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.
Driving at freeway speeds I experienced the death wobble as the truck hit a freeway overpass bump and then began a violent shake. It was all I could do to hold the shaking steering wheel and bake to a near stop. Accelerating to freeway speeds it shook as if it wanted to wobble again but I reduced speeds down to 55. I have good Michelin tires and no load. This same thing happened in the 2014 gas model I had and now I afraid to drive this one. January 2021
Within 8,000 miles the vehicle could not go over 45 mph and hit a bump without the front tires and entire truck shaking so violently that the cars around me would scatter and I'd have to pull over to stop the violent shaking. I've had a 2005 F350 before and was already aware of the known problem, "death wobble". dealership adjusted my camber so the outside tires wore out in a few months. After 16,000 miles the problem returned and they blamed the balding tires which they created with their camber adjustment and took no responsibility. After I got home I also realized that the service manager intentionally did not put my complaint on the work order. He knew I was aware that this was an ongoing issue with Ford trucks and I knew the history and obviously tried to protect himself and the dealership. They fed me the same line that read from hundreds of other people online who complained about the same problem and told me the truck had to be aligned every 6 months. This is a known issue for 20 years and extremely dangerous.
Terrible shaking when cruising at certain speeds. I mainly notice the shaking around 45 mph, and again around 60 mph. I am able to control the shaking by either accelerating to around 70 mph, or braking to below 40 mph. The shaking is so bad sometimes that I feel like I will lose control of the vehicle if I don't speed up or slow down to make the shaking stop. It doesn't matter what type of street I am on as long as I am going fast or slow enough to cause the steering wheel and vehicle to shake uncontrollably.
Currently filed a claim about "death wobble" nd I took the vehicle in and got it "fixed" at a dealership under warranty. I have 47K miles on my truck and even after getting it fixed, I hit a repaired pothole on the highway and got death wobble again at 70 mph. At that speed, there was about 30-45 seconds where you have literally no control over the vehicle. My only saving grace was the person behind me on this highway who put their hazards on and held traffic back as it was peak travel time.
Accelerated into the highway. I was at 70 mph when I went to change lanes when the steering wheel started shaking uncontrollably, I couldn't brake and could hardly manage to keep my hands on the wheel to try and steer to the side of the road. Issue was diagnosed as 'death wobble' which was explained as a suspension issue. Called the dealership and was informed this is a known issue and has been for a long time.
When driving at highway speed and the truck encounters a bump on the right or left front suspension, sometimes a death wobble (severe tire/suspension bounce) occurs that only can be stopped by slowing severely. The bounce/wobble is so severe that you can not steer or do anything except hang on and jam on the breaks to get it to stop.
The death wobble on a 2016 Ford F 350. I hit an expansion joint and I thought I had a blown tire. Got out of the truck and checked to see if I had a blown tire? nope proceeded down the road no problems! the the next day hit a pot hole and same thing happened. Had a shop replace track bar bushing and thought it was fixed, mind you not two days later it occurred again, now I bought this truck used with 23000ish miles and the Ford dealer I bought it from did not tell tell me anything about a lift kit that was installed replacing the shocke steering dampener and added a dual steering stabilizer, after 800$ later nothing has changed.
I have the death wobble !!! I can just be driving down any road and come across the slightest change in surface and the front end just starts shaking to where I have to come to a stop to get it to stop. I had it repaired at a local shop and it did it on the way home.
Since new a death wobble has occurred while traveling at speeds over 30 mph. This is a random issue that happens when hitting a bump in the road. Sometimes it goes away quickly other times I need to pull over and stop completely.
Extremely violent shaking of steering wheel and truck. Also known as the death wobble. This happens at highway speeds and is in predictable when it will do it.
Ford death wobble, defect in front steering damping shock causes truck to severely start shaking when 1 wheel hits ripple in road. You cant stop the violent shaking of truck without almost stopping truck. It shakes entire truck. Happens on highways with ripples in pavement or uneven pavement at speeds around 60 mph or higher. Ford will not do anything about it. Dealership puts after market dual steering stabilizer kit on front end at price of $600
Driving at highway speeds hitting bumps or uneven pavement, uncontrollable, violent steering wheel shaking occurred. Ford dealership said a shock was loose and tightened. A few weeks later it happened again. Ford dealer does all my service work. They did not recommend any front end work, said it looked good.
I was driving the vehicle straight at about 60 mph on a highway when the vehicle start to shake roughly in an oscillating style, apparently known as the "death wobble". maintaining control of the vehicle was extremely difficult and required a considerable amount of force to keep the vehicle straight and not crashing into other cars or highway walls. The only way to stop this was to slam on the brakes and bring the vehicle to a complete stop on a highway.
