Steering Tie Rod Assembly problems of the 2010 Dodge Dakota

With only 41750 miles on my 2010 Dakota, I was backing up a light trailer when suddenly the rear tires started spinning and it seemed like something was blocking the truck/trailer from moving. I walked around the vehicle and saw no blockages, but did notice the right front tire was pointed left and the left front was pointed right. Upon inspection, I found the left front tie rod end 100% separated at the ball/socket joint. There was no grease, lots of rust, and it was dry as a bone in the ball/socket joint. There was no grease fitting on the tie rod end. This happened in my yard at near-zero speed. However that last thing I did with this truck was to tow a camper trailer up north and back with my family in the truck. I was going to do this again in two weeks. This would have been a terribly unsafe thing to have break at freeway speeds and it seems obvious it would have happened on the next trip had it not broken at my house. Very scary, for a truck with only 41,750 miles on it. It cost me $130 in parts ( I replaced both) plus a front end alignment to repair this.

Truck was being driven at a slow speed when the tie rod fell off and truck hit a tree. No injury but left front side of bumper damaged. The tie rod end was replaced at a local mechanic. The ball joint end was badly deteriorated.