you could check it from the passenger side inspection port on rack, the belt is $50 It maybe your problem, if salt got into the circuit board it damages the solder connections on the circuit board some have taken it apart and cleaned it and repaired the cold solder connections.

I don’t believe it is drive belt. EPS is still functioning. Gear is grinding whenever wheel is turned, seems stiff (but not- “no power steering” stiff). Was locked up - frozen solid - in below-0 temps. I assume moisture infiltrated.

 

[CanRebel]

Have a 2016 1500 crew cab No off road package. 88k miles.
It appears my steering gear has gone bad. 1 Month out of my extended warranty. Hoping I can convince Ram to give me a goodwill credit on this. If no, I have an independent shop locally I trust to complete it.
The part number labeled on my rack is p68242957AF
I see on some websites it has been replaced by 68628858AA
Are these interchangeable?
Any brands to avoid?
Anything else I am overlooking?

68629958AA is replacement number. Yes it's interchangeable. It's same.

 

[Terpjr]

Just want to put a final follow up on here for anyone who looks in the future with similar issues.

Found a reman unit through rock auto (refreshed and checked page a few times a day- a Cardone 1A-17001 popped up on new years’ eve. $450 + $350 core). Ordered it. Haven’t seen another one in-stock since.

Found a local guy, independent mechanic with a good rep, who could do it. Grabbed a couple outer tie rods.
Parts + Labor + Alignment = $985.
A lot better than the $4K + I was looking at from the dealer.

Spent about 8 hours on hold with Ram over the course of a couple days to get told that my 2016 was too old for them to assist in parts and I needed to talk to the dealer. Not happy with Ram.

Dealer was useless. My frustration there being that they had been in there 4x in the 4 months as my warranty was expiring. Including repairing/replacing inner tie rod boot. Given that they knew these steering units were problematic, I feel as though they should have been pro-active. But, all in all, their unwillingness to consider what I was saying has made me not want to deal with them in the future.

I am keeping my eye on the class action suit on these units and I have my receipts ready to go.