What Is A Tie Rod? What Does It Do In My Vehicle?

A car’s steering system contains many parts that require their own form of maintenance.

Tie rods are one of the components you may have heard a technician or service advisor mention. This item might have worn out or broken from daily use and needed to be replaced.

Unless you work in the automotive field or know someone who does, you might not be sure what a tie rod end is and its purpose.

Well, a tie rod is a part of the steering mechanism inside of your vehicle. It’s the piece that connects the steering linkage – or rack and pinion – to the steering knuckle. This combination is what pushes or pulls the wheel to the right or left when you’re steering.

You’ve got two kinds of setups – rack and pinion and steering box. The gearbox is one solid unit and it has drag links or center links that reach all the way across the chassis and back.

Meanwhile, the rack and pinion is a long tube that has a pinion inside of it. When you turn your steering wheel, the steering shaft that goes from the steering wheel to the rack turns and rotates the pinion back and forth.

There are two types of tie rods – an inner tie rod and an outer tie rod. They have joints that are typically ball and socket. Over time the socket can become worn allowing movement that results in tire wear and unintended movement in steering, which is unsafe.

Signs of a bad tie rod

When tie rods start to go bad, it can cause steering control issues and prevent you from driving smoothly down the road.

Different symptoms can appear when tie rods are going bad.

Drivers may notice certain noises, like a clicking when turning. Creaking and popping sounds are possible if the lubrication dries up.

Worn tie rods can throw off your wheel alignment too, causing the tires to wear out prematurely. This could also result in an off center steering wheel or the vehicle pulling to one side. If the toe adjustments are out severely, the car could dance all over the road.

Loss of steering could occur if tie rods fail completely.

How to maintain tie rods

If you’re worried about your tie rods, have your autoshop check them out. Inspecting tie rod ends is something our technicians already do as part of our preventative maintenance check during an oil change.

We also look over steering and suspension parts when performing a Virginia State Inspection.

If an automotive expert you trust recommends replacing tie rods or another component, don’t wait too long to have a new one installed.

You will also want to make sure the tie rod ends remain lubricated. Back in the day, tie rod ends used to have zerk fittings that would be greased regularly. Newer vehicles come with unserviceable zerk fittings. When they have reached the end of their lifespan, we replace them with serviceable zerk fittings.

By equipping your vehicle with high quality tie rods and taking care of them, you can ensure that your travels remain smooth and safe.

HomeTowne Auto Repair & Tire is an authorized Michelin and BFGoodrich tire dealer located near Dale City, Virginia. Automotive repair services are performed on all makes and models, including oil changes, brakes, alignments, inspections, and computer engine diagnostics.