Tie rod frozen (Asking again...)

Hi all,

I already asked this question at the VMag forum
( http://club.vmag.com/ubb/Forum39/HTML/003061.html )
; however I wanted to get more ideas/suggestions on this matter before I spend time going back and forth between the dealer and the tire shop, so I wanted to give this new forum a try:

My VX was pulling to the right side a little bit so I stopped at an Olson Tire store for alignment. The mechanic told me the car had a tie rod "frozen" (rusted, as I understood :confused: ), so there was very little adjustment he could actually do to correct the alignment problem. He said this tie rod should be covered under warranty so I should ask the dealer to have it replaced.

Grampa Bob kindly suggested that the mechanic might have been trying to loosen the tie rod nuts the wrong way, which seems consistent with the hard time my VX seemed to be giving to him.

Any idea whether this "frozen" tie rod is a condition that can actually happen to the VX under “normal” use? Have anyone out there had this problem? Is this normal to happen? Is this tie rod being frozen really something covered by the warranty? I just need to have my facts straight before going to the dealer. Any additional suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Miguel Gil
'99 Ironman #408

First report of this I’ve heard but certainly possible. It is probably out of warranty but wouldn’t hurt to check with a dealer. Undercar cleaning is always a good idea at the coast and when dealing with serious offroading or salted roads. I would think the alignment guy knows which way to turn the ends but then again....

Good luck.