This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
While driving at freeway speeds (typically above 50mph) the vehicle will have extended steering oscillation (violent shaking of the steering wheel) after going over normal expansion joints in the roadway and other roadway bumps. It is impossible to control the vehicle steering when oscillations start. Sometimes the only thing that stops the oscillations is slowing, and leaving the freeway. No warning messages or lamps appear. When brought to dealership for repair, was told to contact manufacturer customer service.
I was driving down a city street and my 2009 F250 started to violently shake and I could barely control the steering wheel, it was like I had blown all 4 tires or the suspension had fallen apart. I was talking to my sister on the car speaker when it happened and she could even hear the shaking and started yelling to make sure I had not wrecked my vehicle. I pulled over in a parking lot and everything looked fine, all tires in tact, suspension still on the vehicle. This has happened 3 more times while driving on a city street and also once on a packed interstate. I called a Ford dealer and they acknowledged this was known as the "death wobble" but would need to charge me $120 to diagnose the issue. This is not only scary but also very dangerous and could cause injury or even death. I checked google and see lawsuits and Ford acknowledge the issue but no recalls and I would have to pay the repairs and save my receipts! Ford needs to fix this! that is too big of a vehicle to have this kind of known issue and no recall to repair!
When driving speed between 35 and 40 mph, the steering starts wobbling back and forth. Have to slow down and pull over. Road is a 4 lane straight street. Has happened twice. Truck as 43,000 miles. Taking to a mechanic today for assistance in diagnoses. Looked up on the internet and this seems to be a common issue with this model. Having the stabilizers checked.
- Porter, TX, USA
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I have had multiple episode of death wobble. I have had the front end suspension rebuilt twice and have had the problem return, mechanics say its the worse they have ever seen. I've had to replace body mounts because they were destroyed by the violent wobble. This happens at speeds over 45 miles an hour and only stops when slowed down to about 35 miles an hour, which is very dangerous on the interstate
While driving on a highway at 65-70 miles per hour, if your front tires hit a small bump, especially on curves, the pickup front end wil go into an uncontollable wobble and you must immediately hit your brakes to get it to come to an almost dead stop before it will quit. You can end up in the other lane or cause the person following you to rearend you or end up in the ditch. So far, we have been lucky when this has happened as we live in a farming area and not heavily populated but are afraid to haul cattle to sale with this pickup which is what we need it for. This started around at around 88,000 miles on speedometer. We have reseached this and talled to others and found it is called the "death wobble".
While in motion, this vehicle has had violent shaking at highway speeds 60-70mph and at low speeds of 30-40mph. The steering wheel violently shakes from side to side along with the entire truck shaking violently. It nearly caused an accident twice while traveling on the highway with very light load in the bed (approximately 110lbs). This has been coined the "death wobble" from other F-250 owners that have experienced this issues as well. It seems that hitting a bump causes issues within the suspension and steering.
My truck going highway speeds has had numerous issues with death wobble. If you don't know what that is it's where the truck starts shaking violently and the only way to control it is to cone to a complete stop which in the middle of the highway is very dangerous. This has happened many times with me and my family in the truck.
When driving at highway speeds (50 mph or higher) the truck experiences "death wobble" when it hits a small rough patch. During "death wobble" the vehicle shakes uncontrollably and won't stop until the vehicle speed is brought down to 30 mph or lower.
I am the original owner of a 2009 F250 Super Duty pu. The vehicle has been well maintained over the 61630 miles I have accumulated. Recently the truck has started experiencing what can only be described as a loss of power steering. This seems to most often occur after starting from a stop, and turning left. The wheels seem to be "stuck" in the turned direction, and needs to be muscled back into a straight path. This is usually followed by an unusual slight tugging of the wheel in the opposite direction. The other day it was sticking from one direction to the other direction. Fortunately we had just started to merge onto a road that typically is 45 mph (we were only doing about 20 mph). My partner thought I was horsing around by "yanking the steering from side to side, but it was the trucks steering that was doing it, and I was trying to straighten it out. We pulled off the road, and as I was pulling forward I could feel a difference in the steering (back to normal). My commute is a mere 15 mins, but based on locations of my home and work, I do typically jump on the highway. I have stopped doing this because I fear with increased traffic and speed, I worry about causing an accident, although I have not experienced this at normal speed. I have brought this to my mechanic and he could not duplicate the condition. He checked the vehicle over, and found nothing worn or broken. He has been the only person servicing this vehicle since Nov 2009, so he is very familiar with the upkeep. In fact he had replaced the brakes and rotated the tires at 59000 miles. I do haul single and double axle trailers from time to time, and worry about the next time I need to.
