TIE ROD END BOLT SNAPPED WHILE PARKING

[sir_s550]

Today as I was backing into a parking spot I heard and felt a pop and couldn’t properly steer. I knew it had to be a tie rod issue. I some how was able to limp it in my chosen parking spot. Tow truck arrived and I looked at the front suspension as the car was on the tow truck and noticed the right front tie rod end bolt was snapped from the knuckle. I had the steering gear replaced in January at the dealer. I have an aftermarket bump steer kit from steeda on my tie rod ends and had no issues for the 3 plus years on the car. The dealer seems to have not replaced any hardware (not on the invoice) when they replaced the steering gear. I know the dealer is going to say because I have aftermarket parts installed to get out of it. Any ideas why this happened?

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[1 old racer]

Well, to be honest I have never seen that before.

 

[Skye]

My immediate thought is, the failed part had been stressed for some time and finally broke. It was either experiencing large sheering forces and the metallurgy gave way or something was cutting into or across the piece. Odd trajectory, no movement, forced to one side, no range of motion, full-extended, grinding, etc.

Thinking further, steering components can be most stressed when parking, when moving the wheels back and forth at very low speed and tight angles. Electronic Power Assist Steering uses a motor, belt and linear screw. The car weighs 4000 lb / 1800 kg.

"Steering gear". Define that please.

Why did the dealer replace parts earlier this year?

Who installed the bump steer kit?

Has this car been lowered?

Are there other suspension modifications present?

Were the alignment specifications being used factory or something else?

Any previous incidents where the failed wheel had struck a fixed object, like a curb?

You've had the bump steer kit installed for the last three seasons. But that doesn't necessarily prove there was not an underlying issue. The parts replaced earlier this year could have been the root cause of this failure. Or it might have exacerbated an already present issue. IDK.

The dealer tech had access to the procedures to install Ford-branded parts. They didn't necessarily recognize or understand how to integrate those with any aftermarket components.

For the reasons being discussed now, I'm somewhat surprised the dealer worked on the vehicle earlier. You can always ask. I feel it's going to have to be obvious though, like a lay person can tell something was not installed or aligned correctly earlier this year.

 

[Hack]

Any bump steer kit will move the rod end farther away from the knuckle. For a given load, the fastener will see higher stress compared to the stock setup. However, I am not saying there's a problem with the kit or that someone did something wrong.

It's possible that the Steeda kit requires a different torque than Ford specs for that location. If the dealer tech used Ford's instructions, that could be an issue. Hard to blame the dealer either way, though.

I'd inspect carefully and then buy a new bump steer kit and reinstall. I'd replace the bolts on both sides.

 

[Cobra Jet]

It’s also entirely possible the part had a manufacturing defect and finally failed.

It’s very hard to tell from your image if the part above the stacked Steeda piece where we can see breakage is part of the Steeda kit or not. I wouid reach out to Steeda and ask if they have encountered any similar failures IF a part of the Steeda kit was the failure point.

IF the failure point was a Ford part that was from the factory build - then the accountability falls on Ford IF it’s a manufacturing defect.

Warranty or no warranty, the problem is that Ford could deny any claim because per their Warranty fine print and legal terms outlined in the Warranty Sections of the Owners Manual, IF the part or an associated part was modified which was the result of a failure it would not be covered by Ford. As stated above, the geometry is totally being changed from factory when using ANY bump steer kit OR any lowering spring kit. ANY meaning any Vendor’s kits and even the Ford Racing kits. Once the geometry at the rack, tie rods (inner and outer), or control arms has been changed from factory, it’s considered “modified”.

Best recommendation is, reach out to Steeda first and supply better pics of the damaged part(s) on and off the car. Then based on the response from Steeda (if they point out it was not their part that failed), call the 800# in your Owners Manual and speak to someone at Ford about it. The Dealership who did the previous work will most likely try the “your word against theirs” and the fact there are modified parts on the suspension to deny any “free” repair.

 

[D Bergstrom]

I have many of the same questions as Skye. Not familiar with this kit, but looked up an install video of it, looks like that is the tapered portion that goes into the knuckle, correct? There is only a small portion of the break that is shiny metal, the rest is dark, maybe it has been cracked for a while and finally let go? I could see if the dealer did loosen that and reinstall it, maybe it wasn't tightened completely, leading to extra play that could have contributed to it breaking. I would also contact Steeda to see if this is a problem they have seen before. Based on the video I saw, that part is pretty beefy, surprised it broke where it did.

Doug

 

[Mike Pfeifer]

It seems like this type of thing would add additional side-loaded stress at the outer tie-rod end somewhere due to simple leverage. Every time you steer, it’s applying a twisting force to the tie-rod end where it joins the knuckle. It’s only one picture but I think I see what looks like rust in there. I could imagine the metal becomes compromised over time due to environmental factors, and combined with that extra twisting force due to the geometry, leads to a fracture, then failure.

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