Looking back, I am surprised why these things don’t break more often given the stress they undergo. I heard a pop when making a sharp tight turn, and then one wheel was pointed in a completely different direction than the other. There was no steering control whatsoever. While this could be catastrophic at high speeds, this is more likely to occur only when when making tight turns at slow speeds. Luckily, I was half a mile from my house. Although there was no steering control, I was able to drive it in reverse with some minimal control, and limped it all the way back home. I hammered the socket back onto the ball joint to make it possible to turn the car into my driveway.

Here is the photo of the tie rod separated from the ball joint.

The problem was much bigger than just a simple replacement of the tie rod end. I could not get the stuck piece out of the steering knuckle. I heated it with an acetylene torch until it was cherry red and smoking, and then hammered on it. I put the vehicle’s weight on it by lifting the bolt with a jack. Nothing worked. In the end, I dismanted the whole steering knuckle out of the axle. Then I placed it on my trusty hydraulic press, and the bolt popped out right away.

Here is a photo of the separated tie rod end.

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