broke a tie-rod while going to work

[Iron Woode]

this is the second time this has happened to my 1987 Crown Vic.

Last year while going to work, the driver's side tie-rod lets go. My mechanic puts on the HD police version. All is good.

Now today while going to work, the passenger's side tie-rod lets go. Since I was close to my mechanic's garage, I drove it there and ended up late for work. Unfortunately, he can't fix it till Monday. Now I am without a car for the weekend. This really sucks. I should have replaced both of them at the same time last year.

That's my tale of woe.



update: my car is fixed and works fine except I have to get a front end alignment done. It goes in on Wednesday for that.

 

[cardiac]

How did you drive it to your mechanics garage with a broken tie rod? Doesn't seem possible....

Hope you get it fixed asap.....

 

[bruceb]

I would like to know that also. I had a 1989 Grand Am that it happened on and I was
only pulling out of the Toll booths on the Throggs Neck Bridge, so I was only doing
about 5 -10MPH at most ... You can not steer the car with 1 wheel pointed all askew
in regards to the other one. And when it did get to a mechanic, I had him replace BOTH
Sides, since in my view, if one went, the other might not be far behind. So way pay for
labor and tow twice ? ? ? AAnd of course, in the interest of safety.

 

[Iron Woode]

the car is rear drive, so the front wheels do steering and brakes only.

As long as the car is going straight, it will track properly. Slow speed turning is a real pain. I only had to turn twice and it was easy as long as I was moving fairly fast. The wheel just followed.

It was either that or block traffic and wait for a tow truck.

EDIT: the HD police tie-rod replacement also comes with a lifetime warranty. which is why my mechanic chose that one. its also quite expensive.

 

[njmodi]

Check your ball joints while you are at it...

 

[Iron Woode]

Originally posted by: njmodi
Check your ball joints while you are at it...

yup, i told him to check everything out.

 

[njmodi]

Originally posted by: Iron Woode

Originally posted by: njmodi
Check your ball joints while you are at it...

yup, i told him to check everything out.

:thumbsup: let us know what else he thinks might be worth replacing...

 

[amdhunter]

Originally posted by: bruceb
I would like to know that also. I had a 1989 Grand Am that it happened on and I was
only pulling out of the Toll booths on the Throggs Neck Bridge, so I was only doing
about 5 -10MPH at most ... You can not steer the car with 1 wheel pointed all askew
in regards to the other one. And when it did get to a mechanic, I had him replace BOTH
Sides, since in my view, if one went, the other might not be far behind. So way pay for
labor and tow twice ? ? ? AAnd of course, in the interest of safety.

Another Bronxite here?

 

[Vette73]

If you could move the car then your tie rod was not broken completely. If it was the tire would flop hard right or left and just drag. The tie rod is what controls the tires direction from left to right.

Also there is no difference between a cop car and a reg. crown vic.'s tie rod. I guess the auto tech just wants to charge you more and you are dumb enough to believe it. There is not that big a difference between the cop vic and the high end crown vic at the dealership. Just stuff like radio delate, silicone hoses, vinyl seats, etc? in cops cars.

 

[Iron Woode]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
If you could move the car then your tie rod was not broken completely. If it was the tire would flop hard right or left and just drag. The tie rod is what controls the tires direction from left to right.

Also there is no difference between a cop car and a reg. crown vic.'s tie rod. I guess the auto tech just wants to charge you more and you are dumb enough to believe it. There is not that big a difference between the cop vic and the high end crown vic at the dealership. Just stuff like radio delate, silicone hoses, vinyl seats, etc? in cops cars.

my tie-rod was hanging down away from the tire. There was no steering on that wheel at all.

i have seen both tie-rods; they are different.

Cop cars of my vintage have their own steering and suspension pieces separate from civilian cars. The electrical is also different including the alternator. There are coolers on everything too. Rims are different as are the tires. The complete list of differences is somewhere around 30 things.

My other mechanic works for the police dept in their garage. He gets me discounts on parts I need for my cars. He told me the same thing about making sure the parts ordered are for the police version not the civilian version.