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.
The front suspension and steering becomes unstable and uncontrollable at highway speeds when uneven pavement is encountered. There is a vibration and a side to side motion of the steering wheel that does not stop until the vehicle is stopped. This issue was first reported to the NHTSA, and the manufacturer through the dealer Santa Margarita Ford, Ranch Santa Margarita California in early 2021. At that time components of the front suspension were replaced by Ranch Margarita Ford under warranty. Now, less than 12 months later, the problem has returned, the vehicle has less than 36,000 on it and is still under factory warranty. In January 2022 the vehicle was taken to Lake Elsinore Ford, Lake Elsinore California, where failure of the same front suspension parts were noted and replaced under warranty. This is unacceptable to experience the failure of these parts on annual basis. The vehicle is uncontrollable when the parts fail.
Driving down the highway doing somewhere between 75-80. Hit a small bump in the road and then it felt like the front end of my truck exploded. The steering wheel started violently jerking and the whole truck was shaking from the inside out. I held as tight as I could to stay inside my lane since I was surrounded by many vehicles travel long as fast as me. I slowed down as fast as I could and was able to get the truck to the shoulder. I went out to look and see if I hit something or if my tires had exploded and could find nothing wrong. I got back in the truck and checked my dash indicators and tire pressure and everything was fine. So I started to drive on the shoulder to see if I could keep going. Everything seemed fine so I got back on the highway and headed home. Maybe 4-5 miles later I was doing about 60 and the same thing happened but even worse. I-??m really lucky I was able to keep control. I pulled over and rested the truck then took a side street and went 30 or under home. Upon getting home I messaged my friend about what happened and he sent me a bunch of links about the ford death wobble. I watched the videos and this is exactly what happened to me. I-??m furious that ford isn-??t being made to address this. If I had my kids in the car or was otherwise not strong enough to hold that steering wheel In place I wouldn-??t be here typing this tonight. I-??ll be taking the truck to the dealer in the morning but anything short of them replacing each and every component in this system will not be acceptable
After going over a rough patch of road, the steering wheel began to violently shake. Causing difficulty keeping the truck in my lane. I waited briefly for it to stop but it wouldn-??t. I pulled to the shoulder and began to slow down. Around 10 miles per hour the shaking finally went away. Ford has recalled the steering damper. This repair has already been done on this truck but did not resolve the issue. After doing my own research this is not the underlying issue that causes this problem, but Ford will not take the responsibility to do anything else for me.
I have had in excess of 15 incidents where my truck upon hitting a bump in the road the front right tire began to go into what is referred to as a "death wobble". I took my truck in to have it repaired. The wobble stopped for approximately 2 weeks and then the left tire began doing the same thing. On Dec, 31st driving from Stockton to LA I hit an uneven spot in the highway when I was between a semi truck and a concrete barrier. It caused the semi truck to swing wildly out of control as he swerved to avoid my vehicle as it went into a death wobble sending me withing inches of his cab. My rear finder struck the concrete barrier causing damage to the rear panel. My brother and I could have easily been killed. Ford refuses do do a real on this vehicle and it is risking lives. Additionally my brother in law has the same truck with the same issue. I will never buy a Ford ever again.
While driving at approximately 65 mph on a highway under ordinary conditions and on a relatively flat road, unprompted by any driving event, the truck started violently shaking. The steering wheel was shaking uncontrollably at the same time. The passenger reached for the grab bar to hold on to in fear as it felt like the vehicle was out of control. The event lasted approximately 30-60 seconds and seemingly randomly, stopped after the vehicle slowed down slightly. No warning lights or messages came on before, during, or after the event.
- Pittsburg , CA, USA
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UNKNOWN While driving at highway speed when a mild bump is hit in the road the front end starts to wobble violently first happened around 35000 miles and now is so bad the vehicle is not safe to driver at highway speed
While accelerating on the entrance ramp to the freeway, which is free of potholes, or bumps, the front end of the truck began bouncing up and down violently. I was traveling approximately 50 mph. I immediately braked and the bouncing ceased. Luckily there were no cars behind me at that moment. I bought this truck used about 2 years ago with about 34000 miles on it. I do not know if the previous owner experienced this. It now has 50000 miles, and that was the first and only time so far my wife or I have experienced that problem. This problem could definitely lead to a complete loss of steering control. Luckily I was only going about 50 mph and not on a curve, and nobody behind me. I have this vehicle scheduled for service at Elder Ford of Romeo on Dec 27 2021. They have indicated that it might be a stabilizer bar.
The following has happened twice with the truck. While driving down the highway at @55 -65 mph the truck started shaking violently and the steering wheel starting shaking back and forth after driving over an uneven section of the highway. I was able to slow down and pull over until the shaking stopped. The dealership looked at it and decided that the damper was bad. The first time it happened was at about 60K miles and the 2nd time was at 95k. There is no warning before this happens.
