So if you can TWIST your tie rod, time to replace it?
 

I ask because my roads are full of potholes, to the point that I'm busting tie rods every 5k miles or less. Left lane, right lane doesn't matter. I avoid as many as I can but to avoid them all means driving like a reckless mad man.

Tie rods are lemforder btw, taking it to the alignment shop every 5k miles is insanity.

Yes.

Were they torqued to spec?

I would think so yes, it would lead to a lot of play in the steering wheel. This isn’t good news as I have just ordered that same brand tie rods to to replace mine.

poor road condition decrease tie rods life significantly
i know a guy he drives only in highways and never changed a tie rod. his car still has the original ones from the factory with + 200k
my tie rods get 20k to 40k and also i drive in poor roads
but for a 5k i think something is wrong maybe you bought a cheap tie rod
one time a bought a cheap aftermarket tie rod and it lasted for 3 months
or maybe you re a crazy driver who drives with full speed in potholes

Well it could be a fluke, I'll replace it and see what happens.

What's the torque spec for the tie rods?

Define wiggle. Mb steering boxes have play, I can wiggle the front end and see the steering wheel turn. This could be misconstrued as play, yet the steering is tight with wheels in the ground.

Wheels on ground, I can wiggle the tie rod in a forward and backwards yaw, i just crawled under the car at the gas station. The other tie rod is rock solid.

Make sure all the nuts are tight. There should be no play but you can twist it a bit usually.

It is also visual. If you see the outer tie rod casing has movement in relation to the attaching point. There is wear and it should be changed out.

It is hard on many front end components in rough road service. You might want to slow down if possible on really rough roads. Noticeable wear at that milage could be just the severe roads or a questionable quality of tie rod. Or a combination of both. Generally speaking though if the replacement does not last long yet the other side is still tight. It almost has to be a poor quality replacement part.

Not wiggle, but TWIST is the right word.
Tie rod has normal wear, the word wiggle skewed everything. No the tie rods aren't clanking around loosely. Just normal wear. I can twist the ball joint on it's pivot point.

The ball joint should be free to pivot, that's its entire purpose in life. A worn tie-rod will have slop in the ball joints to the point that they make noise or allow the wheel to move side to side without moving the steering rack or drag link. It would be extremely unlikely for a tie rod end to fail in 5K miles, even for the very cheapest of Chinese knock-off parts.

Twist on pivot point is partially actually how it functions. I know it is different because you stated the other side is not the same. The standard test at least I use. Is to get the wheel on that side off the ground. Grasp the tire on either side. By application of alternate pressure no movement of the tie rod end should be noticeable.


Why I post this on occasion the area that the shank of the tie rod end no longer has a fit in the tapered attachment hole. If the tie rod end just falls out when you remove the nut Although usually that will be hard enough to do if the tapered locking fit is destroyed. Rare and not very common.


Technically it should not occur. It has caught me on ball joints a couple of times. My assumption was over time the nut had perhaps backed off. I had to change the spindle. Reuse of old nuts perhaps was the cause. At one time the problem was made impossible with the use of cotter keys. My point being something does not quite sound normal.


Your description of twist may be the viewing of the tie rod end and twisting it on the horizontal plane. That too is pretty normal if it was installed right. You are best to do the wheel off the ground test with a helper if needed.


It may not be really bad. Using the wheel gives you more pressure application on the joint as well. Or mechanical advantage. The only thing of interest is any obvious movement in relation of the two parts that make up the tie rod end. There should be almost none. I mean almost none. There will be none at all in a good joint.

I'd think if they were worn excessively, you'd see some funky tire wear.

my case I replaced as alingment could not be done.bolt was frozen