OK, i'm a little bummed.
I have a 74 F250 4x2 8100# GVWR
anyway yesterday morning, I was turning left, and the front end started to make a clunking or nocking sound , that seemed to come from the passenger side.I pulled over and looked under the truck, and couldn't see anything wrong. I drove a few more blocks, and the noise went away.I was hoping I had a stick stuck in the suspension or something stupid that had fixed itself, and tried not to think about it. last night I had to go out again, and the noise started again after a tight left turn in McDonalds drive thru, but it was dark, so came home and parked it.today I went out, and crawled under it, but couldn't notice anything loose, or broken, so I drove a few blocks, at first it kinda just barely made the noise, then it seemed OK. I still didn't trust it, so got under again, and this time I noticed the passenger side tie rod end, had clean grease visible, that didn't match the dirt on the rest of the undercarrige. I'm assuming this means the tie rod end is shot, and needs replacement.

My questions are:
1 does this sound like I have found the problem, or am I missing something?
and 2.do you think its safe to drive it to my buddies house to work on it, about 5 miles?

any advice is appreciated, its been 12 years since I have done any steering, or suspension stuff, and my memories not what it once was.
Thank you for your time

 

Where exactly was the grease?

 

Yep, they probably need changing if they are original to the truck.
The clean grease means that you might have a busted boot.

Have someone turn the steering wheel, back and forth, while you look at the rod ends. You should see the play in the joint.

Put the front end on jack stands place your hand on the left and right side of the tire and can you move the tire back and forth and hear the noise as you move the tire.

Can you move the rod end in and out of the socket? If you can, it's worn.

Can you drive it 5 miles? At your own risk, Maybe, Yes, take it easy in the turns. Have someone follow you. I saw the results of a broken rod end..... the tire don't turn. I had to steer the one wheel and my brother had to kick the other tire to get the car to turn (his Car).

While the truck is in the air, check the ball joints. Place your hands on the top and bottom on the tire and rack the tire, back and forth, and listen for noise. I saw a tire guy do this to my old Malibu and he had to change the ball joints before he could do the alignment.

Change both rod ends and MARK THE ORIGINAL LOCATION (important) of the rod ends before you take the old ones off. That way the truck will track somewhat straight when you take it to the alignment shop for it's alignment.

Good Luck

 

hey thanks for the help
the grease was on the bottom of the rod end
this is twin I beam, so I don't think the rods are adjusted by the ends, and doesn't have ball joints per se except the ends.
thanks for the advice, I think I can get it to my buddies, I'll plan the straightest path there unless I decide to do it here in the street.doing it here may be a better idea, at least the broken one.
It just splits with a pickle fork, and the new one basically bolts in right?

once again thanks
hope I can return the favor someday

 

i had a tie rod go on me at 25 mph....no fun ....cheap enough to replace and have piece of mind