2011 Grand Cherokee steering rack

[D60]

Apparently these racks were notoriously problematic from Day 1. Many reports of failures at VERY low mileage.

This 2011 is the "early" version which has a belt-driven pump.

The question is replacement brands. RA shows new Cardone or BBB (I'd consider these two interchangeable), new Edelmann (maybe better?), or they do show actual Mopar for nearly a grand.

I'm not sure if OEM is worth $1k here? Did they ever revise the racks or just practice insanity and replace them with the exact same part over and over?

Perhaps Edelmann at ~$400 is acceptable?

 

[loneryder]

There are a couple of companies that rebuild them that are good quality. Sorry I can't remember their names. Check with indy Mercedes shops as they do a lot of them on the 164s.

 

[Skippy722]

52124724AH replaces 52124724AE, 52124724AF, 52124724AG. 68078529AE replaces 68078529AC, 68078529AD. ECMP (my favorite place to order OEM parts from, and usually the cheapest I can find) has reman OEM racks for $550-$630.

 

[loneryder]

52124724AH replaces 52124724AE, 52124724AF, 52124724AG. 68078529AE replaces 68078529AC, 68078529AD. ECMP (my favorite place to order OEM parts from, and usually the cheapest I can find) has reman OEM racks for $550-$630.

View attachment 230757

Some do a good job and some don't is the problem.

 

[14Accent]

You don't want to do the job twice... I assume it's 4WD? If so, book time is 7 hours. I tried aftermarket twice on WK2's and they both failed in short order. I'd bite the bullet and head to the dealer.

 

[D60]

You don't want to do the job twice... I assume it's 4WD? If so, book time is 7 hours. I tried aftermarket twice on WK2's and they both failed in short order. I'd bite the bullet and head to the dealer.

New or reman from dealer? I mean which did you use?

 

[D60]

And yeah it's 4wd. It's got a ~3" lift which actually makes it look really good in person, and more reasonable to get in and out. I've never cared for WK2s but this one is kinda cool.

The photo doesn't do it justice, plus it's parked weird

 

[14Accent]

New or reman from dealer? I mean which did you use?

New. I never tried the Mopar remans, but my guess is they're no different than an Edelmann or BBB in a Mopar box.

 

[D60]

The owner is still trying to make a decision here (no $$).

I found some mention of lifting the motor and being able to slip it out the front in FAR less time (some vids claimed 1 to 1.5 hours but that varies for everyone)

Anyone ever tried this method? @14Accent

 

[14Accent]

The owner is still trying to make a decision here (no $$).

I found some mention of lifting the motor and being able to slip it out the front in FAR less time (some vids claimed 1 to 1.5 hours but that varies for everyone)

Anyone ever tried this method? @14Accent

I wish I could remember with confidence, but I do remember something from Identifix that shaved time off considerably.

Lifting the engine sounds right, but you may still have to drop the differential.

 

[D60]

Update here, I got the rack out today and new rack in.

This is an early '11 with traditional engine-driven pump and 3.6. I had already pulled the halfshafts because both sides had failed boots. This vehicle had Eibach struts and the CVs just slide out the shock forks ‐‐ I don't know if this was true of OEM forks??

I did NOT touch the front diff in any way.

HOWEVER, I removed inner TREs at the rack because I just ASSumed this was SOP -- it's not like it's hard to pull back the bellows and crack the inner threads loose. This made removal a breeze and it came right out the front with near-zero difficulty.

In thinking about it, I don't even know why the new rack is shipped with inner and outer TREs attached???? It makes for a HUGE box where as the rack itself is fairly compact. All it saves you is crimping one clamp at the rack body, as if someone who is undertaking this job doesn't have a clamp crimper??

PRO TIP: if you're also replacing the belt-driven pump (where applicable), do it BEFORE installing the new rack. It's WAY easier with the "steering box" out of the way.

I use a 1-7/16" crow foot for the inner TREs, but 36mm might work

Anyway, I'm not done yet but the actual R&R was much ado about nothing. I did a '98 CRV AWD that was way harder.

Remember, I canNOT speak to 5.7l or electric-over steering

Oh and trivia: the Mopar racks appear to be OEM'd by Mando. Factory p/s pump is Toyoda (although I'm replacing with a new Cardone, because, availability).

 

[D60]

Also maybe this'll save someone some headache for the 2011 MY.

The reservoirs differ from the belt-driven pump to electric pump. The former has two ports on the reservoir while the latter has only one.

The product descriptions on RA don't mention anything, so I ordered the AAE RES0130 but it's for the later electric-over. Note it may appear to have two nipples from certain angles, but it's just a "dummy" casting that is just a bump. The SKP here obviously has two ports and is what I would have needed for this early '11.

 

[D60]

Also the Mopar rack did not come with o-rings for the lines or nuts on the outer TREs. Hopefully they fell out of the box in shipping, although the box was in pretty good condition upon arrival.

It's not the end of the world, just annoying when you pay nearly a grand for an OEM rack and it doesn't include basics.

 

[Timmastertech]

Also the Mopar rack did not come with o-rings for the lines or nuts on the outer TREs. Hopefully they fell out of the box in shipping, although the box was in pretty good condition upon arrival.

It's not the end of the world, just annoying when you pay nearly a grand for an OEM rack and it doesn't include basics.

Seals and nuts are not included and must be ordered separately

 

[D60]

To support my argument of not shipping with tie rods attached, here's the core in original packaging

I don't know how intelligent the warehouse workers are and RA is insistent on the ORIGINAL box for core returns, so I'm not going to modify it.

That's a 6.5" bed. Seems dumb.