Rack & Pinion?

[427ford]

Neighbor's got an '00 4x4 Ranger (V6, 5 speed), 150K on the clock. There's a knock in the rack and pinion when rocking the steering left / right. I grabbed the tie rod and it's not sloppy. Nothing 'feels' loose, but it's noisy. Listened to the rack with a poor man's stethoscope (screw driver stuck in my ear!). I don't see much posted here... is there any common issues with the rack and pinion units on these trucks or is this just a hit or miss failure?

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

no common failures that ive seen. usually just outer TRE's.

did you happen to check the ball joints?

 

[TireIron]

it is more than likely an inner tie rod end, they tend to go first out of everything. Hold the inner tie rod right up around the boot and have the wheel wiggled back and forth, check each one. You should plainly be able to tell which is bad by feel.