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.
WE own a 2012 Ford F350 and have had two bad incidents with the dreaded -??death wobble-?? and are afraid to even drive it because the truck now seems unsafe as it feels unsturdy as if it is starting to wobble and I don't dare even taking it on the freeway. My daughter had told me that the truck began shaking violently on her while on the freeway and I didn't fully understand what she meant until it happened to me. I was traveling on the freeway in cruise control, going the speed limit of 80 mph. Suddenly the truck began to shake violently. The whole front end, the steering wheel, my arms, my body, etc. were all shaking violently. I hit the brakes. I screamed and was terrified. I thought a tire had blown out or something and was sure I was going to wreck. Upon stopping, I just sat there for a moment in disbelief, trying to catch my breath. I am fortunate that no one hit me as I was halfway in the right lane of traffic. I got out expecting to see some kind of damage but saw none. I slowly drove to the first off ramp and gingerly drove home. Holding onto the steering wheel had left my arms feeling bruised and my mental being shaken. I was telling someone about what happened and he said "Oh, that is called a "Death Wobble" and he told me that Ford Super Duty F250s and F350s were known to have this problem. I went home a went on Google to educate myself about this "Death Wobble" and was so angry that Ford has done nothing to correct this problem or have a recall. I feel very lucky to not have caused or been in a serious accident. I look at this truck and am afraid to even drive it. I read that numerous drivers have reported frightening incidents of losing control of their trucks and that there have been serious accidents with injuries, and even deaths due to this defect on these Ford trucks. They should pay to correct whatever the problem is.
Encountered violent shaking of whole truck traveling on I95. Transitioned from a bridge to road surface and the whole vehicle began to violently shake - Loosing all control of steering & braking. Released gas pedal and slowed to shoulder. Was informed later this is a known issue with all Ford Superduty trucks with solid front axle.
I purchased my F350 new in 2012. Since that time I have experienced a severe wobble in the front end while I am driving. It starts vibrating at about 45mph and sometimes escalates to where I have to almost slam on the brakes to stop it. It has done this probably 12-15 times and since 2022 it is definitely getting worse and worse. Ford says its my motor mounts, but it has done this since it was new! I read about the "death wobble" on the internet and I definitely have a defective front end. I am concerned that it may cause me to be in a bad accident after having to hit the brakes so hard to stop it. Can you assist?
when the truck is traveling at highway speeds and goes over an imperfection in the road surface like a bump, bridge expansion joint etc... The truck will vibrate violently and will not stop until the speed is reduced often times under 50 mph which can be dangerous on a highway. This has been happening for the past year and a half. I have tried brining it to multiple mechanics and have replaced a number of parts.
On a Clear day, no rain while traveling on an interstate hwy at approx 70mph, I drove onto a bridge and my truck starting violently shaking, the complete front end was causing the truck to move from side to side and I could hardly hold onto the steering wheel! My wife was was so afraid we were going to roll over, as was I! Finally after taking my foot off of the gas, at about 30 or 40 mph it stopped! I'm taking it to my dealership first thing in the morning! Its not safe to drive, as I might not be so lucky next time it happens. I'm finished with ford trucks that's for sure!!!!
- Douglasville, GA, USA
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I was driving on the pa turnpike going 65 miles a hour and with a second the pull over safely light came on I was able to slow down and the truck died. We were able to get ourselves to safety by pushing the truck. Hours later the truck started up and we were able to get it home, The tow truck never showed up. Put truck in shop they didn't see that problem at first, we are again driving truck this time on a major highway not a toll road and same thing happened again it cooled down we were able to get it home, and back on our way to drop off to mechanic it happens again let it cool off for a hour and we were able to drop it off, They ran diagonstic test and it says two of the four are bad so right away I start looking for recalls and I see one for the issue So I looked up to see if there was anybody else with this issue and it seems to be the 2 of the exhaust sensors but unfortunatly the recall for the problem expired before we bought the truck and extended coverage is only within 120,000 miles or 11 years. Now ford doesn't see how this is a safety issue so they will not pay for it but if you look at the recalls for this year of truck it says that ambulances with this motor are covered under recall because why if they they have a patient and this happens they can be sued. Now my question is what about if this happen and my child was in the car thats ok because they are my children. This is a safety hazard for my husband and anyone else on the road with him as well as other veichles being if he had no place to stop safely the truck would die in the middle of the road causing accident. Now we didn't own the truck when the recall expired and had we had owned we would have got the recall fixed. Something needs to be done a recall extended or reimpurment for the cost. This is a safety problem luckily no body was hurt this time. Now i have to have this issue fixed costing alot of money out of pocket because it is dangerous and I need my truck.
