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.
During the past two weeks while pulling a 5th wheel trailer I have experienced multiple incidents of violent front end shaking; a feeling that the front of my truck is almost floating from side-to-side and a rapid jerking of the steering wheel back and forth. The only way to regain control of the vehicle is a hard breaking to slow the truck from my normal towing speed of 65 mph to around 40 mph. When this happens in heavy traffic pulling a 12,000-pound trailer I-€™m afraid I will hit a vehicle on either side of me or be hit by a vehicle from behind due to the hard breaking. It happened 3 times on the same day during a recent 400-mile travel day along I-40. The events were precipitated by rough road, potholes, transitions between the roadway and a bridge, etc.
When driving at highway speed encountering a rough stretch of road or a crack, bridge interface or substantial crack in the road surface the truck will begin an extreme vibration and the steering wheel will shudder violently. The only way to gain control is to slow down to at least 30 or 35 miles per hour which is dangerous to do in busy traffic. This has occurred 7 times within the last 6 weeks.
Truck front end goes into a violent shaking to the point the truck is uncontrollable unless slowed to a near stop. I have heard this situation referred to as the -€œdeath wobble-€. It happens at higher speeds ( 50+ mph ) which makes it all the more dangerous. It can happen unexpectedly at any time when vehicle goes through a bumpy spot in the road. It has happened four times in the last 500 miles.
During normal highway driving 50 mph and over the front wheels start to hop uncontrollably causing loss of control and steering until you slow way down or stop on the highway to get them back under control. dealer installed a new steering stabilizer over a year ago and problem has returned dealer checked on front end alignment showed all parameters in factory spec. offered to put in another stabilizer but they are not available. I purchased and installed an aftermarket stabilizer which for now seems to help. dealer offered to tweak the alignment to eliminate this problem at a cost of $600 to me Frustrating that a new truck could lose control at highway speeds and the Mfg. is not being held responsible or willing to correct a factory known problem at no cost to the customer
Several occurrences of violent sustained steering oscillation at high speeds, also known as death wobble. Front end steering components failing/worn out at 55k miles. Violent shaking of front end on interstate, little to no control of vehicle. The only way to get this frightening death wobble event to stop is to slow down to nearly a stop on the interstate which put driver and passenger at rick or being rear ended or causing another type of accident. Vehicle does not feel safe to drive, every bump or expansion joint in the road is a stress inducing concern when driving. Ford offering steering stabilizer replacement but identified that the truck needs tie rods and a new drag link as well to get this death wobble to stop. Ford should recall these components for safety reasons.
- Nashville, TN, USA
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I was traveling down an interstate (60 mph)and hit a bump in the road. The vehicle and steering wheel started to shake violently. I had to abruptly apply my brakes to reduce my speed to 30MPH to regain control of my vehicle. All this while towing a 36 Feet long camper. This happened 3 times within a 10 mile distance.
We have been afflicted by the notorious Ford "death wobble" on our F-350XL multiple times. Twice, Haldeman Ford on Rt.33 claims to have "fixed" it only for it to happen yet again. The 3rd time it occurred, my field crew was on the PA Turnpike when the steering wheel began shaking so violently it caused the driver to lose control and hit a cement median. Somehow no one was hurt and no other motorists were involved but someone could've easily been hurt or killed due to this defect. We then towed it back to Haldeman Ford for yet another warranty "repair". The third time we were flat-out accused of lying and that we had caused the damage ourselves. After going back-and-forth on the phone Haldeman, they flat-out refused to honor any warranty and would not help us unless we paid for everything out of pocket so we decided to retrieve our truck and begin the process of filing complaints and working with our lawyer and insurance company to see how this can be resolved without us spending thousands of dollars that we shouldn't have to due to a poorly manufactured and defective product. I've searched the issue online and there are thousands of motorists experiencing the same issue with their Ford so there is absolutely no reason they should be accusing us and pretending like the issue doesn't exist. As you will see from the uploaded documents the first instance of the defect occurred after only ~12k miles and the 3rd instance at ~27.5k. Please help us hold Ford accountable before someone ends injured or dead.
The truck suddenly started to violently shake on the highway 5 times in a week. After researching I found information on the death wobble which is what I experienced.
