Steering Tie Rod Assembly problems of the 2013 Ford Explorer

Had just picked up my mail from mailbox and started crossing road to enter my lane/private driveway when heard a loud clunk and was unable to steer car. Kept pushing gas pedal to try to move forward and get across the road and barely did but couldn't control direction the car was moving. When felt was safe I got out and walked around car to see if I could see what was wrong. Noticed front right passenger wheel was turned in while others were straight. I got back in car to turn steering wheel and see if it would move but it did not. I called family to come help and upon further looking discovered wheel had become disconnected from the tie rod. The car was towed to a garage and upon their inspection I was told that I needed a new inner and outer tie rod and that the axle centre bracket had broken. I googled the internet to see if this was a known problem and found a website carproblemzoo. Com where 29 reports were listed of similar instances with a most recent date of 7/12/2019. This driver did contact Ford customer care as did I but had no assistance or resolution from them. In fact Ford told me they can't monitor every website and I told them this wasn't acceptable because one complaint said a mother's neck was broken. These problems must be further investigated.

While operating 2013 Ford Explorer on highway at approximately 30 mph the right wheel suddenly turned 45 degrees right causing the vehicle to unexpectedly veer to right towards curb and pedestrian walkway. A visual inspection showed the outer tie rod disconnected from outer tie rod connector without warning. Mechanic determined the male thread on outer tie rod "worked" it's way out of the female outer tie rod connector. The metal threads on the end of the tie rod were stripped allowing outer tie rod and tie rod connector to sliding in and out freely without any rotation(loosening/tightening) of tie rod end. Fortunately no personal injury was sustained by anyone involved. At time of the incident the vehicle had approximately 40,000 miles and was in excellent condition receiving regular service. I believe the oem equipment on the vehicle is defective and runs the risk of serious injury or death if it were to fail at highway speed. I contacted Ford customer service to explain incident and they simply stated the vehicle was out of warranty. They did not seem to be interested in the details of mechanical failure as they did not connect me with a technician. Customer service representative told me if they would mark it as a simple tie rod failure and if enough people "complain" they would contact me. Out of abundance of caution I replaced both left and right tie rods and tie rod ends to prevent further failure. Repairs cost including labor exceeded $750 photos of failed parts attached please contact me for further information/questions.