I believe this is now the 3rd occurrence for me within the last two weeks of what has been termed by other owners as the "death wobble". Two incidents have occurred on "bumpy" roads, though one was just a bumpy interstate. The interstate, while a bumpy, I wouldn't imagine would have been bumpy enough to constitute a poor road condition, travel conditions were pulling about 12,000 lb 5th wheel camper and I was going probably between 55-60mph. The next two occurrences happened truck only. The second occurrence, was a back road and probably the "bumpiest" road of them all, probably going 45-50 mph, so not so bumpy that I had to be going super slow. The third occurrence was on a smooth road and I did hit a "bump" which probably wasn't much more than a crack in the road traveling at probably 50-60 mph. I experienced the wobble. Each time, it has been scarier than the last and it required me to slow down significantly, while I dont know the exact amount, many people describing under 20 mph feels about right, however, the 3rd occurrence required a complete stop before the shaking int he steering wheel was gone. I have completed a number of checks, tire tread is still good, the balance feels appropriate at highway speeds. I think my biggest concern here, is that this is a common issue and there appears to be no common reasons or even a short list of probably causes based on my doling around the internet. I am sure I am about to spend several thousand for mechanics to attempt solutions, but I believe it's worth adding my name to the list of this issue.
Death wobble. At 30 mph & 70 mph. Jerked steering wheel from my hands & pulled us off the road onto grass on road side. Full brakes & skidded to a stop.
Truck has developed a very extreme death wobble in the front end at speeds over 50 mph, when you hit any small bump, terrifying experience, loss of steering control.
At speeds typically over 50 mph vehicle, vehicle has a propensity to begin shaking violently, and uncontrollably. After doing some research this appears to be a common problem known among owners as "death wobble". the vehicle has been to my local dealership to for repairs and parts replacement but the problem remains unsolved. I no longer feel safe operating this vehicle.
Death wobble! has happened on many occasions! driving down the highway any speed over 50 miles per hour. Truck front end and steering shake violently! it's very hard to keep control over truck. Afraid of killing my family and other drivers. Took the truck to shop and got two new front tires and a new rim. Truck has been service and no difference!
While accelerating up to a cruising speed on a local interstate, the steering wheel and front end began to shake violently, severely limiting my ability to safely control the vehicle (A/K/a a "death wobble"). I had to take my foot off the accelerator in the middle lane of an interstate (with a speed limit of 70 mph) and move carefully over to the right hand shoulder to bring the vehicle to a stop. The issue has persisted despite having my tires balanced and front end aligned. I took my truck to a local Ford dealer for another warranty item on 2/3-4/2020 and requested that this problem be looked into as well. I was advised by the service manager that the truck needed "an entire new front end" at a cost of over $1,800 as it was something covered under the extended warranty we have on the truck (up to 75,000 miles).
Truck has started the infamous "death wobble" about threw me off the highway going 75 miles per hour with a trailer. Truck feels like a wheel is going to come off after hitting a small bump in the road. It happened 1 time and I talked to a mechanic about it he said to get a new steering stabilizer so I replaced it with an upgrade and it is doing it every time I get on the highway and get over 60 mph.
Def issues, first was not feeding def, Ford regen'd the system, problem fixed. 2 months later, same issue, now def controller code fault. No covered under warranty.
Exhaust gas temperature sensors fail repeatedly. They have been replaced multiple times. Reductant heater a control performance has now failed as well (all part of the diesel emissions disaster). Aside from constant breakdowns due to emission related items the truck has shutoff abruptly when it encounters any of these problems while driving. Vehicle has shut itself down at highway speeds due to these issues. Vehicle said pull over and within 10 seconds it shut down on the freeway endangering the lives of my family and others on the road. As far as when this has happened it has been multiple times. It has been in the shop on 3 different occasions to replace the same sensors and now other components of the diesel emissions package are failing as well.
Death wobble. This has been going on for several years and is becoming increasingly dangerous. We have replaced tires, shocks, steering dampener and track bar. If we hit a bump in the road at highway speeds while in a curve the death wobble is so severe it is lucky that I have not lost control. But the only way to stop it is to stop the truck - on the highway in traffic. I have nearly been killed with people barely able to avoid hitting me. It seems to be a known issue that is, as yet, unacknowledged. Commonly attributed to the 'faulty parts' that do not fix the issue for more than a very short time. Take it to the dealer and they pretend to have never heard of it before as thousands of others have stated in complaints across the internet. It has become even more severe and will happen even when driving at highway speed without the steering in a curve. The issue first began at about 90,000 miles. Typically at 60-65 miles per hour. Today it was at 60 mph, 30-40 mph repeatedly.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Eden, UT, USA