It won't get better on it's own so you are going to have fix it at sometime. Why not now so it's safe and you don't have to worry about it?

 

Would you recommend stock or aftermarket? I see niche brand ones on Amazon, for the price I wonder if they’re any good.

 

I can't answer your question honestly. You have a Defender but what year and model is it. Try looking for the part on a site which sells OEM parts such as Partzilla does to get a feel what the OEM part would cost in comparison to aftermarket.
I also have a Defender but it is a "2024 Defender Limited Max HD 10 GMRH" That is the type of information you need to know to price or source the correct part(s).

 

I think that as part of maintenance if ya have a steering gear that is adjustable it is good to adjust it as time goes on instead of all of a sudden knowing it is too loose. But with rack and pinion its different than a box and pitman.

 

The defenders dont have the strongest racks, ive seen stock racks on these hold up for for years and take a decent beating, and some that didn't hold up. Ive replaced em with brp units, and some tcp,which is gone for now, but @SuperATV has the rack boss that seems to be a pretty good upgrade and holds up good.

Just my opinion, steering isn't something to cheap out on.

Both stock and satv units start at around 400 bucks.

 

Just priced out the rackboss 2.0, $640 CAD (tax-inc). The other option was All balls for $330. I know All Balls axles/bearing etc. are typically not well regarded but the very few reviews from their racks seem to be good. Does anyone have experience with their racks? I would like to save the $300 but prefer to pay the extra if the Rackboss is significantly better. Thanks all!

 

The rack boss is only 399 usd with steel rods, I dont know what or if you pay shipping or what the currency difference is either, I would suggest oem(brp) or the rack boss. Just my opinion. I would definitely not cheap out on steering, if their bearings and axles aren't good, why would they make a good rack? Parts are always cheaper for a reason.

 

I have to agree with Reikes. 'Buy cheap and you'll buy twice" or "The thrill of a low price will be long gone before the poor quality will"
These were sayings I used when I ran my auto repair shop.

 

If you put ours in your shopping cart on the website...and then screw around long enough...it sometimes will shoot you a random discount code to get you to cash out. Or...you can sign up for our emails, and you get all kinds of discounts there...if you check your email. Or...I can shoot you the forum member discount code if you're ready to pull the trigger now.

 

I hate to say it because super atv is a great company but the tie rod ends and boots in my experience are junk.

I use oe and add a grease zerk. I think yhe 22+ rsck as the inner tie rod ends are 30% bigger.