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.
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.
Front end death wobble. First occured Nov. 2018. Ford dealer worked on it under extended warranty. Again Jan. 2019. Ford again worked on it under extended warranty. Occurred again Sept. 2019. The truck is currently in a front end shop for repairs. This multi thousand dollar will be paid by me. This extreme wobble occurs between 60-70 mph when you hit a bump just right. Extreme shaking has caused the truck to change lanes uncontrollably.
When I am driving my truck on the freeway between 65-75 mph, and I hit a bump in the road, maybe at a bridge or rough patch, the truck goes into this violent shaking motion, where I have to hold on very tight to the wheel and allow the vehicle to slow down to about 25 mph. I have had people pull up next to me pointing at my front wheels thinking my lugs are loose or something. After pulling over to the side of the road and gathering my senses, because this is terrifying, I am able to accelerate with caution as to not go more than 55 mph. Thank god everyone around me when this happens is paying attention to my vehicle, but if I ever loose complete control when this shaking happens, someone can be seriously injured. This violent shaking only happens when I am on the freeway at high speeds. I have had truck in the shop several times on this with Ford and they continue to deny this is a problem. They said alignment issues and tire balancing. However, when they aligned my truck, and ensured tires were balanced, it continues to do this. I told them before they return it to me, to please take it out on the freeway and possible try to find some rough road to see how it handles. They claim to have done this, but the problem continues. My truck has 44K miles on it and it is very dangerous to drive on the freeway. I will only drive it around my local streets because its the only vehicle that I have. There are law suits pending with Ford for this very issue that I speak of. The consumers calls it the "death wobble". for some reason, no one at Ford, at least at the dealership that I have deal with seem to know what this is. This is a know defect in their steering suspension, that will if it hasn't already, hurt someone badly or worst, it could kill them.
When above 50 mph, if I happen to hit a bump or bumpy spot in the road, the truck starts to shake violently. The steering wheel vibrates so aggressively that it wants to pull you into the other lane or off the road. The front end of the truck literally feels like it's going to vibrate into pieces. Scares the heck out of me. 105K miles. Factory sized oem tires. Second set of tires on the truck. 80 psi. I replaced the steering stabilizer on the truck with a new one from Ford dealer. Still shakes uncontrollably.
- Pesotum, IL, USA
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Yesterday, 11/30/18. I have had the "death rattle" a couple of time since I've had this truck, I've always been able to pull off to the side of the road safely. On 11/30 I was traveling on a road in Wyoming. It was snowing, and I was going between 40-45mph in a 60mph zone due to adverse road conditions. I suddenly got the "death rattle" which immediately sent my truck into a uncontrolled slide. I slid off the road going across the opposing lane, off the road, and struck a rock slightly damaging my running board and drivers side door. I was able to self-extricate the truck myself after chaining up all four tires. After talking to other Ford powerstroke owners, everyone of them stated that they have all had the "death rattle". while none of them sustained any damage or injuries, it for sure scared them badly. I feel this needs immediate action by the Ford corporation to find a remedy for the problem. I didn't think of taking any pictures, but I do have pics of the damage if you want them sent.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford F-350. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced severe vibration while driving approximately 50 mph. The failure occurred without warning. The vehicle was taken to lexington park Ford (2125 great mills rd, lexington park, md), but the failure could not be diagnosed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to NHTSA. The failure mileage was approximately 43,600.
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.
At highway speeds, imperfections in pavement, to include changes in road grade or expansion joints, cause severe oscillation in both front tires. The condition is unpredictable, and uncontrollable. In this condition, the driver cannot steer the vehicle. My vehicle is 4 years old, but only has 39,800 miles. It is equipped with factory wheels, tires and suspension components. It has never been wrecked, or otherwise damaged. Hundreds of videos/documents/and owner testimonials can be found by searching Super Duty death wobble on the internet.
Death wobble: Driving over a rough patch of freeway or over an overpass cross joint between 50 - 65 miles per hour, I experience violent shaking due to oscillation of the front wheels and axel. Must reduce speed to ~30 miles per hour to make the shaking stop. I have replaced/upgraded front shock absorbers and steering damper with little effect. I will next replace tires, align the front end and have the track bar (panhard bar) replaced. This first happened in August 2015, the dealer told me it was normal. My truck is now out of warranty, and this happens regularly. I know a spot that the oscillation will occur, and drive to avoid it, however it happens regularly without warning.
