inner tie rod bent saftey question?

[Hpimichael02]

guys, the insurence comapny said they would replace it but they backed out so i havent gotten that fixed just yet , im working on getting it fixed next thrusday, but im driving to melbourne and then ocala all highway going 60-65mph, now how safe is it to drive highway speeds with it bent? i know its bent cause it buldges when you rotate it but yet the outter tir rod screws it with ease and not damage there, ive been driving on it like that since 12/04/10 and nothing yet but i only drive city speeds,

is it safe? can the boot be pulled back so i can see if its crackedor anything?

[Gordinho80]

Just take the clamp off and pull the boot back. I wouldn't drive on the highway with a known bad tie rod...

Just my $0.02.

[Regulator1175]

I had one break on me in a 98 Grand Prix. The car was all over the road, and I was lucky to safely get it to the shoulder. I would not recommend driving with it bent.

As a side note, fun roadside fix, I removed the tie rod and walked it a couple of miles to the all night truck stop I was close to. I convinced the shop mechanic to weld a pipe over top of the tie rod on either end of the break, and it was able to get me back to the base. I learned my lesson that night that, I should have given myself more then 12 hours to make a 12 hour trip to make it back to Fort Jackson to report back on time from leave.