Hey all! I'm replacing the Power steering pump, cooler, lines and Rack and Pinion on my 04 1500 4x4 with the 4.7. I was wondering if anyone else has done this? Looking for any tips or recommendations? I'm replacing pretty much the whole system as it's all leaking. Truck has 178k on it. I was thinking of using the Castrol/Transmax ATF+4 ATF to fill it with. My guess is 4 quarts should fill it up? Also figured, while I have the skid plate off, I'll change out the front diff fluid.

 

So I changed out the Rack & Pinion, cooler, pump and all the hoses. Along with a new set of tie rod ends and some new Full Synthetic ATF +4 (Dodge recommended for the Power steering system). Everything went smooth swapping it out. The biggest pain in the butt was having to tie down the steering wheel and taking the bolt off the steering shaft into the rack and pinion. Although pulling the two bolts out of the frame that bolts the rack on was a very close second. I ended up using a 1/2" drive ratchet and my jack to bust them loose. Everything went in as quickly as it came out. I bought everything thru rock auto with the exception of the rack and pinion. I bought the rack locally so I could match it with the old rack as I didn't want to have to send it back if it was the wrong one. I took it into Belle Tire this morning for an alignment. It looks like the alignment would have been spot-on had the DS lower ball joint not been bad! Here's my print out that I thought I would share. Remember to remove the mounting hardware from the original Rack! A hammer and a flat head screwdriver is all it takes to remove them. A little grease to help put them in is all it took to put them into the new rack.

 

Good job!!!

 

how long did it take? always seemed like a big job, i have 165k and its been leaking slowly since buying my 04 ,6 yrs ago

 

I might have had 3 hours tops doing the whole system. Pump, lines, cooler, and tie Rod ends. I think the biggest pains were the steering shaft bolt and the 2 bolts holding the rack to the frame.