Steering Tie Rod Assembly Problems of Ford Expedition - part 1

Tie rod threads stripped leads to complete loss of steering and near-death experience.

See all problems of the 1997 Ford Expedition 🔎.

: the contact stated while driving on a paved interstate, the passenger side front tie rod fell off. An independent mechanic determined both sway bars were fractured and the other three tie rods needed to be replaced. There were no problems with the vehicle prior to the incident. The dealership was aware of the problem. Updated 11/3/2006 -.

See all problems of the 2002 Ford Expedition 🔎.

While making a hard left turn to avoid a crash , I was unable to recover to the right even with my steering wheel turned al the way to the right. My vehicle continued left and collided with the guard rail at about thirty mph. Inspection of the damage found that the left front tie rod on my brand new Expedition was broken in half. There was marks on the tie rod to indicate that it was cut. Instead it was fractured . This is the reason for loss of steering control.

See all problems of the 2006 Ford Expedition 🔎.

Driving on 4 lane twisty parkway, the left tie rod broke without any warning, lost all steering control, applied brake and tried to control vehicle, took about 200 yards to come to a stop. Fortunately I was able to avoid a crash, had vehicle towed to dealer where car is always serviced and maintained, and replaced all 4 tie rods.

See all problems of the 2000 Ford Expedition 🔎.

In early Jan 2006, we have a popping sound and movement in the steering wheel of our 2000 Expedition. We could feel it moving in the steering when driving and were concerned. We have an extended warranty on our Expedition so we took it to germain Ford in columbus, ohio. They said the left front stabilizer link bolt had broke in half and the stabilizer bar was slipping on and off causing the movement and sound. They told me this was not a warranty item. My Expedition has only 51,000 miles and is driven by my wife to work. At the same time the dealer told me by ball joints needed to be replaced. I said how can a steel bolt in the steering linkage actually brake and not be covered? I asked for the service mgr and he actually said to me "they don't make things like they use to". I then recalled a service notice some time back about something in the front end of Expeditions so I looked through my files. Sure enough, Ford sent out a service bulletin in 6-04 "titled tie rod inspection procedure". While the service bulletin covers a couple items it believe it shows Ford knew they had a problem with the front ends and sent out a service notice to excuse themselves and to avoid paying for repairs. When the dealership told me they would not cover, I called the warranty hotline. The representative told me "ball joints are wearing out sooner then they would expect" but it was not a warranty item so I had to get those repaired as well. In summary, I believe the bolt breaking could be a safety issue and that for a customer to spend $800 to replace a broken bolt in the front linkage and ball joints on an excellent condition vehicle with only 51,000 miles is outrageous. I am guessing other Expedition owners are experiencing the same problem and would like to file a complaint for getting Ford to reimburse the $800 I had to spend in repair.

When turning into parking lot entrance after complete stop, the steering suddenly became loose and I felt a vibration and heard a skidding noise from one tire. The steering was loose but responsive while I turned into a parking spot. After that, the right front wheel would not turn with the steering wheel. The ball joint on the passenger side tie rod had separated. I had the car towed to a local Ford dealership where the tie rod was replaced. The dealer discarded the old parts.

See all problems of the 1999 Ford Expedition 🔎.

My 1997 Ford Expedition 4x4 with 95,000 miles just experienced a failure in the drivers side tie-rod. The inner tie-rod end shredded where it connects to the center link.

Dt: the consumer stated the driver's side outer tie rod broke on her vehicle as she was driving on the expressway at 50-60 mph. This happened on 8-30-05. She reports having no problems prior to this. There was not an accident. She had received a letter from Ford on 9-04 to have the tie rods inspected every 15,000 miles. She had the vehicle inspected immediately after receiving the letter. The car had 90,000 miles at that time. Both outer tie rods were replaced.

See all problems of the 1998 Ford Expedition 🔎.

