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.
At speeds over 65, developes a shimmy or wobble. Violently wobbles when it goes over bridge connection etc while on interstates. Had it checked by my mechanic, alignment good, balance is good. Gave me a heads up to the ford f-350 death wobble. not yet a recall, but everyone including the local ford dealership is aware of this
Multiple instances of the Death Wobble / Sustained Steering Wheel Oscillations while travelling in the Memphis, TN area. Have contacted the local Ford Service department and they plan to replace the Steering Link Damper. Suspect that this is only a short term band aide. Wife has history of Costochondritis, truck shook so violently it reinjured her during the last DW/SSWO event. Vehicle has less than 28,000 miles on it.
Experienced several death wobbles hauling oilfield equipment down to Texas, luckily there was no traffic at the time as the truck bucked all over the road, happened two more times on trip on rough roadways had to slow to59 to avoid. Very lucky no accident.
While driving on the express way (M-I-75) at a speed of 65 miles per hour I hit a bump and my truck shook fiercely and uncontrollably forcing me to drive on the side of the road until I could get the vehicle to stop. Upon starting to drive again this incident was repeated leaving me to roll down the side of the expressway until I could reach an exit to get off into a safe area. When I looked this up online I found that this incident is already know and named, "the death wobble!"
- Brownstown, MI, USA
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When driving the vehicle at highway speed vibration can be felt in steering wheel/accelerator/floorboard. When I hit a small bump while driving thw vibration gets worse.
My vehicle continuously experiences what is know as the 'death wobble' after hitting various road conditions; rough pavement patch, holes, irregular road heights on freeways, highways and city streets. Occurs as low as 40mph in the city and 65+ on freeways. Ford dealer installed a 'new improved steering stabilizer' but the problem returned in less then a month. I replaced their steering stabilizer with an aftermarket brand (moog). It has helped prevent the serious wobble but when traveling over the road surfaces identified above, the steering wheel starts to wobble back and forth slightly (controllable) then stops after returning to smooth road. Still, my heart races, anticipating the death wobble every time. The problem first appeared at about 15000 miles and now there is 35000 miles on it. I will not let anybody else drive the vehicle because of this danger. If I could, I would trade it in on a different brand.
Driving 55 mph, the truck hit a small bump in the paved road and lost all control of steering and steering wheel was shaking. Once truck came to a near stop I was able to take over steering and the wheel stopped shaking.
Death wobble. I'm confident you will understand the term as there are thousands of complaints from Ford owners. Someone is going to die because of this issue and that is not an embellishment. Ford needs to be held accountable to fix the problem. I'm tried and true Ford, but this vehicle is not safe to drive and will not let anyone other than myself do so. Please take this for action, there are literally thousands of complaints on this exact issue. Ford knows about it, but has failed to deliver a solution. It's really disappointing as I have held that company in high regard for years.
At 80 mph a small bump in the road sent my truck into a death wobble which violently shook my truck and steering wheel. I had to slow my truck down to 35mph before the shaking stopped. It was very dangerous on the highway to have to slow down this much
Truck violently shakes when going over minor road imperfection such as a bridge seam or small rut when over ~45-50 mph. Steering wheel shakes, whole truck feels like it is hopping or shimmying. Very difficult to control the truck. Will not stop shaking until I get to under 40 mph (which is added danger on a freeway). This has happened repeatedly, and is getting worse.
Vehicle goes into a violent shake when hitting a bump or dip on the road. Most often occurs while on the highway at a speed of about 60 mph. The shaking will persist until the vehicle's speed is reduced to about 30 mph. At least 50% of the vehicle's controllability is lost during this event. This is a continues problem that occurs when the above driving conditions are met.
On multiple occasions over the 5 months I have owned the truck, the front wheels of my 2019 F350 have shuddered violently after crossing minor bumps at normal highway speeds. The shuddering was violent enough to pose a serious threat of an accident. Immediate, rapid deceleration was the only way to regain control. My instinct (just my observation) is that the bumps caused a shudder in the front wheels and if the traction control was engaged that the system engaging made the shuddering worse. The last time and the third time this happened was yesterday 2/27/21 my wife and 2 small children were in the truck with me. De-acceleration, dangerous on a busy interstate on its own, did not stop the shuddering this time, but disengaging the traction control seemed to stop it immediately. I often tow a 30' foot travel trailer on family trips and fortunately the shuddering has not yet happened while towing the camper, but I fear what could happen under such circumstances. I have researched this in Ford forums and have come to know this defect is common with Ford Super Duty trucks and is know as the F250/350 'death wobble' and I can tell you that is a very accurate description. I also saw that taking these trucks in for service has not helped other owners and that Ford has failed to address what is obviously a common, dangerous design flaw across multiple years of the Super Duty line of trucks. I urge the NHTSA to pressure Ford to address this issue immediately.
My vehicle had approx. 22000 miles on it when it started to develop what is being called the death wobble. This is where the steering wheel shakes terribly when you encounter any bumps on the road. It can shake so violently that it is difficult to control the vehicle. At approx. 27600 miles I took it to power Ford in albuquerque, nm for repair. They were aware of the issue and determined that the steering dampener had failed. There is lots of information on this issue on the web. This design issue exists in all 2006 to 2019 Ford F-250S and F-350S. This issue makes the vehicle unsafe to drive and decreases the mean time between failure of steering components causing owners to incur the expense of replacing failed components at unreasonably short intervals or installing after-market solutions. While Ford may see it as caused by normal wear and tear, the short component lifespan and vehicle control issue indicates a serious design defect which the NHTSA should address.
