Bent tie rod from towing?

This may sound crazy but bear with me..... I was towing the camper behind the Betty earlier. I had it out on a test run for a few miles to make sure everything was working okay before we go out to Hershey this weekend. When I came home, I put the camper away, took her out to get a 12 pack and noticed she was all out of alignment. The steering wheel was almost 90 degrees out of wack going straight down the road. I drove it home, jacked it up and found the left side tie rod bent upward. They do have a slight bend in them but this it was way out of shape compared to the right side.

The only time I can think of that this might have happened was when I got jammed up backing it into the driveway. I had the wheels turned all the way to one side and the trailer was almost jackknifed when I realized the car didn't have enough power to push it back anymore. I had to pull straight and re maneuver it.

I tried to search on line to see if anyone else in the world had ever experienced this bizarre phenomena and came up empty handed.

That is really strange. I have never heard of a tierod bending like that. You could have had the wheel stuck, and folded it up. It could also be a defective piece.

I would think the adjuster sleeve would bend first. Odd.

The adjuster sleeve is a tube, and the end is a rod. A tube is stronger than a rod.

I think you bent the TR when you had it in that bind when backing up.The engine has the power and when you let off the gas with the steering wheel at full lock the trailer pushed back and the weakest steering part could not stand the pressure.

Flasheroo, that's all I can think of that happened. Here's a picture. I don[t know how to post a picture but the tie rod is bent and the sleeve is straight.