Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.

Kristofer L Karch

Jeremiah Thomas Hammer

John Kim

Brian L Tew

Donald Federico

Nikhil V Bhosale

Isao Kohno

Sato Koki

Disclosed is a vehicle having a breakaway tie rod. The tie rod has a longitudinal axis oriented substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, and includes a rod portion and a receiver portion. The rod portion includes a proximal ball joint disposed at the proximal end and a male coupling section disposed at the distal end. The receiver portion includes a female coupling section disposed at the proximal end, a distal ball joint disposed at the distal end, and a narrowing feature disposed between the proximal end and distal end. The male coupling section of the rod portion is received into the female coupling section of the receiver portion, forming a connection, and the distal end of the rod portion is disposed proximate to the narrowing feature. The narrowing feature is configured to fracture when subjected to a threshold force substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle.

Breakaway automotive steering tie rod for controlled wheel motion during crash

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Round Lake, IL, United States of America

Kristofer L Karch