Oh crap! Emergency maybe? Edit: Crisis averted i think

[blert]

Just got done flushing the power steering fluid and was underneath the truck wiping things down so I could check for leaks when I found this...

It was just flopping there not attached to anything.
It came from here...

Was sitting above the steering rack.
What the hell? What is this and where does it connect?

 

[blert]

Could not find any good pics of the steering rack area so went shopping and looked at some pics of units that have inner tie rods and boots installed. It looks like it is the tube that sticks in a little hole on each boot. Has not been hooked up for a long time as both ends were clogged with crud. Blasted some brake cleaner through it. Found the holes on each boot. Now to figure out how to lay this thing in and hook it up.
What does it do?

The driver's side boot is loose at the inner zip tie. Is it OK to clean this area up and install a new zip tie? Should I consider new inner tie rods because the boot is so loose that there could be a large amount of crap up inside there? Or, can I carefully pull that boot up and spray a crap ton of cleaner and reseat the boot? Does inside there need to be greased?

 

[philipac]

i could be wrong but check the transmission fluid and make sure there are two lines running under the radiator because it looks like one of the lines that hooks to the tranny fluid cooler

 

[blert]

i could be wrong but check the transmission fluid and make sure there are two lines running under the radiator because it looks like one of the lines that hooks to the tranny fluid cooler

Nope, transmission is fine.
It's definitely the vent tube for the steering boots. After much trail and error I finally figured out how it fits in properly. Now going to try and clean out inside the boot without damaging it and put a new zip tie on it.

 

[blert]

Got the boot cleaned as well as I could without using chemicals. Forced some new grease into the ball joint in there while scooping out the old grease that would ooze out. Went to zip tie it back on and it would not hold. Guess it has been wallowed out from being in this state for so long. Hunted down a large hose clamp in my crap bins and cut it down to size. Slapped it on and tightened it up. It's holding and not going anywhere. Guess I am going to have to replace that boot soon. The wife is going have a few choice words for me when I spring that on her considering I just spent near $1000 on brakes and shocks. Oh well, it should hold like this for a while.

 

[Ed Fenwick]

are you sure that is where it goes, doesn't look right to me?

 

[blert]

Well, not so sure now that two people have shown up saying "check again"

No really... transmission fluid levels fine, brake fluid levels holding, power steering fluid level good. Everything is good. The steering rack boots have vent holes on them. This tube connects them to allow pressure to vent back and forth as the boots are compressed/expanded (I figure). After a bit of trial and error I got it to fit nicely back where I found it and it fits between the boots perfectly.

 

[EddieS'04]

Now to figure out how to lay this thing in and hook it up.
What does it do?

It relieve's the pressure in the boot from one side to the other. As so the boot wont blow off. Plus if there is any leaked fluid from the inner shaft seal it keeps it in the system. If you ever have the inner rack shaft seal leak bad enough you will know it, when the boots wont stay on. You will have extreme loss of fluid.
Other than when they are new. With time and miles. I have had small amounts of seal seepage, on various cars Not enough to worry about. Until I had to keep topping off the reservoir. Or draining the boot.