Tie Rod Ends

From: Wayne Allewelt (wallewelt@mai-aec.com)
Date: Thu Aug 18 2005 - 09:04:59 EDT


Hey all,

I have a question and a warning for all.

First, the warning. This past Tuesday I had my tie rod end fail. Luckily I
was only backing up when it went. Now at first I thought it failed because I
had forgotten to grease the joint through the zerk fitting, but last night
when I went to remove it, I noticed that DC didn't put the fittings on the
tie rod end like most other tie rod ends I have seen/worked on other makes.
Well seeing that it didn't have the fitting kinda pissed me off because of
the damn bean counters at DC trying to save money and fu**ing with peoples
lives, my mind flashed to the upper ball joint recall at that moment and the
fact that if I had been driving down the road I more than likely would have
been killed from losing control of my truck.

It might seem that we have a situation like the ball joints on our Gen III
where they didn't put the fitting on either. I've got pics and am wondering
if they ought to be sent to NHTSA to see if there have been other people in
the same situation.

Secondly, the question. I haven't been to the parts store yet, but does
anyone know if the aftermarket tie rod ends come with the zerk fittings or
at least the hole to install the fitting?

Also, as a precaution I've decided to replace both sides of the tie rod
ends.

TIA
Wayne
01 Intense Blue V8 QC
Melbourne, Florida



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