Seriously bent tie rod

UPDATE: It was a hit and run.
----------------------------------------------

Previous owner added a 2" strut lift, and the front wheels weren't aligned super well. After driving 60k miles toed out, the tires needed replacing.

I installed 2 new front tires and got it aligned. The guy at the shop said it took him a bit longer to align because it was a little difficult. I test drove it and it felt fine.

For 5 months it drove fine. The other day I hop in and try to drive, but it's not moving forward. I hop out and see the the wheels pointed in different directions. The driver side tie rod is seriously bent, and towed it home.

Is this simply from a bad alignment? If so, hopefully he will warranty the work.

I'm thinking the inner and outer tie rods need replacing, and possibly the control arms. Probably with Moog parts. Can you guys speculate any more on this? I like the lift, but I'll get rid of it if needed.

Hard to get a pic of the driver side stuff, the wheel is turned really far to the right. But you can see the inner tie rod is really bent, and rubbed the front of the strut a bit. Pic #2 is passenger side, the others are all driver side.

 

Tie rods don't just bend out of the blue after being parked then hoping in to drive it. Same with alignments they won't cause that. Whats the real story here what did you hit, try to jump, or be a rock bouncer.

As far as replacement parts inner tie rod for sure why not go ahead and do the outer too. As far as the other parts had to know without checking them out.

 

Didn't hit or jump anything. Wish I had a cool story for you. I had parallel parked it and my front tire was touching the curb. So maybe when I was trying to pull out, it added resistance when not being able to turn the wheel.
Interesting though that the driver side rod bent, when the passenger tire was restricted.

 

Woah, that's 100% not the alignment guy's fault. Check your wheel - Does it look like someone hit your wheel while you were parked? Tie rods don't just bend like that without some real force

 

I hopped a curb in reverse today with my right front tire and nothing bent... LOL shit don’t bend like this with no story behind it or else everyone’s tie rods be bent from all the pot holes we drive over ... replace the inner and out tie rod end and get an alignment done... move on

 

Sounds like someone hit you while you were parked.

 

I bring up the alignment because he mentioned it was difficult. I don't know much about lifts, but the stock steering parts can handle a 2" strut lift when aligned correctly, right?

All I can come up with is the resistance on my passenger wheel not wanting to turn left because it was against the curb. Which then bent the driver side tie rod. But I didn't crank the steering wheel over super hard or anything. Not sure how it happened.

But I will order some inner and outer tie rods, and have them replaced.

 

Well ya can’t drive it like it is. Find someone to help you out or take it somewhere you know and trust that can do the work... not hard of a repair to handle.

 

Wow that’s seriously bent... almost looks like when a tow truck try’s pulling a car by its tie rod

 

It's parked right outside the shop who aligned it last time. I'll limp it in there when I have the parts in hand.

Anyone have experience with Moog tie rods? Or another good aftermarket?

 

Moog should be fine. Should be readily available that way at a fair price

 

Thanks guys. What a dumb mistake. I will park further from the curb. Santa Barbara has some narrow streets, so it's annoying to park here.

 

you're missing front axles

 

I’d agree that your wheel was probably hit while you were parked. Any marks on the tire / wheel? Or the body?

That spindle should be checked for being bent as well. If it aligns up well with new tie rods, then it should be OK.

 

It looks like the weight of the truck bent it as it fell onto something? Hopefully the rack isn't damaged either. But like someone mentioned its like someone ran into the tire/wheel. Any marks on the tire or wheel from an impact?

 

I don't remember any obvious signs of impact, but I will check more closely again.

I ordered these parts for now, and will be ready to get a spindle if needed.

$16 Moog ES80895 Steering Tie Rod End for Toyota Tacoma

Moog ES80895 - outer tie rod

$24 MOOG EV800529 Steering Tie Rod End for Toyota Tacoma

MOOG EV800529 - inner tie rod

 

Wow, that is seriously bent. And like the others said, that's not from just tapping a curb a little harder than you should. There's no way you did this, didn't notice it and then just parked the truck. This had to have happened between when you parked it and when you came back to drive it. When you parked, did you turn your tire to the curb? I'm wondering if you parked it with the wheels turned to right (into the curb) which then left the rear side of your front tire kicked out from the body a little. Then, someone could have come by and clipped your left front wheel/tire. Then, due to the steering lock and the curb the weak link was the tie rod. It even kinda looks like the tie rod hit the body of the shock. With that said, the force of a hit like that would make me think there'd be some other damage - like a blown tire.

This seems like some strange fluke. I would definitely get the whole steering and suspension system checked.

 

Better replace both sides (inner and outer, driver and passenger sides). My moog tie rods barely lasted 40K miles. Replaced them with all OEM and now they are fine. I'll only ever go OEM for tie rods now.

Also, someone hit that truck. Probably backed out of somewhere and hit the tire on the street side....then took off

 

lookin at the photos there is much wrong with that front end

that rod didnt bend out o shape result o change o seasons

have U been off roading lately

 

Someone hit you and ran for sure. Id be worried about a bent spindle as well, those are known to bend pretty easy. Make sure the distance between where the outer tie rod mounts to the spindle is the same distance away from the backing plate of the hub as the other side.

Get a pic of the front side of the truck so we can see the side profile, ill bet there are scratches n whatnot where someone rubbed up against you.


This is not the alignment guys problem.

Also, this is 100% why I never parallel park on a street.... where I work half of our parking is street parallel parking on narrow streets and at least 2-3x a year one or more cars get sideswiped.