Front end suspension bouncing at med-high speeds upon hitting a bump. Described in other searches as caster wobble or "death wobble" truck has less than 100,000 miles, unable to correct the problem even after replacement of over $2000 worth of parts. Multiple other complaints found online from other owners. Parts replaced include, tie rod ends, tie rod tube, ball joints, track bar, steering stabilizer and end bushings. The issue creates an undrivable and extremely dangerous condition for driver, passengers and other motorists. Upon reaching speeds of 40 mph+ any disturbance (bumps) in the road creates the start of the front end violently bouncing and it will not stop until the vehicle comes to almost a complete stop. I was required to stop 6 times within 3 miles of a busy 5 lane interstate (I-285 in atlanta) quite literally in the middle of the interstate. This has been worked on with 2 different dealerships, sunbelt Ford in albany ga, & angela krause Ford in alpharetta ga. It's my feeling that a $65,000 vehicle with less than 100,000 miles should never have a dangerous issue like this. There should absolutely be a fix and/or recal ahgainst this vehicle before someone gets killed.
At speeds between 50 and 62 mph the vehicle will begin a violent uncontrollable shaking in the steering requiring the driver to decrease speed below 45 mph to stop the oscillations. At the time this is happening there is little control over steering and front wheel traction is reduced to almost nothing when it happens on a curve resulting in the inability to remain on the roadway. This is commonly referred to as the "for death wobble" and can be seen on youtube. The earliest incidence I've seen dates to 2007. The dealer tells me that Ford has prescribed a number of things to remedy this situation which the dealer has done and it still hasn't resolved the situation. The repairs have be covered under warranty thus far, but now they have no further solutions to fix the issue. Wet or slick conditions renders this vehicle unusable because of the loss of the ability to steer the vehicle.
The first time it happened to me I was on a trip in Canada from Texas. The road was a little bumpy (farm road) I was driving 30 M/H accelerating to get to 60 M/H when all of sudden the truck started shaking so badly my head hit the side window. I couldn't steer the truck at all I slowed down to 0M/H put it on park then started rolling slowly and it was gone. It did it to me 3 times on a 3 weeks period. Since the roads are bad up there I kinda left it as that and told my husband about it when I came back to Texas. We had the tires rotated and they couldn't see anything else wrong under the truck. I was months without having anything similar happening to me and yesterday I am on I-10 rolling about 65M/H and there it goes again and it was worst then the other times I fell my truck was about to explode from under me shaking to no end and no steering control at all even when letting go the gas it kept going and shaking and my truck shake its way from one lane to another one and finally stopped 3 inches from the retaining wall of the overpass. I could have killed myself. I had no more control at all on this truck which is a (2012 F-350 king ranch with about 40,000 miles on it) luckely for me I was almost alone on the highway. I called my dealer and they told me to bring in the truck next Tuesday to see what is wrong with it. I ask if there was a recall and they did not say yes or no just to bring the truck in. I got another 2012 F-350 lariat and my husband said his truck did it to him once a while back. I write up the outcome after the visit at the dealer.
First incident at 20K miles: As I was driving down an interstate highway I crossed a bridge joint and the front end started to shake violently. The horizontal steering stabilizing shock absorber failed. Second incident at 49K miles. As I was driving down an interstate highway the front end started to shake violently. The horizontal steering stabilizing shock absorber failed. 99.9 percent of the miles on this vehicle are on highways. This vehicle does not go off-road. The failure of the horizontal steering stabilizing shock absorber is a serious safety hazard. Had I been on slippery roads or towing a trailer when the shock failed, loss of control and serious injury could have occurred.
At 55 miles an hour on rough pavement, the truck begin to violently shake back and forth. This shaking and jerking caused me to enter into the oncoming lane of traffic. In order to regain I had to slam on the brake pedal control thereby getting the speed down to 40 miles an hour. Ford suggested I checking the ball joints and the steering stabilizers. After spending over $600 in parts (not covered by warranty)and replacing the whole front end linkage, the vehicle then drove fine until I reached another 45 thousand miles or approximately 90 thousand miles total on truck. Now it has repeated the same process all over again throwing me into the opposite lane of traffic. The reason for purchasing a new truck is to have a save vehicle to use for performing my job. This truck has all original equipment and has not been altered in any way prior to this experience. This is definitely a safety issue that needs to be addressed by Ford. I have found an aftermarket stabilizer bar that corrected the problem, however I feel that Ford should recall and repair this problem with the proper equipment before someone looses their life of it.
I bought a salvaged F 3-50 king ranch. Im having the same problem some of you are having. I thought maybe I got screwed for buying a salvaged vehicle, but you all are having same problem. Death wobble. At 60mph my truck sometimes shakes extremely bad. I thought tires were out of balance so I got that done and nope problem still there. I think its a major safety hazard. If Ford put out a recall to fix the problem is the only way I could get mine fixed, because warranty was cancelled after crash. Fingers crossed they do!!!!!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Vinita, OK, USA