Inner tie rod - my scary experience

So 2 weeks ago I replaced both the inner and outer tie rods on my 2000 3.8. I have discussed this service elsewhere on this board. In searching for the service procedure here and elsewhere the info was pretty scarce. What I could find was to hold the rack with a large crescent wrench, detach the existing inner tie rod, attach the new one and torque to 74 ft-lbs. The OEM tie rods did not have any sort of pin or rivet which gripped into the threads of the rack.

The parts I used were made by Moog, purchased from Rockauto. The tie rods came with a little rivet which is designed to go thru a hole in the threaded portion of the tie rod and lock against the threaded portion of the rack. The info that came with the tie rod said that it could be used for several different applications and each one will be unique and/or different.

As the alldata info didn't indicate the rivet or anything like it I didn't use it. I simply torqued the 2 inner tie rods, then the 2 outer, got an alignment and thought I was done.

2 days ago 1 of the inner tie rods became unattached at the rack. My wife was driving, in a parking lot at about 2 mph. She stopped the van, called me. I had to get it towed to the shop that did the alignment. They installed 2 new inner tie rods as they felt the 2 I'd installed were a bit "compromised". They do feel a bit loose and I don't want to trust them again. Tie rods are cheap.

My reason for posting it twofold. 1 the proper way to install these inner tie rods is to torque them to 74 ft-lbs, install the pin to lock it onto the rack. I've also learned that on a Taurus the inner tie rods which are very similar to those on a windstar are also loctited on. 2 I don't want anyone to have to have their loved one driving along and have this situation occur. I don't want to imagine what would have happened if my wife was driving at 60 mph on her way home from the office.

It bugs me that the all data site so poorly illustrates this install procedure. This is total food for the mechanics who say for general DIYers should not do auto repairs. It also bugs me that when I was installing the tie rods and my thought was to use some loctite and install the lock pin I didn't . I remember thinking "do what the manual says". Anyway, I kick myself for not listening to that little "safety voice" in my head. For those who are attempting repairs like this - pick people's brains. I won't let a situation like this happen again. I don't want you to either.

Piper

Thanks for sharing you experience!

Yes, Thank You for that info and thank God that nothing more serious happened.

I had the same thing happen when it was in for a front end alignment. The mechanic thought the tie rod was broken, but after checking he saw that it came loose. Like you, I can only imagine what might have happened if it fell of at highway, or even street speed.

Needless to say that I'm very careful about this now!

Thanks Piper for telling us this very important story. I will keep this mind when/if I need to replace my tie rods.

Thank Goodness everyone is well!

In some/most cases, the little keeper pin is located so that it falls not directly on the threads but in a clearance groove "inside" the threaded area. With just a turn or two the pin meets the threads and the turning stops ... hopefully.

The driver has almost no chance to detect if the inner rod is turning itself off. There is no additional steering "looseness" ... just a growing bit of misalignment, the steering wheel will continue to be more and more "off-center" ... until the rod falls suddenly off the rack. Scary, indeed.

Rebuilt steering racks are about $130 at Ford ... includes the inner rods.