Doing 55 mph on the highway hitting a small bump in the road and the whole front end started shaking and had a hard time controlling the truck. The steering wheel was actually shaking. Had to slow down to get it to drive correctly. I haul a horse trailer and this could have been fatal. Took it two different Ford dealers and got two different solutions. One wanted to replace suspension parts and the other ordered a steering damper which is on back order.Took it in May 31 and today is June 9. Took vehicle to Westfield Ford and Willowbrook Ford in Illinois. Willowbrook R/0 Number 6373200/1.
Multiple times after hitting a small bump at anywhere between 35-60 mph the steering wheel locks and the entire truck shakes violently. It will continue doing this until I stop the vehicle completely. Once it started doing it again as I accelerated after it had stopped. It seems to get worse. I-€™ve read it is a mechanical fault and causes -€œFord death rattle-€. It is very dangerous and I have almost lost control of the vehicle.
Steering wheel started to shake violently at high speed on two separate occasions. Ford dealer believes it to be a steering damper. Extremely unsafe as the vehicle becomes uncontrollable and veered into oncoming lane of traffic. Dealer tells me parts are hard to obtain and backordered in other instances.
lost control of the front steering. Was going around a curve on a bridge when suddenly the vehicle started to shake which caused me to lose control of the steering wheel. I came very close to hitting the side of the bridge. it was a good thing I was in a single lane as the pickup was going from side to side. This really freaked out my wife as well as me. She does not want to ride in this very expensive truck again. I am taking in the vehicle 5/23/2022 to have it looked at. Guess at this point hopefully they can tell me what is wrong. Nothing prepared me for what was about to happen. I am very upset at ford and the dealership for not informing about this DEATH WOBBLE problem
While driving a 2019 Ford F-350 dually with approximately 18000 miles. When a hole or unevenness in the road is encountered, on now multiple occasions, the steering wheel will jerk violently side to side until the vehicle speed is reduced or stopped in order to stop the shaking. When the brake is applied quickly, as a natural reaction to the shaking, the shaking seems to intensify which perhaps due to being the driver can be felt in both the steering wheel and brake pedal. The vehicle is available for inspection. This vehicle weighs in excess of 7000 pound. The need to reduce speed in the presence of traffic and loss of steering control could cause a serious accident. As stated the issue has now occurred on multiple occasions. The vehicle has not yet been looked at by a service center or any other entity but will be asap. Today is Sunday. The vehicle produces no lights or warnings prior to, during or following an occurrence. The prompt for writing this complaint is; My wife was in the vehicle on the most recent occurrence and now wants to get rid of the vehicle. Which in my opinion would only pass th concern along to someone else. I have owned more than one of the Super Duty Trucks and have been aware of what is termed -€œDeath Wobble-€ for years. This 2019 vehicle is way more violent in its shaking causing tenderness in my left wrist and started occurring at way less mileage than in past Ford Super Duty trucks. Hopefully at some point, before more people and property are damaged, corrections will be made. Thank you for your time.
Driving on freeway at 65 mph I hit a small bump on the overpass and my truck steering wheel started to shake uncontrollably. The wheels were as if they had not been balanced and I had very little control of my truck. I felt that I didn't have any control of my vehicle and I could hardly hang onto the steering wheel. I was able to merge off to the side and once I got to a lower speed of 25 the truck seemed to go back to normal. I took the truck into a Ford dealer and they told me it was considered the death wobble. They did some adjustment and sent me on my way. They told me there has been no recall on this issue.
The steering linkage damper fail. Yes it is available. Pulling a boat trailer on the 40 and had significant unstable steering. But was able to slow down and regain control. Yes confirmed by a dealer. No warning lights but we requested replacement at dealership last week and was told that it was fine and they would not replace unless it completely failed. Started A couple weeks previous to dropping at dealership.
On several occasions while driving at highway speeds (60 and above) the vehicle begins to violently shake after crossing over uneven pavement such as expansion joints or rough spots, ( Death Wabble) The only way to stop the shaking is to slow down to about 20 mph. Doing this in the middle of freeway traffic is extremely dangerous and quite alarming. After the first couple of times the dealer replaced the steering dampening system 6months ago, , it solved the problem for a time but it has now begun again. The vehicle has only 33,000 miles on it, unfortunately this is the 2nd ford f-350 I have had this problem with the first one was a 2012, the dealer had rebuilt the front end twice to try and solve the problem both time it worked for awhile and then returned. When I traded it in for the new 2019 i was assured ford no longer had the problem. This issue seems to be very common with these trucks and Ford should address the issue before there are serious accidents as a result of this issue.
