Wondering if anyone else out there has experienced any tie rod failures on CTDs namely 05 3500 quad cabs. Three of us in the same work area with approx 30k miles each have all experienced tie rod failures on the passenger side. On each the ball simply popped from the socket, luckily all of us driving at lower speeds (under 30mph) one fellow ended up in the ditch where the steering stabilier was snapped at the joint! With all of us about 125 miles from civilization, the tow bill is rather heafty, and the time waiting on replacement parts is hurting the pocket book as we all make our livings from our trucks!

Might be worth looking at your own tie rod ends and checkin em out hate to see one fail at high way speed!! Wonder if DC will do a recall, all three of our trucks manufactured in Mexico!?

 

did the joints on the others break? are these 2wd or 4wd?

thanks for the heads up!

 

thought I should add some more info concerning tie rod failures.
All three trucks are 05 3500 CTD quads 4X4 all are stock. None of us felt/heard any warnings other then a loss of steering and a puckering of seat of our pants, like I mentioned before thankfully we weren't running highway speeds!! Looking over things the ball itself was clean no scaring or wear of any kind!? The socket the ball sits in looked, inside clean no wear but looked enlarged (would explain why ball popped out?) didn't notice any burrs or any remnants of any kind of retainer for the ball. Other damage naturally are bent tie rods and broken or bent steering stablizers, one truck received a punctured tire due to tie rod. A fourth co-worker has approx 25k miles on his unit and is currently driving like a deer caught in headlights! Can't blame him! Should also add all of us have dealerships maintaining our trucks for the most part with the odd oilchange etc. done ourselves when time and weather permits (we all work in the oil/gas production fields of northern Alberta, Can.), with misquitos large enough to carry D7 cats away one tends to wait till one gets home to have trucks serviced! Road conditions up here run from very dusty to very wet clay/mud, don't think these conditions have much bearing on ball joints, as other vehicles aren't experiencing any failures.


On another note are there any reasons why DC service shops will not turn brake rotors? Do they have that close of a tolerance or is it because more money can be made selling new rotors? If it is a case of tolerances are there aftermarket "heavy duty" brake rotors available, and if anyone here using them?

 

thanks for the added info...

the stock rotors should be fine for the everyday driver however for those who want real brakes, check out the powerstop rotors & pads... I had them on my 2000 and they were 100% better than the stock ones ever were... they will be on my truck as soon as the current setup wears out.

 

with the tie rods. . .the same thing went on with them as for the 2nd gens, they just werent all that good.

since they are still under warranty the dealership should replace them no problem. the only way to know if something is about to happen is if the steering gets unsualy loose.

 

Say Drew.. seeing everyone has labled you the Dodge guru .. whats your take on the brake rotors can they be turned if not badly scared? or is it a matter of throw away parts? OEM Rotors north of the 49th parallel run around $250.00 canadian each!! Love my truck but its gonna kill me having to buy new rotors every 30,000 kilometers/20k miles!! Maybe I ought to check with Kore racing look to see if they have something that will take dust/clay/mud and coarse sand?

Look forward to your response.