Steering Tie Rod Assembly problems of the 2005 Ford F-250

The contact owns a 2005 Ford F-250. The contact stated that while driving 55 to 60 mph, a pot hole was hit and caused the vehicle to shimmy and shake out of control. The brake was engaged while at highway speeds to bring the vehicle under control. The dealer advised that the tie rods failed. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 97,000.

I started this trip at the kentucky horse park, I-75 at exit 120. I had been driving an hour, heading north. This incident took place late afternoon, between 5pm and 6pm, broad daylight excellent visibility, dry, partly cloudy, traveling 65 mph in the center of three lanes. I was not tired nor distracted. I was northbound on I-75 in northern ky when I went over a minor bump, just rough pavement. I am absolutely certain there was no object in the road. After the bump the truck began steering erratically, wandering, much as it had 4 days earlier when I took it to my Ford dealer and they replaced the front u-joints. I slowed down, got the truck under control, turned off the cruise control, and moved to the right lane. I heard a high-pitched screeching metal noise. Then I smelled burning rubber. I was alert and very aware of road conditions and the traffic (two lanes were merging from the right from I-275 so I was in the center of five lanes) and I am certain there were no objects in the road. The concrete was clear and smooth. I heard a loud bang under the right front of the truck and it took off to the right. It was immediately clear the truck was not responding to the steering wheel. I put both feet on the brake pedal, made my body rigid and pulled up on the steering wheel for maximum down force on the brake pedal. Completely out of control, I traveled across both lanes on my right (the merging lanes from I-275) and came to a stop with the left rear wheel on the concrete apron and all other wheels in the rocky soil that was the side of a ditch with a mountain on the other side. It was later determined that the tie rod end had snapped. One theory is that the tie rod end was over-hardened and became brittle, possibly cracked, then the new u-joints changed the stresses on it and it snapped. Insurance report, crash site and parts photos available on request.

Driving on interstate and ran off onto rumble strips on side of road and wheel shake became extremely violent. Had to bring vehicle down to 30 mph from 75 very quickly and almost was hit from behind doing so. Have seen this and had it happen on older trucks that had excessive were in tie rods and worn front end parts but this truck is tight so I thought. First time for this and it was very frieghten couldn't beleive how violent shake was. Ford does need to address this or offer a fix before someone does get hurt. Wonder how many are out there that people have gotten rid of or never complained about it.

Driving on interstate and ran off onto rumble strips on side of road and wheel shake became extremely violent. Had to bring vehicle down to 30 mph from 75 very quickly and almost was hit from behind doing so. Have seen this and had it happen on older trucks that had excessive were in tie rods and worn front end parts but this truck is tight so I thought. First time for this and it was very frighten couldn't believe how violent shake was. Ford does need to address this or offer a fix before someone does get hurt. Wonder how many are out there that people have gotten rid of or never complained about it?.

My kids and I were driving on I-70 west coming from cambridge ohio to columbus. We hit a rough spot in the road and the front end started shaking violently from side to side. The whole truck was shaking. I let my foot off the accelerator and changed lanes. This did not stop the shaking. I went off on the berm and continued to slow down. At approx. 35-40 mph it stopped shaking. I checked the tires and all were fine. We proceeded on and roughly 10 miles down the road it did it again. I again took my foot off the gas and headed towards the berm, I did try hitting the brakes this time. Brakes made no difference. The shaking did not stop until we were between 35 and 40 mph. I have owned this truck since it had 5,000 miles on it and have traveled this road many times. The truck has always bounced around when hitting rough road surfaces, however, it stopped once past the rough spot. My truck is only used occasionally and has all of its original components it left the factory with, including the tires. I can not find any loose tie rod ends. Once I got home I turned off the truck and when I went to restart it to pull into the garage the battery was completely dead. This could of been totally coincidence, however, I believe the violent shaking caused a battery plate to short out. In my opinion this is completely unacceptable and is not a safe condition for anyone to be in at highway speeds. If my wife had been driving, she would not have been able to control the vehicle. I appreciate your prompt attention to this matter as it could have very serious and unfortunate consequences for other owners who could experience this problem, at any time, without warning.

1) @50,000 miles, normal city driving, speed less than 30 mph. 2) left tierod broke without warning. The tie rod dropped to the ground and the left front wheel no longer had steering control. The tie rod looks like the castellated nut was over torqued causing the stud to break off and the tapered shaft to fall out of the spindle. This is not a case of the ball joint in the tie rod wearing out. I'm lucky in this case it happened at a slow speed and no trailer in tow. If I was moving faster with a trailer, it could have been a disaster to lose steering control of the left front tire. The right side tire was still able to steer. The truck swerved out of the lane momentarily while I regained some control. In the act of dropping down, the tie rod made contact with the bead area of the front rim. As a result the wheel rim was also ruined. It was interesting that the tow truck driver and the service manager both mentioned that they have seen this kind of problem before. 3) the truck was flatbedded to the dealership for repair. The tie rod end was replaced at my expense for ~$750, not including the damaged wheel. I have the old part and can supply pictures if needed.

The contact owns a 2005 Ford F-250. While driving approximately 65 mph, the contact drove over a bump and the vehicle began to immediately vibrate violently. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer, where both front tie rod ends were replaced. The contact also recently received an advisory notification letter from the manufacturer in regards to steering wheel and front end vibrations when driving over bumpy road surfaces. The manufacturer advised owners to maintain proper tire inflation. The manufacturer was notified and made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 20.