I checked my tie rods over the weekend because I had a shimmy in the steering wheel. A set of new ones are on the way from Amazon.com. Driving 70mph I dont feel much but any slower it gets a bit shaky. What do you think...keep driving it?
Driving On Bad Tie Rods
- Thread starter Warstud
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OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
You are lucky. I had a tiny bit of play in the left-front tie-rod on the M5 and it felt and sounded like the front-end was going to fall off, LOL!!
There's "a little play" bad and there's "OMG thins thing could break the next time it goes over a bump!" bad. You checked them so you're the one best qualified to determine how safe or unsafe they are.
Don't be too surprised if replacing the worn tie rods makes the shimmy feel worse. Sometimes a loose steering linkage will hide a vibration from a tire.
Don't be too surprised if replacing the worn tie rods makes the shimmy feel worse. Sometimes a loose steering linkage will hide a vibration from a tire.
Originally Posted By: Warstud
I checked my tie rods over the weekend because I had a shimmy in the steering wheel. A set of new ones are on the way from Amazon.com. Driving 70mph I dont feel much but any slower it gets a bit shaky. What do you think...keep driving it?
Well, you don't say what you found when you checked them. What did you find?
A tie rod breaking while driving, especially at higway speeds, would be very, very bad.
I checked my tie rods over the weekend because I had a shimmy in the steering wheel. A set of new ones are on the way from Amazon.com. Driving 70mph I dont feel much but any slower it gets a bit shaky. What do you think...keep driving it?
Well, you don't say what you found when you checked them. What did you find?
A tie rod breaking while driving, especially at higway speeds, would be very, very bad.
Yah, A busted tie rod is nothing you want to have happen at speed. A bump could pop the ball outta the socket. If you are going to drive on it, at least secure the joint with a few twists of mechanic's wire. Slow down. and drive carefully until this is fixed.
I would park it until you can get that fixed. Having it break at 70 would not be good.
I would keep driving on it til it breaks.
As long as the ball doesn't pull out of the socket, you'll be fine.
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Realistically they'd engineer them so you'd notice a problem before they go "pop".
I think they'd be more likely to go kablooey parallel parking because of all the forces scrubbing a stationary tire.
Buckle up!
Yah I've had lower ball joints fail whilst parking. The shimmy should alert you to something being wrong.
Realistically they'd engineer them so you'd notice a problem before they go "pop".
I think they'd be more likely to go kablooey parallel parking because of all the forces scrubbing a stationary tire.
Buckle up!
Yah I've had lower ball joints fail whilst parking. The shimmy should alert you to something being wrong.
Don't try it, you could wear your tires out without driving very far.
I don't recall exact dates, but I owned a mid 80's Regal and was on the way back from vacation in Iowa around 1994 when a tie rod broke on I-76 near Sterling. We had stopped in town for dinner and with very little notice, after we were about three miles down the interstate, a shimmy and then bam, it popped loose. Steering pulled very hard but I managed to get it off the hwy safely. If you have any idea where Sterling, CO is, you'll know it's very close to BFE which made for a memorable weekend.
In retrospect, I was very lucky, I'm glad you got yours fixed soon.
In retrospect, I was very lucky, I'm glad you got yours fixed soon.
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