Put a Chevy Van on its side....

milehigh9 · February 8, 2002

Well what a day I had yesterday.......I was driving on the Parkway (NJ) and was approaching the toll plaza and was getting into the lane for EZ PASS when the tie rod on the passenger side snapped. I lost total control of steering and the right side of the van went up on the concrete island in front of the toll booth. I went through the toll booth on two wheels as the other two wheels were riding the walls of the booth. After the toll booth the van landed on its side and went into a skid for about 200 feet. The craziest part was that when the van stopped its skid I rolled down the passenger window and me and my partner climbed out without a scratch or injury. All I can say was that the Big Man in the sky was looking out for me and my partner that day. The van is a Chevy 3500 commercial . Wondering if anyone knows of a problem that Chevy has had with steering or tie rods on these vans???

Shaners · February 8, 2002

that was a scary ride... what year van?

antig24 · February 8, 2002

ouch ???

General Lee 01 · February 8, 2002

Ouch!!!

Glad to hear you and your partner got out of there ok.

Larry · February 8, 2002

If your rig has a lot of miles on it and has been poorly maintained it is possible a tie rod could totally fail. But, long before a tie rod fails to the point of separation, they will make scary popping and rattling noises for several thousand miles that usually create some suspicion for the driver to poke his head under there to see what is dangling around. You never heard any noise before it broke?

I’ll tell you this though, I haven’t heard of any tie rods just falling apart on a well-maintained vehicle causing total loss of vehicle control but I have heard of tie rods breaking once a vehicle’s wheel is slammed into a concrete island during an accident. LOL

This is going to be a classic case of “What came first the chicken or the egg” for your insurance company.

NewbieZ71 · February 8, 2002

Sorry about your accident and glad you are ok.... I guess the good part was all of those happy NY/NJ drivers behind you in the EZPass lane helping you out and being real understanding about the whole thing.....right?

doverarjim · February 8, 2002

Was the toll booth where the tires were up in the air open? I know it was crazy for you but could you see the person in the booth as a big van came towards him up on two wheels!!! You know he was trapped as much as you were.