Well, I am back from the dealership. They took a look at the truck. The power steering rack is leaking, and needs to be replaced, and the U-Joint on the intermediate shaft is shot. The mechanic said he has'nt had to replace one this quickly on the 3rd gen yet. Then he pointed out my larger tires. He said that may have contributed, but he doesnt see why. He said the larger tires wouldnt be enough stress to kill the rack like that.

So then I mentioned my leveling kit thats installed...because they didnt even notice. And out it came, he said he thinks that definately contributed to the early death of the rack. He then went to explain the stresses created because of the angle when turning the wheel, a bunch of stuff i didnt understand to much.

The good news is that Dodge will do the repair under warantee reguardless of the leveling kit being installed.

BUT, I am going to have it removed tommorow, along with the rear blocks. I will be out of waranty in about 6 months, and I never need this problem comming back when I can prevent it by taking the kit out now.

My tires are going to rub a little when the kit is removed, but oh well. Pretty sad. At least it happened now when im still covered. Good luck to everyone that has it installed.

 

I’m sorry to hear that. I’m so glad I didn’t install mine. They will be going into the garbage now.&lt\\;img src=&quot\\;https://dodgeforum.com/image/s2.gif&quot\\;&gt\\;

 

&lt\\;P&gt\\;&amp\\;nbsp\\;&lt\\;/P&gt\\;
&lt\\;P&gt\\;&amp\\;nbsp\\;&lt\\;/P&gt\\;
&lt\\;P&gt\\;what about the sagging?&amp\\;nbsp\\; are the struts or springs ok?&amp\\;nbsp\\; i dont see how the rackcould be responsible for that.&amp\\;nbsp\\; &lt\\;/P&gt\\;
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&lt\\;P&gt\\;can anyone explain how the tm kit affects the rack?&amp\\;nbsp\\; wouldn’t this affect the 4x2’s as well, but i have not seen any problems or warnings.&lt\\;/P&gt\\;

 

Here's my take on the "TM Killed my Steering Rack" theory -

Imagine it takes 100 LBF (pounds-force) to push your tires left or right. Just a made up, nice round number.

If your tie rods are completely horizontal, there is no vertical component of force in the steering system. (or it's so small as to be negligible). None of the force from the rack is being directed up or down, so the rack has to exert exactly 100 LBF to push the tire.

As soon as your tie rods depart from the horizontal (and if you notice, most vehicles have nearly horizontal tie rods when sitting at stock height), you introduce a vertical component of force. The rack only exerts horizontal force, but the angle of the tie rods directs some of this force into a vertical load that just stresses the ball joint, and does nothing to help twist the wheels.

Therefore, the amount of force the rack has to exert is equal to the force required to push the tires, divided by the cosine of the tie rod angle. Since the cosine of any positive angle is less than 1, any angle in the tie rod increases the amount of force the rack has to do exert.

Now that being said, you really have to get the tie rods angled severely to increase the steering force significantly.

Horizontal tierods impose 0% excess force on the steering rack.
5 degree tierod drop imposes less than 1% extra force
10 degree tierods impose about 1% extra
20 degree tierods impose an extra 6%
30 degree tierods still only require 14% more force from the rack. And that's a pretty extreme angle; I'd be shocked if a 1" coil spacer could do that.

Given that even a shakey factor of saftey on an engineering design is 150% expected load (200-400% is more typical), I don't quite see how a coil spacer could kill a steering rack. Combine it with wider and heavier tires and some offroad flogging, and it might start to add up. But coil spacers alone shouldn't be the cause of death.

That's my perspective as a mechanical engineer. Anyone else feel free to chime in; or if you've taken a protractor to your tierod, (insert joke) what is the angle with the TM kit installed?

Also, for what it's worth, I drove a '99 Windstar (hot whip btw...love that Ford 3.8L) for several years, that went through 3 racks in it's lifetime. Every time it blew the main seals on the rack outputs, which allowed dirt in and fluid out, and eventually the rack shat its drawers. Just an inadequate design.

 

PS WTF is up with apostrophes in that post? I swear I did not type double and triple and quadruple apostrophes...

 

Thanks for all the info cramerica. I am no mechanical anything, so I can't challenge your theory. Nor do I want to. I would love to stick with the kit, but since the dealership recommended it comes off, I'm just going to take it off.

I don't need any reason for them to deny steering work in the future with whats left of my waranty. Only 4000 miles ago I had my steering shaft replaced. At this rate, who knows what will be wrong with my steering in the next 4000 miles, lol.

If someone wants the Tm kit, the rear blocks and the U-bolts that I cut for the blocks, you pay the shipping and there yours.

But I am "steering" clear of the kit from now on. "Steering" get it, ha.

 

Monkey, can I have them? I want them. PM sent....mmmkay?

 

I'll second Cramerica's theory behind the possible cause. I am a civil engineer, similiar to a mechanical in most aspects and that was a very well thought out theory! Its probably what the mechanic was trying to explain.

 

Ok so today I had the Tm kit and the blocks removed. The u-bolts for the rear blocks were badly worn. Not to my suprise, they are cheap junk. They were actually starting to sheer on one side of a couple of them. Guess its a good thing I took them off.

Tommorow I get the new rack. Let ya know how it goes.