— A Ford "death wobble" lawsuit has been partly dismissed after F-250 and F-350 truck owners alleged violent shaking occurs when driving.
The class action lawsuit alleges the wobble causes drivers to lose control of the trucks because of problems with the damper brackets, ball joints, control arms, shocks, struts and track bar bushings.
The Ford "death wobble" lawsuit was first filed in June 2019 and Ford filed a motion to dismiss a few months later. The plaintiffs then filed their first amended lawsuit and Ford filed a second motion to dismiss, which the court granted and denied in part.
The plaintiffs then filed a consolidated amended lawsuit which caused Ford to file another motion to dismiss.
Of the previous plaintiffs one survived, and he is now joined by 13 new plaintiffs from 10 states who assert 36 claims about F-250 and F-350 trucks.
According to the Ford "death wobble" lawsuit, the trucks shake violently when they hit bumps or grooves in the roads when driving above 50 mph, but slowing the trucks down stop the wobbles. The class action alleges more than 1,000 Ford "death wobble" complaints have been filed with the government between 2005 and 2019.
Motion to Dismiss the Ford "Death Wobble" Lawsuit
Ford allegedly violates two express warranties provided to truck owners, but the automaker argues no breach of warranties occurred because no plaintiff alleges they were refused a free repair by a Ford dealer. Additionally, no plaintiff experienced multiple unsuccessful repair attempts when the warranties applied.
According to Ford, the claims should be dismissed for plaintiffs in three states, and the judge agreed to dismiss warranty claims brought by two plaintiffs. Ford also argues express warranty claims of two plaintiffs should be dismissed because their trucks were successfully repaired.
The judge dismissed the claims because one plaintiff who had the truck repaired has never complained the "death wobble" has reoccurred since repairs were performed.
And although the plaintiff says “they are terrified that the new steering damper is only a temporary remedial measure for the Death Wobble,” the judge says the plaintiff has no evidence for that belief.
Another plaintiff had his express warranty claim dismissed because his truck hasn't had any problems since Ford made repairs.
Other claims against Ford were dismissed because the warranties had already expired when owners brought the trucks to dealerships.
The judge did allow a Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act claim to proceed, at least for now, and a few plaintiffs saw their warranty claims viable, but two plaintiffs saw their implied warranty claims tossed.
The judge ruled at this stage he is unable to determine whether a nationwide class can be sustained in this case, so Ford's motion to dismiss the claim is dismissed, for now.
The judge also dismissed certain fraud-based claims while allowing others to move forward at this stage of the lawsuit.
The Ford "death wobble" lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California - Lessin, et al., v. Ford Motor Company, et al.
The plaintiff is represented by McCune Wright Arevalo, and Sohn & Associates.
