Power steering rack brand opinions and experiences, Feb 2022

[Chuck W]

Just got my rack for the '97 GLT back from United Power Steering in Detroit.



Sent it to them, had it back in about a week or so.

Friendly enough on the phone, but pretty short and not really wanting to talk much. No real communication that they had received it, but I knew from tracking that they did. Called when it was done to get payment info and shipped it out that day.

Shipping back to me seemed a bit excessive. $295 for the rack rebuild and $375 total with the ride from Detroit to Indy. By contrast, I paid $15 via UPS to get it to them. They charged me $80 for FedEx.

Looks good enough, and I'll know more when I get it into the car sometime in June.

[scot850]

Hopefully it works as good as it looks! Let us know how it goes when you get a chance!

Neil.

[454cid]

....I paid $15 via UPS to get it to them. They charged me $80 for FedEx.

How in the world did you ship something like a rack for only $15??? That is CHEAP!

I may contact them about rebuilding a steering gear for my truck.

[Chuck W]

....I paid $15 via UPS to get it to them. They charged me $80 for FedEx.

How in the world did you ship something like a rack for only $15??? That is CHEAP!

I may contact them about rebuilding a steering gear for my truck.

It was just the short rack. No tie rods. 31x12x8 box at 17#. It's $18-ish by UPS Ground, but I snuck it in under ebay/PayPal's Shipstation and that knocked off a bit. USPS Priority was $37.

If I do it again, I may see if I can include a return label in the box for when they're ready to ship.

[abscate]

Added promised link to the recent work in my 1999 to the post above

[foggydogg]

Just got my rack for the '97 GLT back from United Power Steering in Detroit.





Looks good enough, and I'll know more when I get it into the car sometime in June.

I'm a bit puzzled; when I emailed them not long ago, they told me they would only rebuild mine if I was local to Detroit.
And as the good Doctor asked earlier, let us know how it does on the road. You already know to flush the lines first.

[Chuck W]

I'm a bit puzzled; when I emailed them not long ago, they told me they would only rebuild mine if I was local to Detroit.
And as the good Doctor asked earlier, let us know how it does on the road. You already know to flush the lines first.

I just called them and he asked if I was local, and then just told me to ship it to them and include my info, etc.

Yeah, I'll be flushing out the lines.

[SonicAdventure]

Throwing this out there: I was recently quoted $680 for a rebuilt rack and $300-350 to install it by a reputable shop in the Philadelphia area with a one-year warranty on parts and labor. I'm still shopping the job around.

My dilemma is I simply cannot do work like this on the car where I live, and all "mobile" workplace options are out for the next few months and it needs to get done. I could buy a rebuilt rack for $250-$500 and have the mechanics down the street install it to save money, but if the rack goes bad, the only warranty that the mechanic gives me is on his labor, i.e. I get another rack (possibly on warranty from the supplier, but maybe not) and pay him to do it again.

If I get someone to do this for me, I understand they are going to mark up the rack, it's part of the deal. But I'd at least like to know what rack he is choosing, as the rebuilder or manufacturer is part of the cost/value equation.

[abscate]

That’s a great Labour rate to put that in. I think Detroit is lifetime warranty so if the most you could hit for is that same rate for a redo, I would chose that path.

I’m guessing Volvo is $1200 plus4 hours = $2000 for full warranty job parts plus Labour

[scot850]

The repair shop is not wanting to do work over, so hopefully their source supplies good parts. Not a guarantee, but my view is if it is junk it will fail quickly but then you don't want that safety concern. But, that could happen on any part these days.

Are their any workshop spaces you can rent? We have a place called U-Wrench up here where you can take your vehicle to work on it and they supply hoists, tools, welders and the likes at not too bad a rate.

Neil.