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 approx. 50 mph on a rural highway the front end started to shimmy so violently that I had to grip the wheel strongly, take my foot off the gas pedal and slow down in order to regain control of the vehicle.
At a high rate of speed the steering wheel suddenly began to shudder and shake back and forth causing the whole truck to shake violently and become uncontrollable. My life and the lives of everyone near me were in jeopardy until I regained control of the vehicle. I could not steer the vehicle. The problem has occurred with others employees of our company. The vehicle has been inspected and repaired by the dealership but the problem persists. There were no warnings before the failure. It came on abruptly and my only recourse was to aggressively apply the brakes to minimize the what seemed like an eminent catastrophic outcome.
At a high rate of speed the steering wheel suddenly began to shudder and shake back and forth causing the whole truck to shake violently and become uncontrollable until speed was reduced. My life and the lives of everyone near me were in jeopardy until I regained control of the vehicle. I could not steer the vehicle. The problem has occurred with others employees of our company. The vehicle has been inspected and repaired by the dealership but the problem persists. There were no warnings before the failure. It came on abruptly and my only recourse was to aggressively apply the breaks to minimize the what seemed like an eminent catastrophic outcome. This event scared the hell out of me and my passenger.
Better known as the "Death Wobble." My 2017 Ford F250 truck severely wobbles after hitting a road bump when traveling 50mph. This has happened four times, including today, Sun 2/20/2022. This has not resulted in any crash or injury as of yet. After slowing down and resuming operation the wobble goes away. I have had the truck since Oct 2020.
- Alachua, FL, USA
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It is known as the Death Wobble. Truck starts vibrating uncontrollably without any warning. Pulling a trailer when this happens causes a dangerous situation. Unless you have experienced it, no words can describe the violent nature of this suspension breakdown. There is no telling what other damage these episodes cause. Ford is not willing to fix this design flaw.
Experiencing severe shaking in the steering wheel intermittently. this has happened several days in the past week, it occurs at different speeds usually around 30 to 50 mph. It seems to only last a few seconds, but it feels like the vehicle could loose control in the event of needing to make a quick response to something.
I experienced the -??Death Wobble-?? for my first time today! Very scary! I had just reached 65 MPH and suddenly my 2017 F250 starting shaking violently. I had little to no control of steering. Fortunately, I had heard of it before from family and friends who also experienced it. I let off the accelerator and it ended as if nothing was wrong! My vehicle has slightly over 38K miles. There was no warning or messages. I am not aware of any road issues. I have talked with my Ford service department and they are ordered a damper kit. My vehicle is available for inspection.
I was traveling on the highway at approximately 65-70 mph when it drove over unlevel pavement and the truck started shaking uncontrollably from the front end. After slowing and pulling off to the side to check my wheels and tires I proceeded at a slower rate of speed with no further incident so far. I use this truck for towing my horse trailer. I don't know what would have happened if I was towing when that happened. I am afraid to use my truck again in fear that next time this might cause an accident that will put me, my passengers, horses and others on the road in great danger. I will be contacting my local Ford dealer today to look into this problem.
my vehicle has the symptoms of the widely reported front end wobble while driving. it was corrected once before by Ford at ~35,000 miles (i'm looking for previous paperwork). it stopped, but ever since then the front end felt a little loose. it started doing the wobble again 2 weeks ago (76,000 miles). I took to ford, they said there was a steering damper recall and would fix. At the appointment they noted other items that looked to need repair. I noted they should be repaired under the damper item as it is what has caused the excessive wear. they stated it was not covered and i told them i'd have it repaired elsewhere. when i picked up my vehicle it was much worse. Online records report this as the "Death Wobble" and it definitely is so.
I have experienced what has come to be known as -??death wobble-?? at least a dozen times since I bought it new. I have had it repaired by Ford as well as an aftermarket auto shop and the issue persists. At certain speeds and/or on certain bumps or grooves in the road, the vehicle begins to shake violently and I lose control until I am able to slow down to about 20 mph and it stops. It is very scary and one day I fear it will kill me and my family.
