Steering Tie Rod Assembly problems of the 1999 Lincoln Navigator

The contact owns a 1999 Lincoln Navigator. The contact was entering a highway at 50 mph when the vehicle lost all steering capability. The vehicle crossed over three lanes before he was able to maneuver the vehicle safely off the highway. The contact then discovered that the tie rod had become fractured. The two front tires were protruding in opposite directions. The vehicle was towed to a local repair facility where the tie rod was replaced. The vehicle was not under recall. The manufacturer had not been notified. The failure mileage was approximately 200,000 and the current mileage was approximately 300,000. Updated 01/06/lj updated 03/30/11.

Consumer believes the manufacturer is trying to avoid recalling the vehicles steering linkage and tie rods.

This is a two part complaint. The first incident occurred in December of 2002. My wife was in a parking lot of a major shopping center and while she was driving down a parking lane, she found an open spot in which she started to turn to the left. As she turned, she heard a popping sound, then she was unable to move the car. When I arrived, I noticed that the sway bar pin and the tie rod on the passenger side were disconnected from the wheel. I inspected the area around the car and found no pot holes or curbs close to the vicinity of vehicle. It was towed to the local Lincoln dealer and the replaced the parts under warranty without much explanation other than my wife must have hit a curb. They only replaced the damage components and reported that the other side was inspected but looked fine. The second incident just occured a week prior to this complaint. My wife was traveling to her job and was moving at a speed of approx. 20 miles an hour. She was in the left lane when the car began to violently shake and bounce. She was pulled into the left lane of oncoming cars, so she did not stop the car, but rather let the car take her into a side street. A police officer witnessed the incident and when I arrived we found the sway bar pin and tie rod to be disconnected on the drivers side. We had a tow truck pick up the truck and had the entire front suspension and wheels checked for any other damage. My wife and I have 3 kids in which we drive in this vehicle and it has considerably shaken our confidence. Luckily, in both instances, nobody was hurt and the speeds involved were low. After searching your archives I did find other defect investigations into tie rods for Ford-made vehicles such as the f150, expedition and Navigator.