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.
I have a 2017 Ford F-350 Super Duty. I've experienced numerous "Death Wobble" issue with this vehicle since I've owned it. It has been at the dealership eight times where Ford has stated the problem was diagnosed and repaired. I just returned from a road trip where I experienced six Death Wobble issues at highway speeds on Interstate 80 from Elko NV to Reno NV. When I pass over uneven pavement the truck front wheels begin to shake violently which forces me to reduce my speed to about 20 miles per hour. Luckily, only two semi trucks had to change lanes to keep from rear ending me. This is an inherent problem with Ford Super Duty trucks. When will the NHTSA force Ford to recall these potentially deadly vehicles? I have several videos of this problem if you would like to see them. I can only download photos.
When my truck reaches 35 to 40 mph or hits a small bump it begins to shake violently in the steering wheel making it hard to control. I took it to a dealership who stated there was a recall part available, but after the repair the problem immediately began upon leaving their parking lot. My hill decent assist system now turns on and says there is a fault. The dealership was able to reproduce the problem, but stated I would need to pay for any further inspections and repairs out of pocket. I have not reported to my insurance as I didn't think it would be covered by them. The problem began this year in early July (2021) and has yet to be fixed.
When driving a speeds greater than 50 mph I have found that the internet has termed "Death Wobble" in my Truck. When this first occurred I took the truck in and they made some tweaks under warranty and said nothing was wrong. Then it happened again and took it back to the Ford dealership. They stated they could not find anything wrong and that I just needed new tires. They deliberately lied to me putting me and my employees at risk. Ford knows this is occurring and doesn't care. You can completely lose control of the vehicle at high rates of speed out of the blue.
2017 Ford F350 Crew Cab with Front end wobble ("Death Wobble"). Began a short time ago and becoming easier to initiate the wobble after bumps, grooved pavement, or a transition from different surfaces at speeds above 55mph. There is much information on this problem but no Recall Notice from Ford. I know I am not the first to describe this complaint.
- Austin, TX, USA
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I have had the so called dreaded death wobble experience 2 times. They replaced steering Dampner with no success. Then replaced some drag link. ? However that was out of pocket
The contact owns a 2017 Ford F-350. The contact stated that upon hitting a bump while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would independently shift out of his driving lane without warning. The contact had initially taken the vehicle to seymour Ford (2601 seymour rd, jackson, mi 49201) where they adjusted the front suspension. The contact then stated that while his son was driving at 55 mph, he hit a bump in the road and the vehicle independently shifted to the right; hitting a post. The air bags did not deploy, the contact's son was not injured and a police report was not filed. The contact's son was able to drive away from the collision with minor damage to the front fender. The contact then spoke to the same dealer who then referred him to the manufacturer. The manufacturer offered him no assistance and referred him back to the same dealer. Upon investigation, the contact linked the vehicle failure to an issue known online as "the death wobble, " the failure had persisted and had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 23,000.
Experienced 'death wobble' today at 70 mph went away around 40 mph. Never had it before. Not sure if related but dealer replaced the wheels less than 300 miles ago. Vehicle is well maintained appx 18,000 miles
My 2017 F350 has had several occasions when I'm on a highway and hit a rough patch of road the trucks front end will start shaking violently and the only way to stop it is to slow down as fast as I can. This has happened several times once when I was pulling my fifth wheel which is an extremely dangerousl. The truck has been to the dealer at least three times for this problem and I just made an appointment for the forth.
If a bump is hit around highway speeds there is uncontrollable shaking of the steering wheel and loss of control of the vehicle. Commonly called "death wobble" I am told. This renders the vehicle unusable as it is not safe. Ford says they believe a steering dampener replacement may fix the issue but have no parts in stock, no option for outside parts, and no eta for availability.
Driving at approx. 65 mph my F-350 4X4's steering wheel began to shake very hard, enough to have a dps state trooper heading in the opposite direction notice. He made a U-turn, caught up to me, put on his lights and stopped me. What I thought was a traffic stop turned out to be a safety check. He told me that he stopped me because he had noticed my wheels wobbling and thought that I was in danger of crashing. I had told the officer that the wobbling stopped once I reduced my speed to about 40 or so. Tires were close to needing changing, I replaced my tires and the problem stopped until recently. It is starting to wobble now and then only after an additional 15,000 miles. This is clearly not a once in a million event, this is something that I have heard many times among other Ford owners to show them we need to be taken care of. My life is worth more than a bad engineering design. Did I buy a $ $73,000 coffin?
