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.
After hitting an expansion joint on the highway at approximately 75mph, entire vehicle front end started wobbling/oscillating violently. Steering wheel was almost impossible to hold onto and was shaking back and forth rapidly. Condition was remediated by a panic brake on a busy highway down to approximately 30mph where steering resumed normal operation. Issue also occurred earlier the same week when hitting a pothole at approximately 50 mph on an empty side road with same effects and remediation - panic brake and slow to 30mph to stop the condition.
My 2017 Ford F350 has now experienced three events referred to as "death wobble" or shimmy which causes severe shaking of the entire truck and especially the steering wheel. First event in bakersfield calif where I hit consecutive bumps in the freeway while traveling 65 mph. Had to slow to less than 40 mph to get it to stop. Second event was towing my 5th wheel down a 6% grade into verde valley Arizona. Heavy braking caused the same death wobble in addition to the truck pulling to the right. Speed was 65 mph. Third event was leaving mccarren airport in las vegas Nevada where hitting a freeway bridge transition caused the death wobble again. Truck has been to local Ford dealership. Alignment checked ok, tracking bar torque ok, wheels ok, ball joints ok. Brake hose did not pass pressure test and was replaced under warranty. Dealership cannot find cause. I sincerely believe this is a design issue or oem parts installed at factory were defective at time of installation. This is my fourth superduty 4X4 supercrew. My other three never had this issue. In investigating this issue I found two automotive related websites where 35 plus late model superduty owners complained about this same problem.
Death wobble, you hit a small bump or uneven road at 20-75 mph and it shakes violently you have to slow down to 15mph to make it quit. The dealer could not duplicate and said it was tires out of balance, the next time it went in they said it was mud in the wheels. 2nd promblem is the upper oil pan started leaking at 80K, 3rd promblem the stainless steel braded line that goes from master cylinder to ABS module ruptured and left me with no brakes. All of this over a course of about 89K miles
I own a 2017 Ford F-350. This truck is fully stock, no mods of any kind. No abuse. Maintenance is always on time and tires are always rotated and balanced every 5000 miles. In May 2018, I was driving along a straight moderately bumpy road at about 40 miles per hour and my truck went into the death rattle. The front end shook so hard I almost lost control. I had to come to a complete stop to get the shaking to stop. The mileage was approximately 24,000 miles. It hasn't happened again until yesterday, 10/10/18. I was traveling on a newly paved road at 30 mph. I hit a slight bump and the truck went into the death rattle again. I had to slow down to about 5 mph to regain control of the vehicle. I had about 3 miles til I got home. I crawled at about 15 mph with no problems. I stopped at the stop sign about 60 feet from my home, started to take off at an extreme crawl and it started shaking again. The mileage was approximately 36,036. I have children and this is dangerous! my kids are always with me and I can't risk their lives because Ford hasn't come up with a solution to this problem. Someone needs to make Ford fix this. It is a design flaw, as I have come to find out. This is going to kill someone.
Vehicle has 5800 miles, 4X4, crew cab, long bed all stock as from factory. Not driven off road. Vehicle has become unsafe to drive due to "death wobble". problem increased from a slight vibration to an issue that will cause an accident. The problem occurs above 50 mph. If a dip or series of "washboard" bumps are encountered the steering becomes uncontrollable and will force the vehicle into another lane or off the road. Ford dealership (hastings Ford) has inspected vehicle and awaiting a response as to what the "fix" shall be. It is very apparent that this is a known problem with Ford for many years yet the tsb from Ford addresses tire inflation as the culprit. Believe Ford has missed the actual solution to the problem.
- Vanceboro, NC, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
At 60 mph some times with a small bump in the road the front end will start to shake like crazy and it is uncontrollable. It only stops after slowing to about 30 mph. This has happened 6 times this year. The dealer ship has worked on the truck twice with no success. The truck has 20,000 miles on it. This is very scary and dangerous as the truck front end is out of control when this happens. Yesterday was the worst. It happened twice in a 3 mile stretch of road.
"2017 superduty death wobble" Thursday, June 7th 2018 while driving at highway speed (55 mph) and going over very mild bumps in the highway, the steering wheel would shake violently and uncontrollably while the whole vehicle shuttered enough to open the glove compartment and empty its contents along with everything in the center console. I had no control of the vehicle to keep it in my lane and I left the road for the ditch. When applying the brakes, the antilock was activated and did eventually come to a stop. Two witnesses stopped to make sure I was ok and said it appeared as though the front end was coming off the vehicle. The vehicle was driven to the next exit (about 5 miles) and this issue repeated three more times at slower speeds. The vehicle was towed 80 miles and a repair was performed to the stabilizer shock that took a full week. It is now 7/29/2018 and the vehicle is showing signs of the shake again but mild in nature. I have had this same issue on older vehicles but never on a new vehicle with under 30,000 miles on it. This issue will kill someone someday.
