Is my rack shot?

[borgille]

Last week, I was washing the oil off the underbody of my 2013 1500 after replacing a leaky valve cover. About a day later I started noticing a crunchy whine happening every time that I turned my steering wheel. Since then, it's gotten louder daily. I figured it might be the EPS belt in the rack, so I ordered one along with a new boot cover for the inner tie rod, and then I held off until I got the parts (today) so that I could dig into it. When I got under the truck, I found the boot had split, and pulling it back to the ball joint on the tie rod end, it looked like a dry, rusty mess. The opening to the cover had a lot of wet dirty grime in it.



Knowing that this was a pathway for water and dirt into the EPS unit, I started to think the worst. When I pulled the cover from the side of the EPS unit to inspect the belt, this is what I found:



Surprisingly, the belt appears to be ok. If I had to guess, this is looking like water and dirt got to the bearings around the rack shaft. Some of the bearings appear to be rusty.

Here's another video of rotation with cover off.

Looking for advice on this. Not sure if this is salvageable (e.g. can I clean this out?), or if the rack is completely shot and in need of replacement. Thanks!

 

[Ken226]

Last week, I was washing the oil off the underbody of my 2013 1500 after replacing a leaky valve cover. About a day later I started noticing a crunchy whine happening every time that I turned my steering wheel. Since then, it's gotten louder daily. I figured it might be the EPS belt in the rack, so I ordered one along with a new boot cover for the inner tie rod, and then I held off until I got the parts (today) so that I could dig into it. When I got under the truck, I found the boot had split, and pulling it back to the ball joint on the tie rod end, it looked like a dry, rusty mess. The opening to the cover had a lot of wet dirty grime in it.

View attachment 578605View attachment 578606

Knowing that this was a pathway for water and dirt into the EPS unit, I started to think the worst. When I pulled the cover from the side of the EPS unit to inspect the belt, this is what I found:

View attachment 578607View attachment 578608View attachment 578609
Surprisingly, the belt appears to be ok. If I had to guess, this is looking like water and dirt got to the bearings around the rack shaft. Some of the bearings appear to be rusty.

Looking for advice on this. Not sure if this is salvageable (e.g. can I clean this out?), or if the rack is completely shot and in need of replacement. Thanks!

Yes.

I had the same thing happen. It will get worse and worse an worse, until you replace it.

Go OEM. I've yet to hear of an aftermarket unit working. So far, of all the people on this forum who have tried the Dorman replacment, not a single one has worked.


The correct part# is:

68628858AA - Mopar Parts Giant

www.moparpartsgiant.com

Disregard all the "does not fit" stuff on the websites and from the dealers. They are pretty much clueless.

 

[borgille]

Thanks Ken! Regarding avoiding aftermarket, would that include remanufactured units? I just paid $2100 only two weeks ago to get the bearings fixed on my diff and rear axles, so throwing this on top is killing me. Anything to reduce the cost would be helpful. I'd probably replace the rack myself and try to get it aligned by a local shop (the last shop said it couldn't be aligned due to the backend being racked by someone rear-ending me...I guess the collision center didn't actually do it themselves...or they lied about it).

 

[Ken226]

Thanks Ken! Regarding avoiding aftermarket, would that include remanufactured units? I just paid $2100 only two weeks ago to get the bearings fixed on my diff and axles, so throwing this on top is killing me. Anything to reduce the cost would be helpful. I'd probably replace the rack myself and try to get it aligned by a local shop (the last shop said it couldn't be aligned due to the backend being racked by someone rear-ending me...I guess the collision center didn't actually do it themselves...or they lied about it).

Yea, i'd avoid anything that isn't OEM.

The remanufactured units seem to replace the OEM electronics with their own, which never seem to work.

If you can't spend the money for new OEM, then go used OEM.


And definitely, 100% for sure, keep your current unit.



The way yours failed is rare, as its main board is still good. Usually water gets inside the electronics and smokes the board. In a pinch, if you buy a used EPS from eBay and it has a bad board, you can put your board in it.

 

[pacofortacos]

car-part.com is a good site for used parts that most likely will be oem

 

[borgille]

car-part.com is a good site for used parts that most likely will be oem

Thanks! I'll check them out!