I have a 350 Z and the left tie rod end broke lose and caused an accident. I found a piece and found rust stains on the broken edge. The knuckle is made from a non ferrous metal so rust stains on a broken edge does not make sense unless the part was cracked. I believe this failure lead to the accident.

Is there anyone that has had a similar issue or heard of a similar issue? News article would be really helpful.

 

pics would be helpful

Knuckles are aluminum.

Control arms are.......

 

I think we'll need a picture of the broken part to be able to answer your question.

Just out of curiosity, had the car been in a previous accident or modified in any way prior to the failure?

 

Steering knuckle is solid aluminum. Must've been in some prior accident with damage...

 

Knuckle failures are uncommon even in the motorsports. On the other hand, wheel bearing/hub assemblies have been known to crack and fail on the track after prolonged use. good rule of thumb is to replace your bearings and hubs every 20 hours of track duty.

 

Per CarFax and Auto Check no prior accidents. There has been no mods to this car. This system is asking for a URL. I have pics on my desk top, unsure how to post them. I understand the knuckle is cast aluminum. The tie rod end attachment point has rust. Will try to get the pics loaded.

 

Wow they've taken some abuse for them to snap/break. Any photo's.