Looking back, I’m honestly surprised these components don’t fail more often, considering the amount of stress they endure. I heard a loud pop while making a sharp, tight turn, and suddenly one of the front wheels was pointing in a completely different direction than the other. I had completely lost steering control.

While this kind of failure could be catastrophic at high speeds, it’s more likely to happen during low-speed, high-angle turns. Fortunately, I was only about half a mile from home. Despite the lack of steering, I managed to drive the car in reverse with minimal directional control and slowly limped it back. Once there, I hammered the socket back onto the ball joint just enough to steer the car into my driveway.

Here’s the photo showing the tie rod detached from the ball joint.

The problem was far more complicated than simply replacing the tie rod end. I couldn’t remove the stuck piece from the steering knuckle. I heated it with an acetylene torch until it was cherry red and smoking, then hammered on it. I even applied the entire vehicle’s weight by lifting the bolt with a jack, but nothing worked. In the end, I had to remove the entire steering knuckle from the axle. Once off the vehicle, I placed it on my trusty hydraulic press, and the bolt popped out immediately.

Here is a photo of the separated tie rod end.

Photo of the new tie rod end and the broken one.