Anyone think the inner tie rods could snap? As in come apart?

Anyone see or hear of this happening before on our trucks?

Just curious.

 

Never heard of it really coming apart but I have had my boot completly rip away. Wish I could be more help to ya Beard!!

 

my dads F-150 tie rod snapped when he was exiting the freeway... not so pretty..

 

yea dealer wants 300 to change it plus alignment... i think im gonna risk it...

 

I think mine have been fawked for over a year...

 

Zach they have to get pretty bad before they do what my dads truck did. hell you know all know how bad mine where last winter i drove all winter with them popping changed then in the summer just keep and eye on them..

 

over a half inch of play at least in the steering right now...

i just need them to last a few more weeks...

 

you will be fine mine where worse then that when finally got around to them

 

that makes me feel much better.


i should be fine...

 

it jumps across lanes now when the wind hits me. 1/2" on each side...

 

dont you remember me driving to your house last winter and i changed lanes with out even moving the wheel? lol.. ya it was bad man

 

ya mine were popping and cracking and i had play but i did change mine out til.... oh ya today becuase of the stupid stealership.

BTW dont go to the dealership, they wanted to charge me 500+ so instead i went to my trusted mechanic and got it done for 150.

 

Get out some tools and change them yourself. It's not worth risking driving with loose tie rods. Even a set of cheap new ones are better than worn out ones.
I've seen some pretty nasty wrecks caused by worn out tie rods coming apart.
Your not only risking your neck, but the necks of everyone else.

What year F150? How many miles and how has it been driven and maintained?

Normal tie rods only separate after severe wear or impact, if they are so loose they just fall apart, then their far past the point that they should have been replaced.

Some newer vehicles with rack and pinion steering use a stamped socket type of inner tie rod inside the rack boots. These tend to loosen far more often than do the old fashion type. Even a light curb tap or pot hole can jar these enough to develop play in the socket end of the inner tie rod. The outer joints on a rack & pinion vehicle are the same as the older style ball and socket joints.
2003 and newer F150's, 1998 and newer Rangers, and 1995 and newer Explorers use a Rack & Pinion type of steering.

 

its on my ranger. 2003, driven mainly on the street. 80,000 miles

its the socket style that are bad. I was asking if the socket would break or come apart.
you only speak of the old ball and socket style.

you do realize that i am cutting everything off the front end of this truck in 2-3 weeks?

and to change the inner tie rods the whole rack and pinion has to be removed. not an easy task. 6+ hours of work, i have already done it on an 04 before.

 

i think you will be fine......just try to stay away from sudden sharp movements...

 

my buddy changed mine in about 5 minutes.. then again he has the very cool tool that will reach right in there and grab it

 

oh i could do it in that amount of time too if i had the tool.

those morons at the dealer have the tool and they have it marked as 3 hours work time without doing an alignment!

 

awe comeon. the morons at the dealer only use the tools, they dont write the book times

 

you can do it yourself, but i highly suggest the alignment!

every vehicle that rolls off the assy. line has to have an initial alignment done due to the fact that parts cast differently...

so even if you replace it, it won't carry the same caster/camber angles...

i can get you a brand new tie rod end for $25 if you need me too

 

actually replacin a tie rod wont affect caster or camber. only toe.
for the short amount of time he would be runnin it till he cuts everything out if he marks and measures carefully enough he would be fine on a cheater toe set for a few weeks..

 

im just going to push it and get my truck cut up sooner.

ill be ready after this weekend anyway...

 

we (bill and I) changed his... never again... what a pain

 

I just wrecked my 2000 on the highway, spinning and slamming into a jersey barrier. Once the truck was in the towing yard, I and the tow truck driver and a friend noticed the tie rod on the passenger side had snapped just short of the tie rod end - next to it - and that was not a corner where the truck had major impact damage as the impact was greatest at the rear of the truck. It appears at this point that the tie rod snapped and caused my truck to start to swerve, then rapidly swerve out of control, on a dry sunny morning. In those seconds when it started to swerve, i felt i had no control with the steering, no feel of the road, no response at all as i tried to correct in the seconds before it wildly started to swerve out of control.

The posts here show that this has happened to others, but has anybody else had as disastrous results? Have there been many cases of this that mite point to the tie rod as a failure item?

 

this thread is 6 years old....

please dont bump very old threads, especially after being inactive for 6 years.