The Famous Ford Death Wobble....comes and goes mainly when running speed limit on hwy and come to a bridge or hump in road...feels like your going to loose control...sometimes its so bad have to pull over..It puts myself and employees at risk plus could easily put others in danger.... Have contact ford dealer....first time took in they said tech couldnt get it to do it have another appointment because it seems to be happening more and more...just getting upset paying this much for a truck and there is so recall yet to fix...common problem its all over the internet, no lights of any kind and yes available for inspection. Truck has done it here and there since 15000 miles and only has 34000 on it now
My truck has a front suspension problem, known as "death wobble." I tried to search death wobble on the Ford website, but did not find any results. I was traveling on an interstate highway yesterday, when I encountered some bumps in the road surface. Upon hitting the bumps my truck started to violently shake (oscillate) in the front end and would not stop till the truck went from about 60 mph to 40 mph. Meanwhile I was in the middle of traffic traveling on the interstate with cars/trucks behind and on either side of my truck. Luckily there was no collision. This happened three times yesterday, while I was driving my family. My family was visible shaken by these occurrences. Yesterday's occurrences were the 7th or 8th time this has happened. The first started around 5000 or so miles. I have been driving this vehicle with this problem. I have not yet scheduled an appointment with a Ford dealer but, will do so in the coming weeks. I have another complaint. I have a transient sensor problem, which occurs once every few weeks, for no apparent reason. I will be driving the truck and all of a sudden, I will get a series of messages including these: service advance track check brakes hill decent not available pre-collision not available The brakes continue to operate, but the other features are not available, as far as I can tell. While I did like this truck when I first receive it, now I feel that either Ford needs to fix this truck or give me my money back.
While driving straight down the freeway at about 60mph I drove across an expansion joint and the front of the vehicle began to vibrate violently. I had to slow down quickly to 40mph before it returned to a controlled vehicle. This also happened one time previously while passing over rough pavement in a construction zone at a speed closer to 45mph and it dissipated more quickly, because of lower speed in my opinion. This vehicle has almost always had an erratic reaction to rough pavement at highway speeds, but prior to these two occurrences it has been manageable. My safety and others was put at risk because I had a vehicle that I could not control and I had to brake suddenly in high speed traffic to regain control. The vehicle traveling beside me on the freeway was very anxious to get me to pull over and was making all kinds of gestures trying to show what he had seen. There were no warning lights, symbols or alarms. The vehicle is still under warranty and is currently at the dealership for service. Based on my research it is doubtful they will be able to make a long term fix. this is something that should definitely receive a recall not and federal oversite to insure the safety of hundreds of thousands of trucks.
Massive vibration/wobbling front end occurred on freeway 15 San Diego Dec., 28, 2021. Had to pull over and stop in the shoulder. Massive vibration/wobbling continued. Took into Ford Penske with mileage 39,304 on Jan 13, 2022: Ford Penske replaced steering damper. Unsure if the original factory installed damper is still available for inspection upon request at Penske? My wife and my safety and others on the 15 freeway were for sure put at risk. Then on Jan 28, 2022 the wobble and vibration returned while traveling from San Diego to Utah. I had to take the truck to Provo Larry Miller Ford and they replaced the tires which only had 35,000 on them and also replaced again the steering damper! This problem has been re-confirmed by the Ford Provo dealership. The check engine light also came on - Provo Ford diagnosed as a steering/suspension/vibration problem condition. I am now taking (Feb., 2022) to Off-Road Warehouse to have a much higher quality steering damper installed and 4 high quality shocks. Conclusion: the vibration/wobbling has caused extreme risk to my wife and me; this will be the 4th damper installed; caused pre-mature wear on the tires (they only lasted 35,000 miles - the tires cost $2,200). The new tires installed by Provo Ford cost - $1,279.80.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Broken Arrow, OK, USA