Tie Rod Cracking
Hi everyone,
I have the following problem: I own a Ford Crown P71 and live in Germany. Last year, I replaced the lower and upper control arms because the previous owner had drilled a bolt into the control arm and welded it in place. For whatever reason...
At the same time, I also replaced the sway bar links, since everything was already open anyway. After a few weeks, I noticed that the car makes a "cracking" noise during sharp steering movements while parking.
After WEEKS, I’ve finally figured out what the problem was!
A quick recap: My stabilizer bar had been moving back and forth axially for weeks. I thought the bushing was broken. I ordered a new one from MOOG and installed it. It was better, but there was still some movement. Yesterday I took the wheels off because I thought the sway bar links might have been installed in the air without any load on the wheels, and what did I find: A destroyed, deformed sway bar link that was being pressed against the wheel bearing!!
Now for my question: I used some relatively cheap sway bar links (Ebay) from the company "ATLAS." I know that if you buy cheap, you end up buying twice (German proverb)
The question I’m asking myself now is: Was it actually the sway bar link? I’ve just ordered two new links from MOOG at RockAuto, specifically the reinforced version.
My thought: Steering angle limiter. Does the Crown even have one? I’ve read that it’s supposed to be on the lower control arm. But I haven’t found anything.
Since I rebuilt the control arms, I don't remember anything about the old part (except that he drilled a damn screw into the control arm and welded it in place).
What else could be causing this? Maybe the bushing was actually already broken? The problem started after we rebuilt the control arms. There are signs of wear on the inside of the wheel bearing.
Sorry if there are any typos in the text. I did my best to explain it as clearly as possible—but when it comes to specialized topics, I sometimes don't know the technical terms.
Thank you ✌️😊