Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure on the 2005 Chevrolet Equinox
When steering rack, gear or tie rod failure gets reported
Owners of the 2005 Chevrolet Equinox report steering rack, gear or tie rod failure at a median of 35,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 35,000 miles and a quarter after 70,000 miles, from 10 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 98,000 miles. It is the 25th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 20,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 130,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 110,029 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
70% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19,971 miles | 34,000 miles | 34,000 miles | 69,250 miles | 130,000 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $700–$2,600 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 5 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2008, at a median of 10 miles, and latest on the 2010 at 50,000 miles.
By volume the 2005 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Dt:consumer has been told by dealer that vehicle had excessive clearance in the steering shaft. This caused a banging noise when vehicle was jarred, and loose steering. Dealer told consumer that there were eight people with same problem that were on waiting list to have problem repaired at this dealership. *ak
On january 26 I took my 2005 chevrolet equinox to the dealership from which I purchased it (classic east, madison ohio 44057) for an oil change and mentioned that I heard a rattle in my steering column when I was on rough road. They attempted to fix the noise by adjusting the preload steering gear, but it did not work so they special ordered a part. I returned on february 1 and they attempted to fix the noise by installing a power steering gear, but that did not work. Using technical assistance from general motors, they ran several diagnostic tests and ultimately ended up replacing the steering column on february 2. On february 3 I phoned the dealership to let the service department know that the steering did not feel right- it was alternately very loose or very tight. I was told that I had electronic power steering, so that was normal. I stated that it had never been that way before, but was assured that it was normal and I should drive it for a while to see if it got better. On february 24, I was driving in a parking lot and heard a snap in my steering column. At that point, I had lost all control of the steering and was able to…
On may 6th 2011 I was traveling to work on the 17w expressway. After exiting the expressway and making a left hand turn on to grant avenue where I am employed my steering wheel felt funny. Upon making a left hand turn in to the parking lot my steering completely went leaving the steering wheel to spin completely around with no control of the tires what so ever. There is a defect in the compartment that holds the rack and pinion. If the steering wheel had became defective while traveling on the express way at sixty five miles an hour there would have been nothing I could do but brake and god knows what way the wheels would have turned and how many incident people I would have wiped out before the vehicle came to a stop probably flipping because of lack of control. This is a serious situation and I see that there have been recalls on chevy products for this exact defect. People are going to be killed and probably have been prior to this incident. This has to be rectified immediately. I believe chevy should recall these vehicles immediately. My VIN# is as follows: [xxx]. This repair is costing me $670.00 with cost of repair and…
Also reported on the 2005 Chevrolet Equinox
Other engine problem
Other electrical problem
Head gasket failure
Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure
Other powertrain problem
CV axle or driveshaft failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 10 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does steering rack, gear or tie rod failure happen on the 2005 Chevrolet Equinox?
Across 10 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 35,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 35,000 miles and a quarter after 70,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is steering rack, gear or tie rod failure on the 2005 Chevrolet Equinox?
10 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 152 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed