The only thing I have had mechanically fail on me on the trail wheeling till now was that little coolant hose going from the block to the heater core coming apart. Beyond that in almost 10 years of wheeling I haven't had anything break on the trail. And nothing really snapped/busted, it just came apart. My passengers outer tie-rod end that is. The bottom dropped out of it, the crew flipped it over on top of the castle nut and used bailing wire so I could get off the trail and drive back to camp. It was bone dry on the inside, mainly because I haven't been able to get grease into it due to a bent zerk (sp?) fitting. So it was only a matter of time before it went out, the guess was it probably would have went out on the ride home.

I would rather it go out on the trail (even though it factored into me nearly rolling down the side of the mountain) than going 65mph on the highway. Kenny was a huge help in getting me the replacement part and helping me through the repair. Its safe to say it will be a little while before I do the Dutch John hill climb again. Nothing like bouncing down an entrenched hill climb with no brakes and no steering, then getting wedged sideways right before the truck was about to roll down it.

Eli, seriously? grease fittings are $2-$3 each. Glad you weren't hurt.

Maybe its just me but the way the grease fitting was fubar'd I didn't see a way of replacing it without changing the tie-rod end. And at that point the tie-rod was still in good shape. Either way it was neglect on my part, but the tie-rod was only a small part in why I nearly rolled. I nearly rolled twice, and one of those times the tie-rod was still attached. Its was a combination of bad luck, some bad decisions on my part, and bad timing.