With less than 100 miles from used vehicle purchase (2-5-2021 with 33,400 miles at sale), vehicle experienced three (3) separate severe and sustained steering wheel oscillations (aka death wobble) at interstate speeds of 65-70mph. Incidents occurred while traveling in a straight line after crossing over bridge expansion joints and/or rough pavement. Driver had difficulty maintaining lane of travel at that speed and had to make emergency braking in order to exit onto shoulder. Once at speeds around 5mph, oscillation ceased. Vehicle is unpredictable and unsafe to drive at speeds 45-70mph, and I cannot imagine what could happen while pulling a trailer when the oscillation occurs. My understanding of vehicle suspension dynamics leads me to believe this is a combination of possible faulty steering dampener, failure of joints, improper factory alignment specs, all combined to create a resonance in the solid axle. This isn't a "band-aid" fix and will require replacing/upgrading several components which have become stressed during oscillation. Also, consider adjustment of factory specs on caster. I am aware of Ford's customer satisfaction program 20N04 (tsb), but I have yet to see a full recall on this very dangerous matter.
I was driving my newly purchased 2019 for F350 Super Duty which has 22,000 miles, when I hit a small bump on the highway. I was driving at a speed of 55 mph and going straight with not the slightest of turn and within the flow of heavy traffic, when my front tires and steering wheel began to vibrate uncontrollably as I came over the small bump. I was unable to control the heavy truck and was forced to slam on the brakes to keep from swerving into the median or into another car beside me. The concrete truck behind me had to slam on it's brakes as well to prevent from hitting me. I have driven heavy trucks for 25 years and have never felt so out of control. Had my son or daughter been driving the truck there is no doubt they would have wrecked and most definitely hurt the driver in the Kia next to me. I have owned 5 Ford trucks and have never had this death wobble occur in those trucks. When I got to my office I looked it up on the internet and saw this is a common problem with Ford F250 and 350's between 2009 and 2019. I called the Ford dealership and they said this was not covered under my Ford factory warranty but that they get 3-4 calls per week about it. I have not modified anything on the vehicle and it remains a stock vehicle. Ford should not allow these trucks to remain on the road. They are a death trap and will cause fatalities if something isn't done about this defect in the steering stabilizer and track bar. I will be selling this vehicle as the repair is over $2,500. Please do something about this. As the enforcer of safety on the roads it is your duty to make Ford recall all 250 and 350's that have these inadequate steering stabilizers and track bars. People will be hurt and killed. The blood will be on your hands of the ntsa and Ford if something isn't done.
On the highway at about 55 miles per hour, I hit a rough patch on the road and the truck started shaking violently. The shaking was so violent I thought the front wheels would tear off and I would be involved in a catastrophic accident. I feel very lucky I didn't lose complete control of the truck and be involved in a multi-vehicle accident endangering myself and others. I slowed down and pulled over and the shaking stopped. It happened again a few minutes later. This was/is an extremely dangerous situation.
While driving East on hwy 18 in Washington state, we went over a bridge joint in the highway traveling approximately 60 mph. The truck started to violently shake causing me to have to significantly slow down in the middle of the highway while others vehicles tried to swerve around to avoid a collision. The shaking did not stop until I was almost completely stopped on the highway. Were we where at there is not a shoulder to pull off the road. Thank god the other drivers around me were able to avoid hitting us or anything else while I was trying to get the truck back under control. This truck is almost brand new with less than 13000 miles. It has never been in a accident or had any other damage. I am not willing to put my or my family's life in danger so this 70000 truck will now sit until it is fixed.
On Friday Jan 8th at approximately 10:20 in the am I was driving eastbound at 65 mph (speed limit) on the I-215 in las vegas on the "curve" between wigwam and eastern parkway. Nearing the eastern exit I hit an expansion joint of the concrete cement and instantly the front end steering started vibrating violently. The wheels as appeared to me to want to violently shake off. I lost complete control of the steering. I have never experienced "bump steer" or "death wobble" until now. I remember taking my foot off the gas and then frantically trying to see who is on the sides of me. It wasn't getting better. So what must have been only a couple of seconds later I started breaking while trying to hang on to the steering wheel. I slowly applied breaks as the F350 front end seemed to be a bucking rodeo horse. It seems to me that it took 20 seconds to bring the speed down down to 42-25 mph when the violent shaking of the suspension, wheels, and steering wheel ended. Upon control I looked around and saw that nobody was around me and a truck with a trailer was way behind me. I was lucky as traffic was light because I do not believe I was able to stay in my lane. I am sure I would have been in mult-car wreck if it was during normal las vegas traffic. I drove home at 55 mph wondering what the heck happened. I had no longer confidence that my vehicle is safe to drive for myself or others. For the record on 9 December I took my vehicle to Ford country for Ford customer satisfaction program (20N04). This is for a "redesigned steering linkage damper"; it was out of stock and I received my vehicle back without repair on 10 December. I took the vehicle in because of the notice and that I experienced a three second steering control event when I did hit a pot-hole in September. I did not report it as it was just heavy vibration. Upgrade to recall.
I am experiencing the "death wobble". it started about a year ago when I would get minor shaking in the steering after hitting a bump at high speed. The truck would shake bad for a short period and then slowing down it would stop. I took it in and they could not find anything wrong with it. Then it got worse, the shaking became more violent and more frequent. I took it in again and they still could not find anything wrong with it. Now it has gotten to the point that I am really afraid of it. The other day I was on the interstate, in construction with barrier rails and no shoulder and it started. I could not get it to stop. I got down to around 20 mph and it was still shaking and I could not pull over. Finally, speeding up got it to stop. I began to extensively research the problem and found that it is quite common and no specific repair to stop it. I am going to a tire shop today and demand that several repairs are made in hopes that one of them fixes the problem. I have been told that replacing the track bar, steering stabilizer, front brakes, tires, and having it aligned with a greater caster can fix it.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Moultonborough, NH, USA