Billinsd

Is it common or pretty uncommon for inner and/or outer tie rods to break on our trucks? I mean if I offroad and do not offroad real hard and my truck has 110,000 miles on it what are the chances I'll break a tie rod?

It seems like they do not usually break, they get loose at the joint, where you can feel it driving or tell by squeezing it with a channel lock, right?

Thanks
Bill

justin_4runner

they really dont break easy, u have to exert a lot of force to break them, but like anything it could be a bad mold and it brakes.

250000_yota

anything is possible I guess. Just do a good pre and post wheeling inspection of everything on the truck, including the tie rods. You should be able to see stress marks and metal discoloration on them, along with excessive movement.

BajaRunner

After lurking around here for the last 5 or 6 years, I haven't seen anyone break a tie rod. I'm sure its possible though, and easier if you're running bigger than 35" tires

ywokchile

a friend of mine broke a tie rod on his Daihatsu Rocky 2.8
and didn't really notice
he went to the mechanic the next day saying, it feels weird
and the mec was like, you were about to lose that wheel!

I'm a little obsessive about play in my steering, and you can usually feel the play or clickiness to the steering as the components start to wear.
I detest it and if I had the cash, I'd build a bulletproof reinforced system with racing tie rods, CNC idler, reinforced mounts, etc...

big heavy tires only make wear happen faster

Billinsd

Thanks everyone. I had a 1994 Nissan 4x4 and actually broke two tie rods and I know the suspension on that truck was weak.

My Tacoma seems really stout, however I have only owned it for about 4 years and it has been REALLY dependable.

Sounds like I DO NOT need to carry spare tie rods, not that there is anything wrong with doing it, I'm just strapped for space on my truck like other Taco owners.

Thanks, I appreciate the answers!!!
Bill

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

It is just one of those things depends on the abuse. I have broke a few and seen a few more broke. I have seen the the linkage bent where one wheel was going almost sideways .This has been since I started driving in 1974

From what I have seen it takes an impact just in the correct place to cause a failure. The weakest point seems to be at the junction where the threads are .

I have only ever seen one get really loose in the ball and socket

To get back to the real world I used to have a piece of pipe split in half and 2 cable clamps to hold things back together .

I had to drive with a broke one once a few miles I can only say it was interesting.

erixxx68

My neighbor's son hit a pothole and broke one on an s-10 and left the road, climbed a tree and rolled it over. I would keep an eye on them if you are feeling any "slack" or play in the wheel. I prefer to have someone turn the wheel slightly back and forth while I am under it looking.