Early outer Tie Rod end failure?

"Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey" (dingersghost) 09/04/2014 at 18:20 • Filed to: None

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Back in June or July, I can't quite remember, I noticed Blue was making a clunk noise. After having my father rake the wheel, I found it was the right outer TRE that was making the noise.

When we went to replace the TRE, it came apart in my dad's hands, leaving the ball bolted to the spindle. It was very similar to an experience my dad had, only it was the other side and it failed while he was driving, which obviously wasn't a fun event. I was glad that it held together until I wasn't driving it.

Now, both of these times, after replacing the ends (note:the two occurances were a couple years apart.) we never did an official alignment on the truck. We just made enough adjustment so the truck drove straight and didn't destroy the tires. When the driver side came apart on my dad, we put it back together in a parking lot, at 10 PM, in snow. Of course, it wasn't the most accurate, it was just to get the truck home.

Later on, we made an adjustment, and the truck drove straight. Of course, in our attempt, the steering wheel ended up slightly off of straight, and it's been that way since.

Earlier this year, when I did the other side, I simply installed it back where the jam nut was, because it had been driving straight before.

Now it's September, the month my inspection runs out. The TRE I just replaced is sloppy again. No noise, but I can notice a bit of play when I jack the truck up.

My question is, what caused it to fail so early? Was it the lack of an alignment performed? Or was it the part I used? I admit, it wasn't the highest quality, I just couldn't afford it at the time.

I almost forgot, it's a 2001 Ford Ranger 4x4 if you didn't know.

TL;DR: My passenger side outer Tie Rod End is failing and I just replaced it earlier this year, so I don't know why it's bad again.

Nibbles > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 09/04/2014 at 18:39

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It's failing because either A: substandard parts or b: the lack of a proper alignment has put undue stress on the components for an unnecessarily long period of time.

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > Nibbles 09/04/2014 at 18:50

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So it's probably a combination of both because I'm sure both factors contribute. When I do the inspection, I will put a new end on. I'll order it from out parts dept. (I work at a Ford dealer) so it will be Motorcraft. I will also do an alignment to solve that issue.

Nibbles > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 09/04/2014 at 18:52

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Sounds like a good plan. How are the other joints doing? If you're seeing "weird" failures, it may be time to inspect/replace all joints and bushings

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > Nibbles 09/04/2014 at 18:55

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I'm sure it wouldn't hurt other than financially to replace suspension bushings. Everything else is healthy though.

Nibbles > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 09/04/2014 at 18:57

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I've always treated my suspension components like brakes or bulbs - replace one side, replace the other. It's a good thing.