I had my tie rod replaced last year at this time, maybe a few weeks earlier (the rod itself, and the ends). I just had a good look at it, and the new one is rusting through as well. It looks as though it has rusted from the inside out...and now has holes right through.

Now, the Jeep dealership where I had the work done are not very reliable (to put it nicely). They threw my steering off centre when installing the new tie rod, and then wanted me to pay for an alignment. I had to explain to the shop manager that the alignment was fine when I brought it in, and the only thing that could have changed it was them not properly installing the tie rod... after an argument, they fixed the problem and I haven't been back since.

What would you do?

 

wow, so the tie rod connecting the 2 outer tie rods is rusted thru???

on my personal jeep, i use a ton of anti sieze on the ends of damn near everything that may need to be taken apart again... it saves such a headache later on... anti sieze does wash away, except for where its making contact (and of course thats what seize's up so it still works good) but others reassemble with grease, which usually stays but catches all the dirt...
but it usually keeps rust away from the ends where its open...

but as far as the tie rod rusting thru, i havn't seen that yet.. thats some pretty thick steel to be rusting thru in 1 winter... id take a wire brush to it and see whats what...

 

yes, the tie rod ends are fine with no signs of excessive wear or extra play. however, the rod itself is starting to split open with rust is a couple of places and the holes look as though it has rusted from the inside-out... it is only 13-14 months old.

my guess is that the dealership threw on an old/used one instead of new, and that it had moisture or water trapped inside maybe? either way I won't be going back to that place.