Did I break a tie rod?

Went off roading today and when I hit the pavement again I noticed that my steering wheel is crooked. Pointing to about 1:00 now. I did hear a bang on the trail that made me get out and take a look. Thought I’d hit my skid plate and didn’t see anything obviously wrong otherwise. Checked again when I got home and noticed that my tie rods appear to be at different angles or twists where the are closest to the wheel...(still learning so not sure of the proper term but check photos). Does it look like I broke a tie rod or is it as simple as getting an alignment? Thanks

 

Looks more like you bent the steering knuckle.... the ear the tie rod attaches to.

 

Since both tie rods are affected you may need to also check the steering rack as well. This one looks expensive.

 

Is steering hard like no power steering when not in motion? Check rack and pinion mount and measure Center wheel front to Center wheel rear to see if you have same measurement

 

Take minute to carefully examine each side. U should be able to tell the difference

 

I lined up the control arms and the tie rods (best I could) in this picture. Looks like both pictures are taken at a similar angle. If you look at the tie rod end on the left side, it is pushed up and is showing more of the underside of the tie rod than the right picture. That part of the steering knuckle looks like it is bent upwards.

Could just be the pictures though.

 

Kinda looks to me like the pass tie rod is just rotated funny. Look at the bottom of it relative to the nut and threaded part.


Also...aren't the knuckles cast iron? It doesn't like to bend...




I'm guessing she needs an alignment, but its really hard to judge that from here.

 

Oh they bend, just replaced my right knuckle last week and had to buy rack and pinion

 

the "bang" could have caused a lot of things.

Bent inner tie rod
bent LCA
bent spindle
flattened cam tab
probably a couple more things i cant think of off the top of my head

I've never seen anyone break and outer tie rod. You can grab the outer and pivot it back and forth from the ball joint, they are designed that way.

 

May I ask what you paid for the part and or labor to put the rack in?

 

Tie rods rotate like that. If you were to grab the tie rod you could twist it to look more like the other. This is totally normal, it’s a ball and socket joint. That being said, you may have bent something but if it’s just a slightly misaligned steering wheel that your experiencing, I’d take it to have an alignment done and just have them check for any play in any of the joints, LBJ, UBJ, tie rods, etc.

 

Bought a set of take off spindles from a member off a 19 for $280 but they're $280 a piece. did the work myself. rack and pinion from McGeorge toyota online, bought for $476. Doing the work myself

 

Also, if a camber/caster adjustment cam isn’t really fully tightened, they can pop out of adjustment during a hard hit (particularly off roading) and cause a “bang”. Doesn’t necessarily mean it’s damaged, might just need adjustment.

 

My steering wheel was at 11 o clock position but my spindle is bent 1/2 inch

 

That's a good price on the rack. I got mine from Camelback in Arizona and was 750 a year ago

 

Did you buy yours online or at dealer

 

that doesn’t mean OP’s spindle is bent. And in my experience a spindle (knuckle) is the last thing to bend. Control arms and tie rods are the more likely culprit if something is actually bent.

 

Over email with a member on here that is head of parts department there.

 

Just get an alignment that will tell you what’s happening if tech knows thier stuff