About two years ago I replaced the factory rack with a brand new Detroit Axle steering rack. It has been fine since....until now. There is a noticeable amount of fluid leaking out of the driver's side boot. Fluid level is dropping.

I've been having weird steering issues that I posted about in the past and thought maybe it was my control arm bushings since I am at 180k and they could be due but I wonder if it is actually the steering rack.

(Note: slip joint in steering shaft is tight.)

The issue is that the steering wheel would jerk back and forth when going over bumps or uneven surfaces. The road to my home is bumpy and uneven and I have to really grip the wheel with both hands to keep it stable, otherwise it is bouncing left and right. There is also a wobble-ish type movement in the front end when hitting hard bumps. I do have Load Range E tires (just balanced twice the past 3 weeks) so I thought maybe the tires are just being rough.

I had my gf turn the wheel back and forth and cannot see any noticeable up and down play in the steering rod behind the boot and there is no clunking.

I am not sure if it's the rack going bad causing the leak or just a bad inner seal.

What do you guys think?