Truck: 2008 4x4 5.4 with 28,315 miles. I have a 6" Fabtech lift and Fabtech steering stabilizers installed.

My truck has been pulling a little to the right lately and I had to go out of town this past Saturday morning, so Friday after work I took my truck to a Firestone shop to have an alignment done (they adjusted the toe).

Saturday morning while traveling between 60-65 mph down a well maintained highway, 35 miles from home, the passenger-side tie-rod snaps. Fortunately I managed to keep control of the truck and pulled over in the median. The tie-rod snapped clean into right against the outer jam nut.

I had it towed to the nearest Ford dealership. When I got it there the service manager immediately starts in on the fact that the truck has a lift on it. I finally got him to agree that had the lift caused any problems it would not be with the main shaft. I also told him the truck was in the shop for alignment the night before. He told me he'd get back with me this morning. So, I pick up a rental car and continue on my way.

The service manager calls me this morning and tells me that he cannot have Ford cover it under warranty because it looks as if it was adjusted using two pipe wrenches (who knows???). He says the inner and outer tie-rod needs to be replaced, and I'm looking at $580. Why they inner? I don't know enough about it, but it "looked" ok to me.

So I call Firestone and talk to them about it. They talk to their mechanic who did the job and he said everything was adjusted as it should have been, and nothing seemed damaged or out of the ordinary. The manager at the Firestone location said he has worked at a Ford service shop before and the Ford warranty should absolutely cover it and he would consider it a faulty part.

I gave him the Ford service manager's number and am waiting on a call back.

Any suggestions? What would you do?

Thanks.

 

man that sucks. i wish i had some advice but this just sounds like your average run-around bull the auto industry is famous for. just stick it out im sure everything will work out

 

My 06 warranty states lift kits void the warranty.

 

That may well be the case...but I don't see how the 6" Fabtech lift kit could cause the 1/2 - 3/4" hardened steel shaft to snap into. If it could I don't think you'd ever see one on the road.

I'm not looking to lawyer-up, and I'll foot the bill if I have to...just curious what some of you thought. And, as Aggie said....typical run-around. First he points to the lift kit, then he backs off that and says toe wasn't adjusted right.

 

Pretty sure the Firestone place is gonna eat this one, or mostly. You may have to pay for parts but labor is under warranty or should be from them. They adjusted last the part that broke, so like I said, the part itself they shouldn't warranty but labor yes. A good alignment checks for even the slightest play in the tie rods, at least it did when I got mine aligned. They should have picked up on this, especially if they were worn enough to snap. Get ones from Moog with grease fittings BTW!!!

 

I was just relaying what the warranty states. Not saying it's right or wrong.

I think Firestone should be liable. As previous poster stated they "should" have some sort of warranty period on work performed.

 

You've got to "pay to play". Lift kits cause the suspension to change in all sort of ways, and when something breaks, you shouldn't expect Ford to pay for it. I don't expect Ford to pay for any exhaust work on my truck if anything breaks.

 

Yes, it sounds to me like Firestone either caused the problem or should have spotted it. I would go back to them. I will be hard to prove though.

 

The key here is that you altered the suspension.

Now it's he said/she said - it'll be hard for the dealer and Ford to prove that the lift kit did cause the problem, but it's also hard for you to prove that it didn't since the suspension is now operating outside of factory parameters.

As far as Firestone picking up the bill, well, I dunno man. Stuff happens. Call it what you want, Murphy, a higher power, whatever, sometimes s@!# just goes wrong even with the best intentions.

I wouldn't say Firestone should have detected that the tie rod was gonna fail, I'm fairly certain their guys don't have x-ray vision to detect flaws in the metallurgy. I know I don't. They should have checked the front end for wear or play prior to doing the alignment, but depending on how the tie rod failed, there could have been no looseness in it or nothing otherwise to indicate any kind of problem.

I'd recommend replacing the inner and outer tie rods at the same time as well, figuring that well, if one broke, why risk having the other break?

As far as "adjusted with two pipe wrenches," yeah, I've seen some guys set toe like that, with vise grips or a pair of channel lock pliers. I use a combination wrench to loosen the jam nut and a pair of Knipex channel lock pliers to adjust toe. They make special wrenches and such to properly grab a tie rod end and turn it, but in 12+ years I've never had the need for them.

It would be a sign of good faith for the Firestone store to pick up some or all of the bill, since the truck broke after they touched it whether it was their fault or not. That kinda stuff comes with the territory, sometimes you've gotta fall on your sword to satisfy the customer, it sucks but that's the way it is.

I don't know what kind of relationship you've got with your dealer, but I know that some preferred customers (bought a couple-three cars in the past, get all your service work done at the dealer, etc.) tend to be a little more generous in what they'll sweep under the warranty rug. Dealers vary wildly; there was a lot the dealer I work for covered under warranty that technically shouldn't have been, because we were a really good dealer with universally good survey scores, and we had more freedom than a few other dealers in the area with what we could get covered under warranty.

I dunno, sucks for all the parties involved.

 

Thank yall for your thoughts. I'm still waiting to hear back on how it will be handled. And, as I said, if Firestone won't cover it, or help, and Ford won't warranty it, I'll certainly pay it and won't consider looking for retribution.

Like you said...the suspension was altered and I supposed you have to "pay to play", but I refuse to accept the fact that the lift caused the shaft of the outer tie rod to break cleanly into (even if it did I refuse to accept it ). Especially since the truck has never been off-roaded or abused in any way, and the lift is only 7K miles old. If it was the ball joint that failed I wouldn't have even started a thread.

I have a feeling that if Ford won't warranty it Firestone will help to some degree. We'll see.

 

keep in mind that the fabtech kit calls for the tie rods to be cut to properly set the toe. the part itself, therefore, was modified. the front steering is definitely modified by the front increase in track width 1'' per side the fabtech kit provides. i know it sucks, but the way i see it, the lift modified the steering geometry (and the tie rods themselves), and therefore the tie rod snapping shouldn't be covered under the factory warranty.

fwiw, my truck is lifted on the fabtech kit as well, and i still feel this way.

 

The dealership just called and said they got the replacement approved under warranty. So, I'll consider myself lucky.

By the way...the install instructions that came with my lift say nothing about cutting the tie rods, and as far as I know the install shop didn't cut them.

 

at times, cutting them is necessary to obtain the proper toe in. at least it was on the 97-03's... nonetheless, the steering geometry is still significantly altered by the kit. consider yourself lucky you did not have to pay for the repair.

 

It's almost 2:00AM so I'm not gonna go look at mine but I have done alignment and all of the rack and pinion steering that I have ever done has a "tie rod" (might be called inner, but there's only one on each side) and a "tie rod end". If it snapped at the jamb nut, that had to be the "tie rod" (only 1 per side) and it attaches to the end of the "rack". Don't understand why they would have to replace the "tie rod end" unless it actually was adjusted with a pipe wrench or was worn. I'll look in the morning, but there should only be the "tie rod", not an inner and outer tie rod.

 

Nice
I've worked in the warranty dept. at a BMW dealer and they were always leery of anything non-stock. customers would come in with their lowered 3 series and we wouldn't touch 'em. Not my decision in those cases, but glad it worked out for you.

The last Ford dealer I was at, the service rep kept complaining that nothing on my truck is stock.