The front suspension exhibits what is commonly referred to as "death wobble". the vehicle has had the front shocks replaced, and it still occurred. The dealer indicated to replace the tires due to cupped tread caused by the worn-out shocks. This was done. The vehicle hasn't had the death wobble in the 100 miles since. However, the service writer at the dealership said that "you can tell it still wants to, but it hasn't yet". I get the same sensation when I drive the vehicle. Our highway speeds here are 65 mph, and our interstate speeds are 80 mph. Prior to the tires being replaced, a driver experienced the death wobble in a situation that's worth reporting. The driver was traveling on a straight stretch of 65 mph two-lane highway when death wobble occurred. The steering wheel was not able to be held onto, and the vehicle crossed the center line into the oncoming lane of traffic. This could have resulted in a fatal head on collision. I believe Ford is aware of the regular occurrence of death wobble in these trucks, but they are either incapable of fixing them, or they don't want to for financial reasons. This is unacceptable from a safety standpoint in my opinion. I cannot agree that cupped tires or worn out shocks are an acceptable trigger for death wobble that has the potential to lead to a head-on collision. It's my belief that more tolerance should be engineered into vehicles so that people who can't or simply don't maintain their vehicles will not be causing avoidable fatalities. This is the first vehicle that I'm aware of that worn-out shocks or cupped tire tread is capable of causing such issues, and it infuriates me that Ford dismisses it. This death wobble has occurred repeatedly in the three years we've been utilizing the vehicle. Many drivers have experienced it.
While traveling freeway speed, hitting a bump on the road causes an uncontrollable shake in the front end and causes the truck to go towards the left, that only goes away after hitting the brakes and slowing down 10-15 mph. A representative from Ford calls it the "death wobble." I had the truck into Ford before the warranty expired and they replaced a steering stabilizer shock, but the problem never went away totally. Ford confirmed the problem, and diagnosed it as track bar ball joint worn, excessive play, shimmy shock worn. The dealer is aware of the defect in their trucks, but refused to take responsibility for it and said it's just because the parts were worn out. They didn't say anything about any parts being worn when they replaced the steering shock, less than 10000 miles before. Vehicle was unsafe to drive with the "death wobble." Ken garff Ford was willing to pay for the oem parts to be replaced, and now the death wobble is gone. However, Ford has known about this problem for 15 years and refuses to take responsibility for the defect.
Ford calls it a death wobble they say it's a common problem. Sad when dealership tells you that. Steering stabilizer several other parts will need to be bought to repair this problem. Wobble out of control on the highway can't understand how they can have such unsafe parts that could kill several people. Sad!
I am experiencing a profound "death wobble" in the front end. When driving on the highway and going over uneven pavement, an uncontrollable death wobble occurs and the whole front end shakes violently (causing the tires to skip on the pavement surface-loosing traction) and this "rhythm" cannot be controlled until the speed is brought below 25 miles an hour. This is especially dangerous in a curve in the road. It would be easy to loose control and crash into something/someone! everything on my truck is factory stock. The tires are good and I have made no modifications to the suspension. The dealer acknowledges the problem and wants me to replace good parts at my expense which does not fix the problem. This seems like a definite design flaw. There are many aftermarket parts available that claim to fix the problem. I do not want to put them on because I don't want to give Ford a reason to blame the problem on the aftermarket parts. This seems to be happening to many other people and looks like a serious safety issue!
My Ford F-350 has experienced the death wobble at speeds from 50-75 mph, it's random and doesn't show any warning signs, it is extremely scary and unnerving to experience. Hitting the brakes makes it violently uncontrollable. My truck has been to the dealership twice for this repair. It has been returned to me in worse shape then before I took it in. I have done tons of research and have found this is a very common problem with all F-250, F-350, F-450, and F-550 trucks and there should be a recall issued! this death wobble is going to get someone killed it, if it hasn't already. I own 3 Ford Super Duty trucks so far 2 of them have experienced this uncontrollable situation and my 2019 F-550 is showing the same signs as my other 2 trucks before they actually death wobbled. Ford knows of this issue and so does the NHTSA. Please do research and an investigation so this can be taken care of for all Super Duty owners! or stay away from these trucks if you are a consumer. They have replaced my track bar, steering stabilizer shock and some sort of slugs which I have never heard of. So we will see when I get it back this time if it's any better.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- St George, UT, USA