replacing inner tie rod

[wonl2]

Went to Tuffy repair shop to find out what is causing my car to shudder at 40 mph and they said that the inner tie rd on the passenger side is bad. Was also told that the inner tie rod cannot be replaced individually and that the whole rack and pinion needs to be replaced. They said that they called the local Chrysler dealer and were told of this information. Was told that the only place to buy the rack and pinion is the dealer. They said that the rack and pinion would cost $811 and $225 labor. Does this sound right? Seems too high. I'm going to get a second and possibly a third opinion. Any advice or suggestions? Thanks in advance for the replies. My car is a 300C with 81,000 miles. The said that the outer tie rods are good.


WONL2

[joey]

$811 for steering rack is way too high. Maybe the $811 includes tax and other parts/shipping, but you can get a re-manufactured steering rack for $245 from this website. Not sure how reliable re-manufactured parts are though. Also, if you buy the rack yourself and have a shop install the rack the shop will not warranty the part. So if the rack fails you will have to pay for the labor to uninstall and reinstall the warranty replacement.

2005 CHRYSLER 300 C Rack and Pinion Complete Unit



Here is another website that sells a new Mopar steering rack.
They charge $413. The link is to the Touring rack which is cheaper.
The $413 is for the Performance Suspension. I think this is the 300c.
MSRP for the rack $574, which is why the $811 is way too high.

Mopar Parts for Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep: MoparPartsAmerica


Supposadly the inner tie rods can now be purchased from Chrysler and replaced.
This change occurred about a year ago but it is not common knowledge.
See this link for the install instructions from a Chrysler manual.
LX Forums Modern Mopar Muscle - View Single Post - Help changing inner tierods
At the moment I don't have the part number for the inner tie rods.

$225 is probably about 2 hours. That might be about right for a shop that does not know the car.

[frankieo]

I dont know if the 3.5 and the c are diffrent in the front end but I just replaced all my tire rods and torsion bar bushings for $501 including labor.Didnt have to change the rack.

[dms]

I believe Moog makes inner tie rod ends. At 80k miles, you must take a really close look at your radius rod bushes!!

mike
dms