How can you tell if your Tie Rod is no good?

Question

Is there a way to check to see if tie rod is worn out? Do you turn the steering wheel and look to see if tie rod has any play in it??

Answer 1

Most of the time you can't tell unless there's a clunking noise or a lot pf play in the steering wheel. Sometimes called "slop" in the steering wheel. By the time it gets noticeable a decent sized pothole can separate it and then you have no steering.

You could try turning the steering wheel with the car off and listen for a clunk or see if you feel any excessive movement in the wheel. In other words the steering wheel turns a quarter in either direction turn before there's any resistance from the wheels/tires. (Sloppy steering)

Good Luck!

Answer 2

Jack it up and try and jiggle the wheel and look for play. The tie rod ends are the parts that wear. If you have a lot of miles on the car, you can expect some wear, go ahead and replace them. It's not that expensive and you know they are good for a long time again.

Answer 3

Jack the car wheel up and see if you can turn the wheel by hand. If it turns at all the tie rod is bad.

Answer 4

that's one good way,if its bad it will show to have play in it ,and you may also hear a popping sound coming from it also,have a friend jiggle the steering wheel and you feel of it as they do it,if there's any play in it you,ll feel it,if it is bad replace it,those things if they break will cause you to not be able to steer the car,and you will probably have an accident,good luck with it.