Steering Rack And Pinion problems of the 2008 Dodge Dakota

The steering completely locked up and would not turn. Intermittently over the past 3 months the power steering would suddenly stop working and the car was extremely hard to steer and control. After twice replacing the rack and pinion and steering pump the situation seemed to improve. Then suddenly, traveling 70 mph on the freeway, the steering jerked right and when I turned it back to the left it completely locked up and I could not turn the wheels at all, they were locked straight causing us to immediately cross all lanes of the freeway as the road turned forcing us to the center divider.

After 62000 miles rack and pinion needed to be replaced that warranty does not cover, 62000 is too soon to be replacing rack and pinion.

As I start the truck, it kicks when I shift to drive and start to accelerate. I took it to a dealer near me when there was a recall for the rack and pinion and they did not find anything. The truck keeps doing the kick or jumps gears. Maybe the problem is in the cable or the shifter. It keeps doing this to this day and getting worse. Now I have to move the shifter to drive and put it back to park to start the truck. Also the ignition stays on sometimes when the key is removed and this drains the battery. The truck seems to use way to much gas for the driving I do. My job is less than five miles from my house and it uses a lot of gas about 10. 00 every day for such a short distance.