Tie rod just snapped while turning around in driveway [Update: Replaced Under Warranty]

[JohnnyBronco]

not challenging your point, but I am legitimately curious - how can you tell that the bend happened separately from the break? What if it bent until it couldn't bend any more, and then snapped (all in the same incident)?

See my comment about the direction of the bend - downward, vertically. The steering moves the rod horizontally. Unless someone has rotated the rod. The inner ball of the rod where it screws into the end of the rack is now the culprit in my eyes. Think of it like your elbow or wrist joint and the tie rod is either the ulna or radius. If this Bronco had two tie rods per side like your arm then it would not have snapped. I would look for evidence of broken boot covering the joint and rust on the internal parts. Prevent the inner ball from free rotation and ....BOOM

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[broadicustomworks]

I have wheeled with @DaBroncstah once. Can vouch for them not hammering on their ride.
Also on that ride the only time there was anything even close to suspect, it was a bottoming out barely enough to elicit a sound from the skid as it creaked over a rock. So slight one could mistake it for a break squeal or shock creaking.
Like seriously a 1.1 on a scale of 1-10 possible off-pavement calamity or risk.

Many will speculate prior sheer force or damage and say "ah-ha!" at this. "See!? They have been off road, surely they KO'ed it doing so!!"
No.

In no way, shape, or form was that TRE damaged or compromised in any way that one day.

Unless the miniscule percentage of weight transfer onto that skid at the exact moment they moved the wheel .001% of a degree.

And if that is the case, if that is as "Ford tough" as this machine is, I'm selling mine tomorrow.
I've put mine through many times more harrowing predicaments and no issue at all. I now have JKS sleeves on it as a safety factor, and also carry a few spare TRE. But knock on wood, never had to deal with them breaking yet.

Agreed on the fact the break does show clear evidence of damage at some point in the past. Just enough to allow moisture to discolor the steel prior to the actual more jagged failure.

One thing that does surprise me, and without being a metallurgist or having access to the people or equipment to analyze is the surprising and assumed makeup of the steel used on these. The look of it suggests a high nickel or zinc content vs. hardened steel.

The subject matter experts from above (no sarcasm here) may be able to tell a bit more. But the harder the steel, the less it wants to distort and be malleable, and the higher the tendency for brittleness and shear. Perhaps these are heat treated only partially and not the entire part?
This indicates, at least to my non-expert eyes, a softer compound that stretched and failed, but not a total failure until the straw that broke the camel's back that led to the rest of it giving way.

@DaBroncstah sorry to hear and see this. Ya'll are solid, good people and I hope you get it fixed quickly, and not on your dime for the tow or repair.

 

[JohnnyBronco]

See my comment about the direction of the bend - downward, vertically. The steering moves the rod horizontally. Unless someone has rotated the rod. The inner ball of the rod where it screws into the end of the rack is now the culprit in my eyes. Think of it like your elbow or wrist joint and the tie rod is either the ulna or radius. If this Bronco had two tie rods per side like your arm then it would not have snapped. I would look for evidence of broken boot covering the joint and rust on the internal parts. Prevent the inner ball from free rotation and ....BOOM

I looked again at the picture, the purple/pink marks on the inner rod boot are definitely misaligned. Rotate it back to correct position and this rod came in contact, even if ever so slightly, with the shock. The shock obviously is stronger than the rod.

 

[BigMeatsBronco]

A little off topic but Glad to hear the upgraded rack is available. How much was it?I would like to return the stock rack I carry as a spare for something better.

You actually carry a trail spare RACK??? Wow!

Ford's upgrade "kit" included the new Heavy Duty rack and the new Heavy duty tie rods. This all is sold together with one part numbers, for around $1600. A super deal especially when compared to the overpriced bandaid sleeves and rack support!!!

 

[SubmarineNuke]

wow...ridiculous...I just took my Bronco to Colorado and did a bunch of Alpine Loop trails and this was my fear the whole time...but in the driveway...EEK!

 

[da_jokker]

at least it is covered under warranty!

Is this covered under warranty? Seems like Ford would deny this in a heartbeat blaming we went wild with "go wild"

 

[da_jokker]

Don't get worked up over the paint marks. Sorry I brought it up. I just looked at mine and I also have green and purple marks (the Joker do our alignments?), just not as sloppy a job as they did on yours and I never noticed the green before.

I swear...I never touched it

 

[Altitude]

I wonder if the Bronco Off Roadeo’s are having tie rod issues. I just did it, but forgot to ask. It might be the best source of information. Though these questions have no doubt been asked, the responses might be skewed by Ford’s contract with the employees regarding divulging any issues. Never the less, it would have been interesting to ask.

A walk through the Off Roadeo maintenance shop would be worth a thousand questions.

I did the Austin Off-Roadeo last month. Our guide 'Lucky Luke' became very defensive when I asked about tie rod failures on the in-house rides. He stated that they didn't have any failures and blamed too high lifts, too big of tires, and abuse for the failures that we've seen on-line. While the Off-Roadeo wasn't extreme off-roading, we certainly didn't go easy on them. Its entirely possible that Luke was lying, or at least just saying what he was allowed to say.

That being said, there are many people in the Grand Cherokee community (including myself) that have lifted their rides, installed larger tires, and beat the piss out of them, and tie rod failures is just not a thing. This is definitely a issue, and a serious failure on behalf of Ford.

 

[Tarheel_Wes]

Is this covered under warranty? Seems like Ford would deny this in a heartbeat blaming we went wild with "go wild"

Yea they denied mine, but I was honest with what happened, taking it off road.

https://www.bronco6g.com/snapped-tie-rod-saved-by-trail-mates/



I know @DaBroncstah, zero doubt she’s being honest.

 

[JimboSlice]

My Bronco, which has never been out of my possession, has the pink marks also. They were on it from the factory.

Just looked at mine. I have small green dots and purple lines on both sides. I have a two-inch zone lift, so I am guessing the green is from the factory and the purple was from the alignment after the lift was installed. I won't be doing any rock crawling so I am going to get the JKS Steering Sleeve kit for a little extra piece of mind while in the driveway, lol.

 

[raptorusmaximus]

I wonder what they did for the brapter? 37's would add even more stress....

 

[Five-O Donut Hole]

That’s a bit concerning

thats a WHOLE lot of concerning if it was just from normal driving

 

[Carl Sagan]

I wonder what they did for the brapter? 37's would add even more stress....

Different rods and steering rack. The hoss 3.0 gets these too. All broncos should have this setup

 

[Carl Sagan]

Is this covered under warranty? Seems like Ford would deny this in a heartbeat blaming we went wild with "go wild"

Depends on the dealer. If he truly did it in his driveway and it shows no signs of off roading I don’t see why t would be denied.

 

[Silver-Bolt]

Hard to tell from the pic but the different color at the snap could indicate something. The dark area could be where it was cracked for a while and the lighter color is the fresh break. Again, hard to tell from just a picture. Sorry about the messy arrows but you get the point

The dark area is 100% an indicator of either a defect in the material or a previous incident that caused a partial fracture. The dark area is oxidation. It can occur internally in defective material or happen within a fracture.

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