On 3 different occasions while driving approx 60mph, I drove over a bump and the steering wheel/front end experienced uncontrollable shaking, commonly called a 'death wobble.' Problem continued until I slowed the truck to 10 mph. First time it happened the truck only had 17,000 miles. After the 3rd time the dealer replaced steering components. After the repair the truck continued to have minor problems (quick short wobble) but the dealer said that was part of the repair. On memorial day weekend the full wobble returned. I dropped the truck off at dealer because it was too unsafe to drive ( I have teenagers and refuse to risk their lives). I attempted to return the truck to Ford under the state lemon law. Ford refuses to take back the truck but cannot guarantee it is fixed or safe.
While driving on the interstate approx 60 mph hitting a bump the front end shakes violently until the truck slows down to recover. Had it in the dealership twice and they said nothing is wrong.
Vehicle at times has a violent shaking and loss of steering control that remains until a full stop of the vehicle is enabled, this happens at highway speeds when a uneven road surface and or bump is encountered. Ford case number assigned to my vehicle is cas-144062235 on 3/19/2018
The contact owns a 2017 Ford F-350. The contact stated that the steering wheel was unstable. The failure impacted the suspension, which required the contact to exhibit force to control the steering wheel and prevent a "death wobble". the contact refrained from driving the vehicle because the failure occurred at any speed. Northside Ford (12300 san pedro ave, san antonio, tx 78216, (210) 525-9800) and dave sinclair Ford (7466 S lindbergh blvd, St. Louis, mo 63125, (314) 892-2600) were contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted. There was one tsb for the steering, but no tsbs for the suspension and no recalls for the steering and suspension. The contact was waiting on a response from the manufacturer. The VIN and failure mileage were not available.
In motion on a highway at 70 miles per hour.the truck hit an uneven condition on the road.the trucks steering capability was totally lost.the front wheels were violently shaking.the tires and wheels were serverly bouncing.slight braking made the uncontrollable condition worse.the vehicle slowly left the highway onto the right away.the speed was approximately 50 mph when it left the paved highway.the front wheels were still violently shaking and bouncing.at this point still with no steering the truck began to spin out of control.it finally ended up stuck in a ditch 30 to 40 yards off the highway.the shaking and bouncing didn't stop until the vehicle came to a complete stop.after much research I leaned that this mechanical steering problem has been a reacuring malfunction.it has been named the death wobble.how can Ford continue to manufacture a product with documented extreme safety issues.its obvious that Ford has made this extremely dangerous condition an ongoing process.im amazazed that with all the past complaints concerning the death wobble that its become nothing more than a band-aid fix.please address and correct this ongoing negligent manufacturing process that Ford continues.they knowingly continue to place innocent consumers into a life or possible death situation.
When traveling at speeds greater than 50mph, truck will randomly respond to going over a slight bump by beginning to shake. The shaking increases to a violent level. The entire truck shakes violently, especially the front end and the steering wheel. The only way to regain control of the truck is to come to a nearly complete stop. All three times this has happened the truck was on a highway. The last time it happened the truck was on a bridge crossing a river with heavy traffic all around. It is a complete miracle that the surrounding drivers were able to avoid hitting our truck since the speed limit was 65mph, and we had to slow to 22mph before the shaking stopped. This first happened in Oct 2017. The dealership repaired it, but it happened two more times on Feb 12, 2018. The truck has only 24700 miles on it.
While driving the 2017 Ford F350 pickup truck down the highway at 60 mph, whenever I drove across bridges or hit small bumps, the pickup truck would shake violently and I had no control over the vehicle until speed was reduced to under 50 mph. This incident is know as the "death wobble". the truck had 14,000 miles on it the first time this occurred. Took the truck to the dealer, they replaced the track bar, sent back, and a week later the same issue of the "death wobble" happened again. Truck is at the dealership currently, and has been for a week. The same exact incident has occurred on another family member's newly purchased 2017 Ford F350 also and has been taken to the same dealership.
Wobble/oscillation- violent front wheels wobbling, steering shaking so violent can't control. Different roads, mph-usually above 60. To bring under control must brake hard and try to get off road & get below 30mph. Extreme safety issue. Wobble has happened on all types of roads, usually starts with an expansion joint, pot hole, bridge end or bump in road. More often if on a curve.
Death wobble- violent front wheels wobbling, steering shaking so violent can't control. Different roads, mph-45,60,65,70. To bring under control must brake and try to get off road & get below 20mph. Extreme safety issue. Death wobble has happened on all types of roads, usually starts with an expansion joint, pot hole or bump in road.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Aurora, CO, USA