The contact took vehicle to have it inspected. The vehicle would not pass inspection due to the tie rod ends being defective. He was told the tie rods ends were corroded and worn out.

- Irvine , PA, USA

Tie rod broke at ball joint while traveling at slow speed.(5 mph).

- Bristol, CT, USA

Bought a used truck, and after the warranty expired had to replace the starter/the ball joints/he upper tie rods, and the control arm on both sides. Engine manifold split, and exhaust system rusted. Later, while driving tie rods came off. There was a slight drop at the entrance to the parking lot, and as vehicle went back up the drop, it slid and there was an impact. Got out of the car, and saw that the tie rod came off and gouged into the pavement. Spoke to the manager of country club Chevrolet, and he simply gave consumer a discount on parts and labor. Yesterday he went to a certified used vehicle dealer and asked for the 88-point inspection, , and they were unable to provide that information.

- Otego, NY, USA

Prior to this incident I had no indication of a problem with the steering or suspension system. On the evening of June 9, 2005 as I was braking and attempting to make a right turn into a parking lot I noticed that my truck seemed to skid. At first I thought it was the ABS system since the road was wet. There was a vehicle in front of me, but I was able to stop without running into any other vehicle. Because I did not realize what the problem was at that time I continued into the parking lot, and made another right turn into the parking space. At that time the truck did the same thing; it felt as though it was skidding. When I got out of the vehicle I noticed that the front driver and front passenger tires were pointed in different directions, so I knew that a tie rod had come detached. After towing the truck home I inspected it, and realized that the passenger inner tie rod had separated at the ball joint. Inspection of the joint revealed that both pieces were significantly rusted. I have replaced the inner and outer tie rod ends on both sides as a precaution, since I did not know if the others would do the same thing.

- Valdosta, GA, USA

Both tie rods broke on the 1999 Ford F150 after 48000 miles.

- Calcium, NY, USA

Dt consumer states while driving his vehicle the left tie rod broke, causing him to lose control of steering. The manufacturer did issued a letter in December, 2004, stating that the tie rods needed to be checked in the vehicle. Comsumer states the tie rods appeared to be fine at that time.

- Riverview, MI, USA

Failure of front end sterring parts( ball joints, tie rods, and idler arm). On several occassions my mechanic has instructed me that I should have the front end check for wear and tear due to premature failures in these parts. This is the third time in the past 3 years (@about 20K miles per year) I have had major replacements done on these parts. I do not beleive the failure is due to driving conditions, most is at high ways speeds on reasonably smooth roads. The latest failure has me very concerned about the overall safety of the vehicle as I typical drive on the highway. My mechanic indicated if a failure occurs at highways speeds - it might not be a great outcome... I feel I am lucky in that every time I go to the mechanic (serveral times per year) I have him check these parts. I recently received an inspection in June 2004 and these parts were ok then. Now (Mar 2005) and I have a major replacement going on. The machanic indicated that I am not alone and the problem is very wide spread. Do not get me wrong - I really like the truck and would buy another, but so far dealers (2 local) indicate that my problems are not as wide spread. Hence I no longer go to Ford dealers for service. The mechanic has also indicated that this issue may be larger in scope thant the Firestone tire issues Ford had years ago (speculation). But none the less - my mechanic has seen many of these issues and he is a small operation in a small town. At this stage I am unlikely to re-purchase a Ford F150 and have major concerns over the saftey of the vehicle.

- Newbury, MA, USA

I have a 1999 Ford Expedition. On Saturday Jan 15, 2005 my wife and I was driving and I felt the truck pulling to the right. I got out and sure enough, the left tie rod was broken. This is after replacing the right one 6 months ago. I know I should have had both replaced at the same time but I have less than 60,000 mile and don't really drive it that much. I don't drive it on rough roads or off road. I am amazed at how many others have had this same problem and there is no recall.

- Baltimore, MD, USA

Re: defective tie-rods a component of the steering linkage on 1999 Ford truck, requests a defect investigation.

- Covington, IN, USA

Request assistance in getting Ford to recall the defective tie rod in 1999 Ford F-150 truck.

- Covington, IN, USA

Potential tie rod problems.

- Santa Ysabel, CA, USA

Right tie-rod failure 1999 Ford F-150 pickup.

- Strongsville, OH, USA

1999 Ford F150 - driver side tie rod end failed - vehicle had less than 50,000 miles at the time - I am the original owner, nothing ever happened to vehicle that should have provoked such a failure - tie rod end snapped off suddenly and without warning while I was turning a corner at relatively low speed - because of low speed, I was able to maintain vehicle control and get vehicle off road - entire front suspension was inspected only 5,000 miles earlier when I had tires replaced, nothing was loose or showed unusual wear at that time. At the time, I was not aware that this was such a widespread problem with these vehicles and thought my occurrence may have just been a fluke. After I got the letter from Ford, I realized that this must be more common than I thought. I don't believe that the inspection recommended by Ford is adequate since it didn't stop my occurrence from happening. I am filing this complaint because I believe that Ford should be made more accountable for this and I was offended by the letter that basically told me they had a problem but they didn't feel the need to do anything about it.

- Westlake, OH, USA

While driving at 25 mph front passenger side wheel fell off. Vehicle was towed to the independent shop, where the mechanic determined that tied rod separated from the wheel.

- Romulus, MI, USA

The driver's side tie rod broke while backing out of his driveway.

- Livonia, MI, USA

While driving 35 mph vehicle vibrated uncontrollably. Consumer was able to maintain control of the vehicle, and pulled over. Vehicle was towed to the dealer for inspection and mechanic determined that the tie rods needed to be replaced. The failure of the tire rod end caused loss of steering control. The passenger side front wheel turned all the way to the right which caused the vehicle to go in that direction. The consumer indicated that the manufacturer uses rod ends with no grease fittings.

- Kansasville, WI, USA

While moving the vehicle from the driveway consumer heard a noise coming from the front end. The consumer exited, looked under the truck and saw that the left front tie road fell off to the ground. Dealer was notified.

- Wooster, OH, USA

Vehicle's tie rod sheared off on 1999 Ford F-150. The driver's side tie rod sheared off at the steering knuckle ball joint with the tie rod socket still attached to the ball on the wheel. This resulted in loss of steering control and caused the two front wheels to point in different directions.

- Groton, MA, USA

While driving 25 mph, tie rod failed. The consumer managed to pulled over and had vehicle towed to the dealer. The mechanic determined that tie rod needed to be replaced due to worn out parts. The tie rod failure was sudden and without warning. There were no warning signs such as the front shimmy or any other control problems prior to the failure. The dealer found the remaining three ends to be bad and advised the consumer to replace them as well.

- Auburn, NY, USA

While driving 20 mph right tie rod failed, causing the driver to drift to the side of the road. Consumer had the vehicle towed to the dealership, and mechanic determined that right upper and lower ball joints had failed, and they will be replaced. Failure occured happened 2 more times.

- Le Roy, NY, USA