Consumer states that when driving 45-50 mph and the tie rod broke on the driver side front. When the consumer spoke to Ford, they stated it happens quite often with that vehicle. The vehicle was inspected at Ford 7 months ago. The vehicle was towed to a garage. There was no warning, it just happened. This happened July 9, 2005 at 5:30 pm. The vehicle needs to be realigned and the other tie rod need to be checked. The vehicle was unsteerable and it pulled about 3 feet to the right. At that time, the consumer stopped the vehicle.

While driving my 1998 Ford Expedition at about a 35 mph speed, on a smooth dry paved road, a sudden load bang noise with tire squealing and a loss of controll of the steering occured. Inspection of vehicle steering revealed the rh inner tie rod joint had fallen apart. The ball and socket of the tie rod had broken and no sterring controll of the rh frt tire resulted. No vehicle damage resulted (other than the tierod), no personal or property damage occured. Ford had sent me a letter of concern with the steering and suspension. It contained a brief note on how to check for defective or worn parts. When I called the dealership they informed me their would be a charge for the service. I checked the vehicle myself using their recomendation and noticed no worn parts. I have informed Ford and the dealership of the concern, they said bring it in to the dealer to inspect. Again the wanted $$. I will have a private garage install all new front steering parts on my vehicle. I wanted to inform your department of the vehicle steering component failier and the sudden loss of control to my vehicle which could have lead to very bad crash.

Consumer states the suspension on the front end passengers side failed. The tie rod end broke and the wheels were uncontrollable. When this incident occurred there weren't any lights or warnings. The vehicle was serviced 800 miles ago and there was no indication of a future problem. The outer right tie rod came apart. The dealership replaced the right inner and outer tie rod. The broken part of the rod did not show any signs of rust/corrosion or lack of lubricant.

The passenger side tie rod broke at 65 mph, causing consumer to strike a bridge. Consumer sustained injuries. The insurance company investigation found that the front passenger side tie rod was separated. Ford sent out letters to owners of these type vehicles telling them it is essential to have the steering and front suspension including the tie rods inspected every 15,000 miles. Prior to accident brakes were replaced with new components and a full safety inspection was performed on the vehicle.

Vehicle is 2000 Ford Expedition approx. 60,000 miles. Took a trip around 150 miles, most of which at 70-72 mph. Stayed the weekend, then Sunday on the way home at about 35 mph passenger side tie rod broke, front end of the truck bounced up and down uncontrollable with oncoming traffic, slowed down quickly and pulled to side of road. Drove slowly 5 mph to nearest service garage, left vehicle overnight, mechanic replaced the tie rod. I do have old part.

While driving 20 mph consumer heard a loud noise coming from the vehicle, and lost steering control. A tow truck was called in. Tow truck driver informed consumer that the tie rod broke. Vehicle was towed to a local repair shop. Dealer was not notified.

While driving front tie rod snapped. This caused a minor vehicle collison, and the vehicle was towed. Dealership will be notified.

While driving, the vehicle began to shake to uncontrollably. After the vehicle was inspected, it was determined that the outer tie rod end on the passenger side had failed, which caused the consumer to lose all control of the steering.

In June I purchased my Expedition and noticed that there was a rumbling noise and pulling to one side at a speed of 55 about two weeks later. I had taken it back to the dealer he said they checked it out can not find anything wrong. While turning in to a parking lot in sept. I heard a crack and my steering was not good. I thought nothing serious ,well when I went to leave I could not back up my front wheel was dragging results was a broken tie rod. Very lucky to not be driving down the road with my 3 children. The front end is still making the noise in which dealer said front wheel bearings now that my warranty is expired ! is there a recall ?.

The consumer received an inspection letter from the manufacturer to have the tie rods inspected. The consumer later contacted the manufacturer and asked why? since the vehicle only has 68,000 miles on it and why should the tie rods be suspect to failure at only 68,000 miles. The manufacturer failed to comment. The consumer is now terrified in fear that the vehicle may have problems that could effect the children. Provide further details.

See all problems of the 2001 Ford Expedition 🔎.