When I hit a small bump at highway speeds my truck will start to shake violently and will not stop without hard braking or aggressively jerking the steering wheel. I feel this is a real hazard and am afraid to let my family drive the truck. I will not let my grand children ride with me in fear of an accident when the truck decides to shake.
My truck has began a violent shaking, bouncing, and vibrating from the front end when I hit an uneven service on the interstate. Feels as if someone else grabs my steering wheel and shakes it as hard and as fast as they can back and forth leaving me with little or no control. Terrifying!! the only way to stop the violence is to slow to a stop on the shoulder. This began about a month ago and has happened at least a dozen times. My family is afraid to ride in the truck.
When driving at 65 mph, and the front tires hit a large bump or pot hole, the front end goes into a violent shake. This has happened (3) times in 2-weeks. On the internet, it is known as the "death wobble." The shaking in the steering wheel was so great that it vibrated me into the next lane and I almost caused a serious accident on the freeway when I had to come to a complete stop. I took my truck to Ford and they do not recognize my complaint. All they could offer was to replace my ball joints, shocks, steering stabilizer, and track bar "at my expense." I have researched this condition on the internet and see a substantial amount of complaints pertaining to the death wobble, and unanimously, every person says that Ford does not recognize this as a problem. My truck is unsafe to drive and is parked until I can afford the costly recommended repairs.
Driving 2009 Ford F-50 Super Duty FX4 on insterstate at 65 mph, as I exited to another interstate I experienced a violent wobble in the front end which only stopped when I brought the pickup truck to a complete stop. I took the truck to the dealer I purchased the vehicle from and they gave me a shopping list of $3300. This included windshield wipers. They also did not know what caused this problem. Ford customer service said they did not know of this problem and could not help. Looking into this on google, I found hundreds of similar problems commonly called "death wobble" on the internet. This violent shaking has occurred once more two weeks later. I am parking the vehicle until I decide what I need to do. I am afraid for my family's safety and other motorists.
I was driving on the highway, hit a bump and the front tires started to hop, increasing in intensity the entire time. The experience was very scary, and I felt like I was going to loose control of the vehicle. I had to pull over on the side of the highway, very carefully, since I had hardly no control of the vehicle at this point. Since the first incident I have noticed the hopping of the front tires every time I hit a little bump in the highway or a pothole. It tends to happen at speeds on the highway and is less frequent traveling on local roads at a slower pace. The only way to make the tires stop from hopping is to either gradually pull off the road, or jerk the wheel in one direction or the other violently. Either way I do not consider it safe.
The contact owns a 2009 Ford F-250. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50-70 mph, the steering wheel shook violently causing the vehicle to sway. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 80,000.
I was making a left turn out of a parking lot and heard a clunk from the front of the truck. At the end of the block after the light turned green, I tried to make a left turn and it was really hard to turn the steering wheel. The truck made the left turned but not very sharp. Upon driving up the street I tried to shift to the left lane and the truck would not respond well. Upon pulling over the truck would not fully turn to the left but would turn to the right okay. The steering wheel would only turn a quarter of a turn. My concern is if I had to make a sharp left turn with the road I would not be able to do this. The vehicle has ~61K miles. If I was driving at a high rate of speed I would not have been able to go around a left corner. I could understand the steering gear box going out if I used this truck for commercial applications. Many complaints have been noted about a steering issue with F250 6.4L diesel trucks. The Ford dealership said the steering gear box was broken due to mechanical issues, not covered under a warranty and replaced the part. I have the broken gear box in my garage and plan to take it to a certified mechanic to evaluate the box. Lakewood fordland in lakewood co 303.232.6145 completed the repairs. Luckily the issued happened while in the city and I was able to get it to a dealership to evaluate the issue.
I got onto highway 45 from 517. While switching lanes, my steering wheel felt like a child's toy. There was no steering whatsoever. I instinctively applied the brake. My truck was weaving from middle lane to the fast lane and finally I was in one lane when I came to a complete stop and placed it in park. At this point I am frantic because traffic is fast approaching. I'm looking for the hazard lights and pumping my brakes so the traffic can see brake lights. At this point I am very frantic, that I thought if the truck is going to get hit, im's jumping out. As I got out of the truck, there were two vehicles passing me up on the shoulder lane. I didn't get hit. After I exited the truck, I was finally able to dial for 911, my husband and daughter. While I was switching lanes, I felt like something had broken or disengaged and when I came to a stop and exited the truck I smelled smoke, but did not see any.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Vashon, WA, USA