broken tie rod end

[cpm]

Passenger side, freaked me out pretty bad. Fortunately I was lugging around on the lane
doing road work when it happened. I was able to get it off the road, so i wasn't blocking the lane. Man, what would have happened if I were out on the hiway, I don't even want to think.

that said, any fun tricks and tips? My current plan, is to get another tie rod end, (assuming I can pull what's left of the stud without any heroics) spin it on there so the truck is movable, and get it down to a shop and have EVERYTHING in the front end replaced and lined up.

thoughts?

Oh yeah, 86 f250 4x4.

 

[fsr7]

I had the same joint fall apart while I was puttering around in a parking lot last year - didn't have my hands on the wheel, all the sudden is spins 270* but the truck is still going straight - definitely something that you thank for dropping at a low speed. Just get a new joint, count the threads when you take whats left of the old one out of the tie rod, thread the new one into the same place, and cruise to a decent alignment shop - when they are aligning it, they will tell you what else is worn and/or needing replacement. All of the components are pretty easy to visually inspect as well - While you're under the truck, have someone wiggle the steering wheel from side to side and any of the steering joints that have play should be replaced. if you jack up each side of the truck individually and push/pull on the top of the tire towards the truck, you will be able to feel play if you need ball joints.

 

[subway]

i agree with fsr7 but instead of counting the threads i have had better luck measuring the distance between the joints with a tap measure first and going by that. i can usually measure from grease zerk to grease zerk. i have done this several times and not bothered with the alignement since it didn't chance noticably at all.

might want to bring a pickle fork or a tie rod puller with you. if the stud is rusty a propane torch to heat it up and water to cool it down should help break up the rust bonds.

good luck

 

[Mr_Roboto]

Take a dab of white paint or white-out and mark the old tie rod end where it meets the sleeve, then use that as a giude when installing the new one.

I do lots of front end work at my shop and never need to re-align. The bozos at the chain shops just slap the new parts on, that way they have an excuse to sell you an unnecessary alignment.

 

[NJGearhead666]

yea I have apart time service mechanic company and I got a call a few weeks ago about a broken pass tie rod for a landscape construction company in there F-350. it broke on them on the road and the tie rod seperated from the joint on the spindle since they never greased them. the crazy workers used mechanics wire and wraped it around the rod end and the spindle and drove it back to there yard! Its an easy fix i did it in a muddy yard using a skid steer as a jack and it took me 45 minutes to do then a best way to change it is to mark and count how many splines are showing out of the sleave just like MR Roboto said. To get the stud out is easy, you take a hammer and hit the spindle area right around the stud it will fall right out.
glad to hear that you made it out ok, always make sure that your rod ends and steering componants are greesed everytime you change the oil.

 

[69oiler]

i'm surprised this happened. the tie rods and ball joints on that truck only have 60k miles on them. BJs are Moog, tie rods are NAPA, axle joints are from NAPA, i don't remember the brand.

glad no one was hurt.

 

[jimmys f250]

used rubber bungie cords to hold mine together when it broke,,,didnt fix it till bout 100 miles later.,