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 Vehicle when encountering a road obstruction starts to shake and shimmy, pulling the steering wheel too and fro. this causes the driver to instantly put on the brakes. The situation is all over the internet. Ford knows about this issue and still sell them to unaware customers.
The 2019 Ford F-350 goes into a violent shaking when going over a small or large bump on a highway or interstate. My truck has 40,000 miles on it and I have experienced the violent shaking of the truck several times now. Each time the truck begins shaking, it has to be stopped to relieve the shaking. Yesterday it occurred 3 times in a row on I-80 and we were shaking so bad that the truck veered off into the median nearly causing an accident. An accident nearly occurred earlier as the shaking began as we were passing a tractor trailer on the interstate. I have 3 drivers in my household and I cannot allow my wife or daughter to operate the truck due to the fear of shaking.
Truck hit bump in road and began shaking violently to the point of almost losing control at 45mph. Very hard to hold onto steering wheel to bring truck to a stop.
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
- Moultonborough, NH, USA
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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!"
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.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Quakertown, PA, USA