<<I don't know if I would have put you back into your truck and not
given you a rental as losing power steering can be a saftey issue and
therefore I'd be liable. That being beside the point, I have maybe
changed 2 racks on Silverados since 98 when they first came out for
leaking seals out of the hundreds I've serviced for any reason. Remember
the seals failed in your steering gear, not the gear itself. What were
the failures on the 2 other cases you mentioned, seal leaks or hard part
failures? Its not unheard of to have a rack leak at that low of mileage,
as long as the replacment doesn't leak, I'd doubt you'll have anymore
trouble with it, its not a widespread problem, at least not at my shop.
I've seen 100,000 mile+ trucks that still have origional steering parts
and still going strong. Its possible that there are a some defective
units out of hundreds of thousands produced. I think your going to be ok
after its replaced. Jay>>

This leak was not present when the oil was changed 1200 miles ago -- I
know, because I checked the fluid levels myself and they were also
checked and noted on the repair order when the oil was changed. (The
reason that I no longer change my own oil is because I want irrefutable
documentation in case there is a problem with the engine.)

The safety issue that you mentioned is a valid point and I don't think
that the dealership would have returned the truck to just anybody.
However, last weekend, the truck went on an extended Labor Day tour of
the Northern California coast. If the power steering had failed on one
of those hairpin turns, I could have easily gone over a cliff and ended
up in the Pacific Ocean.

On the other hand, I was the one who originally discovered the leak,
added the necessary fluid, diagnosed the problem and returned the
vehicle to the dealership for service. Fortunately, the rack was
overnighted from Reno and arrived at the dealership on Friday. The truck
isn't going anywhere this weekend and on Monday morning, the new rack
will be installed and the truck should be back on the road by noon. In
the meantime, I have been checking the fluid level every morning before
leaving the house.

As far as the reason for the failure of the two other trucks is
concerned, I know that the one with 12,000 miles had a leak. I will find
out what went wrong with the other one.

Do you know the approximate cost of having the rack replaced at a
dealership? I think that the dealership can bill 4 hours labor and of
course, the retail price of the part.