This past spring one the aftermarket tie rods on my 2005 Pac unceremoniously broke, resulting in a wrecker trip back to my shop. Well yesterday the other (this time passenger side) tie rod broke. This time I learned that, if you drive carefully, you can steer a Pac with only one (1) tie rod.
Looks like a stress riser, inherent in the design, may be contributing to the failure. Pic attached.

Failed tie rods from 2005 Pacifica.

Detailed photo of failed 2005 Pacifica tie rods.

 

A very experienced mechanic who has done a lot of work on my semi truck over 18 years told me he won't ever use aftermarket parts-particularly drive train and axle components- because the odds are it is made with Chinese steel (not to be political here). He told me of job he did where he replaced all the U-joints on the drive line (5 total on a semi), and they began to develop play around 50,000 miles. Timken U-joints last upwards of a million miles or more if they are properly maintained. 1 bad u-joint could indicate a lack of quality control when forging the steel. 5 bad ones indicate poor steel quality.