My truck has ~31k miles. On 12/15/2021 I was driving on the interstate at highway speed. A few hours into my trip the front end of my vehicle, suddenly and without warning, began to bounce violently. My ability to steer the vehicle was severely compromised. I almost hit the median wall. I was finally able to get the vehicle to the shoulder and out of the roadway. My first thought was that both front tires had burst. The violent shaking did not stop until the vehicle was at a complete stop. I got out and did a visual inspection of all four tires. They were fine. I did a visual inspection of the steering structures looking for something "loose". It seemed OK. I continued down the interstate and everything seemed ok. I had no clue what happened. After about 10 minutes, the same thing happened again. I did the same inspection again. Finding nothing, I continued to my home, driving below highway speeds with my emergency flashers on. Subsequent research by me revealed that I had a "Death Wobble", a defect in the steering mechanism that Ford has known about for years. There's even a class action lawsuit. Of course, none of Ford's agents/dealers disclosed this defect when I was buying this vehicle. For some reason, Ford hasn't issued a recall for this defect. A call to my local Ford dealer revealed that the service department, the "advisor" immediately diagnosed the problem. Ford has issued an extended warranty, but unfortunately, the authorized "fix" is inadequate and only temporarily masks the real problem. Ford is ignoring this problem, figuring as they did with the Pinto, that it's cheaper to ignore than to properly repair. Until, of course, someone gets killed. This defect manifests itself almost exclusively at highway speeds. And there is no warning. I invite anyone from Ford or the NHTSA to join me for a test ride to experience the terror. A signed waiver will be required.
The malfunction was receiving "Death Wobble" on three occurrences in less than a 24 hour period driving less than 50 miles in total. This is a safety issue to all passengers and other drivers on the road due to inability to steer and control the vehicle safely. The problem has been confirmed by the Manufacturer as "death wobble" or "vehicle shimmying". The vehicle has been inspected by the manufacturer and identified as the problem of "death wobble" There are no indications prior to this malfunction occuring.
While traveling down the road at hit small bump.Steering wheel starting shaking violently felt as if whole front end was bouncing up and down. No warning lights or anything Had to let off accelerator and slow to 35 mph before it stopped. Happened to wife before after going over bridge. Took it to dealership they won't be able to look at til next week.
I was driving at 55 mph when all of a sudden I felt like if i had both of my front tires blown out, it started shaking uncontrollable and I almost flipped my truck from the shaking. while ding some research i guess this is called the death wobble and i am not the only one being affected. luckily i was able to control my truck but this could have caused a huge accident. Dealership told me that they would not cover my truck as this was normal with ford trucks. while i visited the dealership there where two other gentleman with the same issue.
Driving westbound on I-10 east of Houston Texas, near Beltway 8. I was in the left lane. I apparently hit a small bump in the road. My truck instantly began to become impossible to control. My steering wheel was shaking back and forth uncontrollably. My entire truck was shaking, almost like it was having a seizure. It was almost violent. I tried to hold control of the wheel, while trying to slow down. I was unable to do either with any effectiveness in a quick fashion. It was as if my wheels were not making contact with the road, possibly bouncing up and down. I hit the brakes and tried to steer into the shoulder to avoid traffic nearby. It was difficult as the wheels were not making contact with the road to steer and they were not allowing the brakes to properly slow the vehicle as they were not touching the road for very long. I was eventually able to slow the vehicle and enter the shoulder and get the vehichle to stop shaking. I honestly thought I was about to flip over or have a significant wreck as I had very little control of the vehichle.
Traveling on i90 at 70 mph hit a slight bump in the road and the steering wheel started vibrating violently to the point I couldn't control the truck. My life flashed before me!!! Luckily traffic seen what had happened and back off. Truck is at fugate ford at this time.
While driving on the highway at 83 mph (80 mph posted speed limit), my 2019 Ford F250 began to violently "wobble" and vibrate to the extent it was quite difficult to control the vehicle. I was in the far left lane and had to brake and maneuver through high speed traffic to get to the shoulder to stop. The violent wobbling did not reside until I was almost to a complete stop.
I was driving on the freeway (75mph) and my truck went into a death wobble. The whole truck was shaking like all 4 tires went flat. I immediately tried to slow the vehicle down and pull over. Luckily there was no traffic and I did not cause an accident. Once the vehicle slowed down to about 20mph it smoothed out and no longer wobbled. This happened on the 16th of November and hasn't happened since.
Driving at posted limit on I55, left front hit small bump in road and front end shook violently for about 20-30 seconds. Steering damper replaced 5 days later, per TSB 21-2173, but no root cause indicated. Concern that this may lead to injury until fully repaired.
While driving my 2019 F250 (which has just over 6,000 total miles on it at this time) at highway speed towing an empty trailer (which I have had for several years and towed with several vehicles before) the truck started shaking violently! I could hardly control it and had to dramatically slow way down to get the violent shaking to stop. This happened 4 times on two trips in the last couple weeks with two different trailers. It is definitely the truck and not the trailers. Fortunately no cars were immediately next to me or the results would have been tragic. The truck is essentially new, has been stored indoors all the time, very well maintained, no accidents or abuse so no reason it would be having any issue much less such a severe one.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Lake Elsinore, CA, USA