Bad Tie Rods

Zrz11386 · 02-23-2008, 05:38 PM

So i took my car to the dealership after being told by the guy who changed my tires that I had a bad inner tie rod. After taking it to the dealership i learned that both inner tie rods were bad, and the ball joint to my lower control arm on the right side was bad also. When i asked the tech what couldve caused it he said he really didnt know since there were no signs of impact. I mean tie rods last a lifetime, why are mine bad after 35k miles. When i was talking to a friend of the family's he said he had the same problem on his rangeronce he had put rims on. He said he constantly went through ball joints and tie rods about every 10k miles. He said my rims were probably the problem. I have 18' DD black bullitts, and their only one from about april til october, so does anyone out there think this could be the cause, of is he full of it? Is there any truth to what hes tellin me?

deekum1627 · 02-23-2008, 06:17 PM

i never herd or rims doing that and every 10k there somethign wrong and i dont think it the rims anyone else know

ohnoesaz · 02-23-2008, 06:26 PM

Interesting... Well,some factory stangs come with 18" bullits soooooo.... Sure, some aftermarket rims don't mount as hub-centric as the stock ones are designed too, but its all the same to the rear axleor fronttie-rods.

You could argue wider rims or differently offset rims could apply more pressure to the tie-rods, sure its possible, like a wheel spacer would.

Anyways...... Humor us and tell us more specifics about the rims you're using.

99flhr · 02-23-2008, 06:29 PM

Inner tie rod ends on rack & pinion should ( and almost always do) last far longer than 35K.

Driving style has the most impact on F.E. component longevity.

The rim theory doesn`t hold water unless you have some idiot offset with the wheels out past the fenders as was popular in urban areas years back.

aode08 · 02-23-2008, 06:52 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: Zrz11386

So i took my car to the dealership after being told by the guy who changed my tires that I had a bad inner tie rod. After taking it to the dealership i learned that both inner tie rods were bad, and the ball joint to my lower control arm on the right side was bad also. When i asked the tech what couldve caused it he said he really didnt know since there were no signs of impact. I mean tie rods last a lifetime, why are mine bad after 35k miles. When i was talking to a friend of the family's he said he had the same problem on his rangeronce he had put rims on. He said he constantly went through ball joints and tie rods about every 10k miles. He said my rims were probably the problem. I have 18' DD black bullitts, and their only one from about april til october, so does anyone out there think this could be the cause, of is he full of it? Is there any truth to what hes tellin me?

Take your car and roll. The guy that changed your tires want more than .4 hours for the hassle, unless its under waranty, dont bother.

If those parts are bad, an alignment issue with the new rims may be the source, and shall be corrected as needed. A real tech get to the source, not tell you they dont know.

And ask him for proof, if you had bad balljoints and inners, you would be there for a whole different service to begin with.

Be carefull, we just fired a tech for damaging balljoints, tie rods and sway links by tearing up the protective boot that keeps moisture and dirt out, and spraying brake cleaner on them to clear up the oils inside.

He was the only tech getting those jobs, and a set up car ruined his career.[&:]

ohnoesaz · 02-23-2008, 07:06 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: aode08

Quote:

ORIGINAL: Zrz11386

So i took my car to the dealership after being told by the guy who changed my tires that I had a bad inner tie rod. After taking it to the dealership i learned that both inner tie rods were bad, and the ball joint to my lower control arm on the right side was bad also. When i asked the tech what couldve caused it he said he really didnt know since there were no signs of impact. I mean tie rods last a lifetime, why are mine bad after 35k miles. When i was talking to a friend of the family's he said he had the same problem on his rangeronce he had put rims on. He said he constantly went through ball joints and tie rods about every 10k miles. He said my rims were probably the problem. I have 18' DD black bullitts, and their only one from about april til october, so does anyone out there think this could be the cause, of is he full of it? Is there any truth to what hes tellin me?

Take your car and roll. The guy that changed your tires want more than .4 hours for the hassle, unless its under waranty, dont bother.

If those parts are bad, an alignment issue with the new rims may be the source, and shall be corrected as needed. A real tech get to the source, not tell you they dont know.

And ask him for proof, if you had bad balljoints and inners, you would be there for a whole different service to begin with.

Be carefull, we just fired a tech for damaging balljoints, tie rods and sway links by tearing up the protective boot that keeps moisture and dirt out, and spraying brake cleaner on them to clear up the oils inside.

He was the only tech getting those jobs, and a set up car ruined his career.[&:]

Thats quite a story... Can you elaborate? Was he accidently damaging tie-rods and balljoints by trying to clean them or was he sabotaging? Just curious... and you said a "set up car" ruined his career. you mean you guys intentionally set him up?

Ah the strange things that happen

Rustan · 02-23-2008, 09:13 PM

I might have this checked out at Ford. My GT had about 3,000 miles on it and was in the shop for an oil change and they said I had a bad ball joint in my right front and replaced it while it was there under warranty. Only problem is now I have the imfamous front end pop, yay.

Zrz11386 · 02-24-2008, 03:20 PM

OK so heres the whole story so you guys can get some more info. I had the infamous thunk, took it to a ford dealership to get it fixed (at the time i had my aftermarket rims on), while it was there i was told that in order to fix the thunk, they had to break off my swaybar links, and so they fixed the thunk, and completely replaced my swaybar. After the thunk was fixed, october rolled around and I decided to put my stock rims back on. I put the stock rims back on but they needed new tires on them. I took the car to a local tire shop (not a ford dealership) that Ive been going to for a couple years. While the tech there was puttin my new tires on, he said "hey you have a bad inner tie rod on your right side". After that I took my car to another Ford dealership ( i had a couple problems with the service dept of the one I had the thunk fixed at). I told them about the bad inner tie rod and how I had the thunk fixed at the other dealership. They said after gettin under they car, they found both the left and right side inner tie rods were bad, and that the lower control arm ball joint on the right side was also bad. They fixed all of this with no problems, all under warranty. A family friend then told me that the cause of the problem could be my aftermarket rims that i keep on the car only during the warmer months. He said he had the same problem when he put aftermarket rims on his ranger, and that he was constantly going through ball joints and tie rods. Now heres my aftermarket rim specs. My summer rims are from American Muscle, their the 18' Deep dish Black Bullitt Style rims, in the front their 9' wide, and in the back their 10' wide. I only have 35,000 on the car, and I definitely do not drive my car hard. I also have never hit anything, not even a curb. So with that info, any more suggestions? Thanks again guys.

Zach

pascal · 02-24-2008, 04:50 PM

The aftermarket rims story is a complete BS, sorry.
Since 90% of us on this board have non OEM wheels, we wouldALL have the same issues you have now, and it's not the case.

Having said that, I don't have a real answer to your problems...
At 35K miles, factory defects come to mind bacause it can't be normal tear and wear.

BTW, factory defect includes not enough grease (or not at all) insertedfrom the guy that does that at the production line.
Those Union guys, I tell you...

GidyupGo · 02-24-2008, 06:01 PM

Can anyone tell me how to check the tie rods for wear? I have jacked up the passenger side where the thunk may have been coming from. I thought the strut mounts were going bad after 8 months of use since replacing them. I grabbed the tire at 3 and 9 oclock position and there is movement. From underneathe, it seems the movement is coming from inside the boot area. Can you help a fella out?