Ford F-150 Steering Rack Buyer’s Guide

The Ford F-Series pickup has been America’s best-selling pickup truck since 1977, and best-selling vehicle overall since 1981. When you include Canada, over one million trucks were sold each year in 2004, 2017, 2018 and 2019, and a big part of that success is how many different options there are when it comes to spec’ing out your truck, from a V6 2-seater with crank windows and vinyl seats for under $20k after dealer incentives, to a $100,000 F-450 Platinum Dually with 1000 lb-ft of torque. In between those extremes, you can find the dune-bashing SVT Raptor, the new F-150 Hybrid with an on-board battery that can replace your generator and power your house, or my favorite, a 2WD XLT with max tow package, which gets you the 5.0L V8 and 3.73 rear end with limited slip differential to create a burnout machine for way less than what a Mustang GT costs.

All of these options can complicate things when it’s time to find replacement parts, especially once these trucks make it to their second or third owners who can’t easily identify obscure options like the rear axle ratio or exact wheelbase without having the original window sticker handy. If you can locate any OEM part numbers off your original part, we’re happy to try looking it up to see if it matches anything we have available, but we also recognize that’s not always easy to do.

Steering components are where our company began over 30 years ago, and remains one of our specialties today. We’ve recently noticed an increasing number of messages from customers looking for the correct steering rack for their F-150 but getting overwhelmed by the number of options available. There isn’t some critical flaw in the truck’s design that makes the steering rack a weak spot; it has more to do with the fact that there’s millions of these trucks out there, getting used as trucks and seeing a ton of mileage, so stuff wears out. It’s our mission to make it easier to buy auto parts, and as part of that mission, we’ve created this buyer’s guide that links you to the exact item you need. It starts in 2004, the first year the F-150 started using rack & pinion steering, and continues up until the 2020 redesign, though it’s just a matter of time before we start carrying components for the new trucks.

Some things you may need to know about your truck in order to find the correct steering rack:

Wheelbase: this is the distance between the front and rear wheel hubs on your truck, and you can always verify it yourself with a tape measure. There are a lot of wheelbase options because of all the different cab and bed length options available, and this measurement is helpful when ordering a lot of other parts as well.

Tow Package: this one is harder to identify without your truck’s exact option list handy, but some good indicators would be if it has an integrated trailer brake controller, heavy-duty cooling components, and a lower rear axle ratio.

Cab Size: Ford has their own names for different cab sizes that differ from what GM or Toyota use. Regular cab is may also be referred to as a single cab or standard cab, where you get the front seats or front bench, and nothing behind them. SuperCab is their Extended Cab option, with half doors that open backwards behind the front doors. SuperCrew or crew cab trucks have 4 doors that open the “normal” way.

Every steering rack we sell has a minimum 3 year, unlimited mileage warranty. For some of the newer trucks with electric power steering, we also have replacement options available from Duralo, which have a lifetime warranty. They all include the mounting bushings, boots and inner tie rod ends. Outer tie rod ends are not included (so that each rack fits more vehicles), but we do recommend replacing them along with the steering rack; they’re relatively inexpensive and they have to come off to replace the steering rack, so it’s the same amount of labor required, and that will ensure better steering performance.

For any more assistance in finding the correct part for any vehicle, send us an email and our knowledgeable staff can find it for you!