Massive steering wobble and shaking at highway speeds 60 to 70 mph. Usually on a rougher highway or a bump for joint expansion. Rattle continues till speed reduction to approximately 40 miles per hour.
Two issues. First issue, cracked rim. Started losing tire pressure, leak between rim and stainless steel valve stem, had valve stem replaced with rubber valve. Lasted about a week and started losing air pressure again. Used green slime and solved the problem for about two weeks. Pressure loss was minimal, 70 psi down to 60 psi over a couple of days, would reinflate to 70 psi and would hold for a couple of days and I would just inflate back to 70 psi. Driving back from fl to nc on the 30th of Dec 2020, I experienced a loss of 20 psi in about an hours time. Pulled into rest area, reinflated tire and sprayed with windex and saw bubbles coming from a crack around the tire valve and going about 2 inches toward the inner edge of rim. Changed to spare, and made it home with no other issues. Rim is original factory aluminum rim. Dealership said truck is out of warranty. Purchased aftermarket wheels this week, did not want to replace with same model of rim. Second issue. Truck has approximately 62,000 miles. Noticed death wobble while I was having issues with above mentioned tire/rim issue and figured it was due to the imbalance of front tire that had green slime in it. Wobble happened again today after hitting pothole, was going about 50-55 mph, hit pot hole, truck started shaking, slowed down to about 30 and shaking stopped. Has happened 2 other times but those times I had the old tire/wheel set up. This latest occurrence happened with different tire/wheel setup. Have not taken to dealership because it is out of warranty and figured they would not do anything about it.
While driving at approximately 55 mph on the highway the front end and steering wheel started wobbling strongly, it did not subside until I slowed down to about 30 mph. This is not the first time this has happened, but frequency is increasing. I have oem suspension, wheels, tires, no modifications to the vehicle.
While travelling on the highway at highway speeds (55+ mph), the truck experiences the "death wobble". the steering wheel will begin to shake violently, compromising steering control. The shaking will typically only subside by reducing speed, of the vehicle.
The contact owns a 2017 Ford F-350. The contact stated while driving 65 mph, the vehicle experienced the death wobble. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact reduced the speed to 20 mph and continued driving to his destination. The vehicle was taken to local dealer lawley's team Ford (100 AZ-90, Sierra vista, AZ 85635; (520) 458-8140), where it was diagnosed with needing several components on the front suspension of the vehicle to be replaced. The vehicle parts were replaced but not repaired and continued to experience the failure. The failure recurred four times. The manufacturer had been informed of failure. The failure mileage was 24,826. Consumer stated vehicle has been sold.
I was driving during moderate rain and wet road conditions. My truck hit a seam in road and the entire front end started to shake and bounce. I had to get on the brake fast and this was early morning lots of seattle traffic at highway speeds in excess of 60mph. The truck actually started a shimmy that put me in the other lane luckily there was no traffic on my left side. It went away when I was on the brake and had slowed way down under 35 mph. When I got back on accelerator, I again returned to highway speed only to have it return worse after hitting bumps in the road. This time there were more vehicles around and I had to hit brake extremely hard so as not to bounce everywhere. The truck got noticeably light on front end bouncing all over the place and veered off road to the right. This could have resulted in an accident twice in less than 10 minutes. Truck was parked and taking to Ford dealership after researching online and finding out this is a known issue. Truck only has 17510 miles on it has been in for all routine maintenance and tire rotation and balances. In fact tires were just rotated at 17000 miles.
While driving on interstate the said vehicle hit a bump or bad spot in the road. The steering wheel and front of vehicle began to shake and vibrate extremely erratic. I immediately held on, looked in mirrors for other vehicles around me and had to hit the brakes. The truck had to slow down and immediately get it off the road without causing an accident. We happened to be on a 65mph highway. With hazard lights flashing we did manage to get off the main road to the shoulder. I new immediately what it was. My wife was with me at the time as well. We have owned this truck since it was brand new. At 9000 miles the same thing happened. Then again at 16,500, 18,900, 24,440 and the most recent time is 27,500. This problem has been addressed 4 prior times. Each time they change the steering damper and I get my vehicle back. Now I am told I need new tires, a caster adjustment and possibly another damper. Surprise the dampers are on back order.I'm very surprised there has not been a recall. Luckily I guess people have not been seriously injured yet. Thank goodness for that. This is my third new truck from Ford. I think we have certainly spent our fair share of money with them. Fix our truck so we can feel safe when we pull our camper around the country. That's why we bought this particular truck. Thanks for reading our experience.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Gardnerville, NV, USA