Would broken tie rod have this symptom?

[kenzo42]

So my 97 SR5 drives fine at lower speeds, but once I get on the freeway and get to around 50mph, the car starts swaying from left to right repeatedly. I went to get an alignment done and they said one tie rod is broken. Would this be the cause of the swaying? Thanks.

 

[Singtoe]

Are you doubting the word of someone who has actually looked at your 4runner?

If he says its broken, fix it and the problem will go away.

Why would you doubt what he had to say anyway?

He probably meant to say sway bar link. But have the alignment shop fix it anyway.

 

[kenzo42]

I have no doubt that it's broken, but not sure if there is a direct link in it causing the swaying.

He didn't say it caused the sway, rather he couldn't do the alignment b/c it was broken.

Are you doubting the word of someone who has actually looked at your 4runner?

If he says its broken, fix it and the problem will go away.

Why would you doubt what he had to say anyway?

He probably meant to say sway bar link. But have the alignment shop fix it anyway.

 

[LittleCaesar]

Ah..........at a loss for words.

Trust what Singtoe said.

 

[cj80cruiser]

I have no doubt that it's broken, but not sure if there is a direct link in it causing the swaying.

He didn't say it caused the sway, rather he couldn't do the alignment b/c it was broken.

More than likely that will solve your problem so fix the tierod.

Also, you can easily get under your truck and see if your sway bar links are broken. If they are you could buy new ones or you could get some used ones from members on this forum. Several ppl on here removed there sway bar and may have the links left over or you could check with ppl parting out 96-02 4runners.

 

[nevada]

broken? not likely, it would be undriveable.
worn out, possibly.

 

[KidVermicious]

A broken tie rod or tie rod end would send both wheels violently in different directions. You wouldn't be going anywhere at any speed.

If the guy meant sway bar link, I call BS, because you don't need a sway bar to have perfect alignment.

Either you're confused and aren't remembering what your mechanic said correctly, or you need to find a new shop.

 

[theizzardking]

A broken tie rod or tie rod end would send both wheels violently in different directions. You wouldn't be going anywhere at any speed.

If the guy meant sway bar link, I call BS, because you don't need a sway bar to have perfect alignment.

Either you're confused and aren't remembering what your mechanic said correctly, or you need to find a new shop.

yeah terminology is a big deal here, sway bar has absolutely nothign to do with an alignment ...at all, it just ties the 2 shocks together to reduce body roll, has no bearing on the direction of travel of tires....

the tie rod ends if broke like others have said is a very big deal and i doubt they are broke as much as just worn out and this will with out a doubt cause your problem, if your here at this point you might as well consider replacing the whole rack if you have any leaks going on or at the very least doing the inner rods ends as well as the outer rod ends , the price difference between doing the just the outers and and both the inners and outters is negligible and you'll be saving yourself some shop labour costs in the future, if you can't/don't do the work yourself.

either way if the shop is talking about rod ends they are right on, if they are talking about sway bar end links they are full of it, it would help if you had a clear idea of how these pieces work and what they are for, take a look at this and you can see the rod ends on the outside of your steering rack, these are what actually turn your wheels and you alignment is also set by these as well (in one direction)

exploded view of one side

(these are for a t-100 but basically the same design..basically)


and if i got things completely wrong and you know your shiz, here's an write up on rebuilding the whole rack
http://www.ncttora.com/fsm/1996/SIL...toypdf/02rmsour/2002/024runne/sr/psg/reas.pdf