1999 Ford ranger 73,000 miles, 3.0 V-6, automatic transmission, 2 WD, rack and pinion steering. I have the 1999 Ford Ranger that has the clunking noise only when hot. I have posted this problem several times, and have received many good ideas from this forum. I went out and bought a used Steelman Chassis Ears, and have tracked the problem to the steering rack. When the truck is cold there is very little noise that comes from the rack but as it gets hot the noise gets much louder, to the point you can hear it with the naked ear. I get a lot of clunking noise through the Chassis Ears when I hook the clamps to the housing of the rack inside of the boot. This is between the boot and the mounting bolts. The noise is about the same on both sides of the rack. I have disconnected the tie rod ends and checked the inner tie rods for play and there is no play. I removed the boots and checked for leaks or damage, there was non. The fluid level is fine, and looks clean. Any ideas as to what is the problem? Thanks, billj