Without any warning after hitting a small bump on a newly paved highway I had extreme violent shaking in the front suspension after hitting small bump on hwy going approx 60mph, truck shook violently, steering almost unresponsive, had to emergency slow to 25mph in very heavy accident almost rear ended in last incident.. This has happened 2x in the past 6 months 12/21/2021, 8/22/2021. Truck has 12,700 miles on it. I am planning on taking into the Ford dealership after January 1st in 2022 for evaluation.I believe people are calling this a death wobble.
Two days in a row while driving 80 miles an hour on I-15, I drove over a rough spot in the road and the truck (steering wheel) immediately began wobbling violently and did not stop until I slowed down to about 20 miles per hour. Vehicles behind me had to switch lanes to over my truck. I took the truck to the local Ford dealer and reported the issue. They said this has been an avoid me as I quickly slowed down to maintain control issue on this model and told me what repairs were needed to fix the problem. I paid over $1000 out of my own pocket for the repair which I believe should have been covered by the manufacturer.
I have experienced a "death wobble " 3 times in this truck. The last being today. I have my truck in Cruz doing between 70/80. When I hit an expansion joint on a bridge It feels like violent shaking in the front axle to the point of losing control. It has been happening at the same spot all 3 times and I can probably cause it to happen at will. In that spot of the interstate. It only stops if you slow down immediately! Very dangerous when in traffic!
Violent death wobble on highway. It is so bad other cars on highway slam on brakes to get away from our truck. We are experiencing some loss of control when it happens. Truck has been repaired once in the past for this and now it has started happening again. Took it to dealership that did original repairs and they claimed was not able to replicate. It then happened again for us and we have an appt at a second dealership to inspect. There are no warning lights when it happens just violent shaking after crossing a small transition bump on highway 285 in Atlanta
I was driving on Interstate 94 w of Minneapolis and my vehicle started wobbling violently and I couldn't steer. I had to pull off the highway, checked vehicle as I thought I had a flat tire. No flat, tires were all OK. I proceeded and had no additional problem. When I researched on the internet I found the problem is called a "Death Wobble". My ford F250 had 70,536 miles on it and I have it serviced at regular intervals. I read on the internet this is a common problem in F250"s and Ford refuses to do anything about it.
While driving on a very busy interstate at highway speeds, I went over cracks/bumps in the road. Immediately the front end started to violently shake to the point I thought I could lose control at any moment. The only corrective action was to slow down to around 40 MPH on the highway. Other drivers around me must have seen I was having trouble and got out of my way. This has happened to me numerous times with this truck and acting in the same manner. I have been lucky it did not happen in a curve or bad weather. I have contacted my local Ford Dealer for an appointment, evaluation and assistance. This incident could have ended badly by slowing down on the busy highway and everyone around me driving 70+ MPH. I wonder if any of the other F250 owners with this problem has undergone this shaking in inclement weather.
If I hit a bump or grooved part of the road the front of the truck starts shaking violently. I have to slow way down or come to a near complete stop. This has terrifying while on the interstate towing my 5th wheel or 24 foot enclosed car trailer. I have taken it to the dealer for a "recall repair" the only thing the dealership did was replace the steering damper. This is a mask for a severe issue! As soon as I left the dealership the problem reared its ugly head again. I called them immediately and scheduled to take it back in on 12 Nov 21. During the conversation with the service department the employee told me they would replace the steering damper again. I am waiting till the appointment to see. This had been an ongoing issue since I purchased the vehicle used in Feb or Mar of 2020.
11/6/21 driving 65 mph on interstate. After hitting a bump in the road the truck experienced a severe shaking in the steering to the point that the truck wasn't maneuverable. I had to slow down to 45 mph for it to go away. It happened again about 20 minutes later and I had to go off the interstate to drop the speed below 55 mph. Supposedly this is a known problem but has never been recalled.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- West Chicago, IL, USA