need a new PS rack

[carpetguy00]

So I have been chasing a clunking noise coming from the front end for damn near a year. new monroe quickstruts, new end links, new sb bushings, one control arm (thought it was bad but wasnt)... ball joints are tight, every bolt is tight. . . my mechanic buddy and I eliminated every single item on the suspension, and we are thinking its coming out of the rack.....

It did have a PS leak, i flushed the system with valvoline dex3 a couple times and topped it off with a full bottle of lucas PS additive, and Ive been driving on that for prolly 6 months and the fluid level in the reservoir never changes now. I know that lucas is a temp fix by most standards. but the clunk is the only sign. the steering seems perfect, not hard in any spot, corners and handles perfectly, never get any noise from it, even turning the wheel to the end.... so i guess the question is... and i know its hard to judge these things... how much longer do i have on the rack? I just dont want to be out of town and have it crap the bed. And be subject to mechanics rape, cause its kinda hard to change a rack on the side of the road 3 hours from home.... and how hard/cost effective is it to rebuild the oem rack vs buying a new one?

thanx

[pmesfun]

Check inner tie rods for play. I replaced everything you said strut mounts, sway bar links/bushings, one control arm. The mounts eliminated most of the noise but there was still a faint clunk over certain bumps.

The steering rack on my car was making a bad clunk noise on when I turned the steering wheel back and forth very quickly. After some investigation I had my dad turn the wheel like I did, while I felt around and immediately I felt the tires popping so I grabbed the inner tie rods and sure enough they were causing the popping and clunking noise in the front end. After replacement the car is quiet like a Lexus. So check both inner and outer tie rods for play first before you replace the rack.

A video I took of the noise the rack was making.

You Tube

You Tube