2002 Ford Expedition with 42,159 miles. 8/27/04 vehicle taken into Ford dealership for oil change , brake inspection and tire rotation. Service tech noted front tires a little chopped , rotation should take care of this. 8/30/04 called facility where I buy my tires and have my vehicles alignment performed to ask if this could be a alignment issue. After visual inspection of the tire wear they felt that alignment was needed. 9/2/04 recieved a letter from Ford containing updated inspected proccedures for the Expedition and other Ford vehicles titled tie-rod inspection procedure. 9/3/04 vehicle taken in for front end alignment and was informed that it could not be aligned because of outer tie-rod end wear and these needed to be replaced. Ford dealer didn't check for this even after seeing tire damage while rotating tires. When informed of the tie rod problem the Ford dealership said repair would be out of pocket since vechile had over 42,000 miles. I had both the inner and outer tie-rods replaced at my independent repair facility since the letter from Ford implied that 15,000 miles was the about the life expectancy of the tie-rods they used. The tie-rods were replace with ones having grease fittings unlike Ford's original factory equipment. I feel that this is a repair Ford should cover for the life of the vehicle as long as they continue using parts which seem to have this shortened life expectancy and could result in injury to anyone using these vehicles.

See all problems of the 2004 Ford Expedition 🔎.

Ford failed steering on 2000 Expedition. The consumer stated that he had a tie rod failure at about 30 mph. The consumer requested that a recall be sent out for his vehicle. A review of database relative to tie rod failures on 2000 Ford Expedition vehiclesrevealed insufficient evidence to warrant opening a safety defect investigation at this time.

Consumer heard a sound while steering the vehicle. It was a thumping sound. Dealer stated that it sounded like tie rod failure . Dealer advised consumer that tie rod was defective and would need to be replaced.

A catastrophic failure of the driver side tie rod caused lost of steering and impact into a tree. The vehicle speed at the time of the failure was between 20 and 25 mph. A complete disconnection of the tie rod end, while driving on a rural road, caused complete lost of steering. Automobile was towed to a repair facility where new tie rods were installed and a subsequent body shop where body damage was repaired. Photos of the failed components are available as well as photos of the site of the failure.

Tie rod broke while driving 35-40 mph. Vehicle was towed to the dealer for repairs.

While making a right turn it felt like the truck was skipping. Consumer then pulled of the road. Upon exiting the truck consumer noticed that 3 of the wheels were facing forward, and the right passenger side wheel was turned inwards. The truck was then towed to dealership because it was not drivable. Dealership inspected the steering linkage, and indicated that a tie rod had fallen off, and the others were loose, all 4 tie rods need to be replaced. They also had to replaced the lower ball joints.

I had just had my 2000 Expedition inspected the month before. I was dring up an on ramp to an interstate and my car swerved out of control. I went off the road. Several cars almost hit me and I them. It turned out that my tie rod on my front left tire had broken. Very dangerous. Very upsetting.

The consumer was making a right turn when the passenger side wheel turned outward and failed to move. It was determined that the tie rod end failed.

While driving at 60 mph the front end tie rod broke without warning. As a result the driver lost control of the vehicle but was able to recover and pulled to the side of the road. The front left side of the vehicle had collapsed. Please provide additional information .

While backing out of the driveway left front tie rod broke.

The ballstud of the driver's side inner tie rod broke apart while driving. The ball of the ballstud seperated from the socket.

When coming to a complete stop the tie rod fell off due to corrosion.

Broken tie rod.

When the vehicle was turned, the driver's tire turned outward, which was the result of a broken tie rod.

Broken left side tie rod resulted in loss of steering control - pure luck that no accident happened.

Tie rod broke while driving off highway 25-30 mph, resulting in tie rod and ball joint to be replaced.

Tie rod end on front left wheel has disconnected while driving at 30-35 mph. Dealer and manufacturer were not notified at this time. Consumer states that the driver had no control over the vehicle after crossing the railroad tracks.