Death wobble in steering wheel after hiting a pothole at highway speed 60 MPH. Violent shake in steering wheel. Travel was in a straight position.
2017 Ford F-250 SD steering complaints
Page 15 of 25: complaints 401 to 430 of 717, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Several times my truck has gone into a severe shimmy while traveling at freeway speeds. The only way to get it to stop is to stand on the brakes and hope anyone behind me is alert. I have owned a 2009,and a 2013 f-250 and never had this problem with them.
2017 ford super-duty f-250 pick-up truck; violent shaking of front end while driving at various highway speeds. My vehicle began to shake violently on 2 separate occasions, for seemingly no reason, while driving at normal operating speeds. Rapid deceleration required immediately to regain control of vehicle. Both occurred while operating on paved roads ( freeway/expressway and 2 lane highway ) - no pot holes or bumps hit, that I am able to recall.
At 70mph vehicle hit a small elevation change in the roadway causing the vehicle go into what the dealership called a "death wobble". Steering wheel shook and it felt as if all wheels were bouncing in different directions. I was traveling straight on a highway at the time the "death wobble" started. I was able to slow and pull into the center divide.
Death wobble at any speed above 45mph after going over expansion joint in the highway
I was driving at 75 MPH on interstate 10 heading to junction texas. There was an area of highway construction and as I was coming off of this construction there was some uneven road and bumps. My front left tire started to shake, the steering wjheel started to shake and it progressively got so bad that the entire truck was shaking. I had to gently apply the brakes but unable to steer appropriately we veered into the median of i10. I had both my 3 and 6 year old in the truck. Had there been a median wall or traffic this likely would have been a serious accident. This same scenario happened 2 more times on our trip both at bridge interfaces.
When I hit a small bump in the road while traveling at highway speeds the pickup starts to shake real bad. The only way to stop the shake is to slow down to around 45 MPH. It has happened 6 times before I could get to a repair shop. They replaced the steering stabalizer arm. After the repair it happened 2 times again in one day. Some of the times I was in the fast lane when it happened. In heavy traffic I was glad the other people driving around me was able to slow enough to keep from hitting me. From what I have read on the subject it is what has been termed the ford death wobble. I have 34,000 miles on the pickup. The first time it happened was about one week ago. The last two times it happened was on november 24, 2019. I called the ford service department this morning and they told me that they would have to get back to me. They needed to check to see if there was anything they could do to fix the problem.
When hitting a irregularity in the pavement, especially bridge approaches at 60-75 MPH, at times the steering wheel will shake violently. I have a video of this.
I was driving approximately 70 MPH and drove over a bridge expansion joint. The steering wheel and front end started to shake violently. I immediately let off the accelerator and held the steering wheel tightly. I did not attempt to steer the vehicle in fear of losing control. It was about 35 degrees fahrenheit with damp roads. This was the first time it happened. Several hours later I was driving over another bridge and experienced it again. My truck has 10,600 miles and the tires are in great shape.
Three cracks developed in the aluminum cab around three different doors all in similar areas (sharp 90 degree bends). Truck has 13.5k miles on it and is only two years old. All cracks appeared after it experienced 'death wobble'. Guessing the violent shaking it experienced is the root cause for these cracks. Of course ford doesn't want to buy it back and will repair these cracks. No way to tell what other damage occurred behind any panels or welds. Death wobble in these trucks needs to be engineered out. Not only did it almost push us into a wall on the highway when it occurred but it induced cracks into the cab. Now I'm stuck with a $63k truck that my family is scared to ride in and I'm concerned structurally was compromised.
Death wobble at speeds of 60-70. Uncontrollable tell vehicle is brought to a complete stop. Happens on highways. Hard to control truck. This is dangerous.
2017 f250 when traveling at speed of 65 on major hwy the steering went into a death wobble where there was a slight imperfection in hwy very difficult to control.
My truck has experienced the death wobble two times at normal highway speeds. It is a very scary feeling when it happens I have contacted ford and they seem to not care enough to issue a safety recall on this known issue that has a technical bulletin issued for this very problem. So I wrote a letter to the manger of customer relation hoping they would acknowledge this. My local ford dealer has fixed numerous trucks with this issue in the past year
My 2017 ford f-250 has been experiencing what is referred to as 'death wobble'. While traveling down highway my steering wheel shook uncontrollably and I almost went into oncoming traffic. Had to quickly stop on side of road. Took the truck to dealer and they replaced something but not sure what. After a short time, it is occurring again. This problem is very dangerous and appears to be widespread. Please help with this before people are killed. The dealer said they have a fix but it is on back order. I don't think it's a fix at all and simply a bandaid.
Tl* the contact owns a 2017 ford f-250. While driving approximately 70 MPH over a bump in the road, the vehicle vibrated abnormally and became uncontrollable. When the brake pedal was depressed, the vibration became more pronounced. The vehicle was taken to portsmouth ford (400 spaulding turnpike, portsmouth, nh 03801, (603) 433-1221) where it was diagnosed that the vehicle experienced a phenomenon known as the "death wobble". The contact was informed that the steering dampener needed to be replaced; however, the part was on backorder. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 25,600.
At approximately 40,000 miles this vehicle began exhibiting symptoms of "death wobble". At speeds above approximately 45mph, when the vehicle would strike a pothole or some other deviation in the road surface, it would begin shaking. The shaking would intensify until the vehicle would be slowed down to approximately 30mph. Because the vehicle was out of warranty the vehicle was taken to a trusted local mechanic february 14, 2019. This mechanic found that the steering dampener was so wore out that when put in his vise he could slide the ram up and down with no resistance. The death wobble was temporarily fixed after replacing the steering dampener. It began again approximately 2 months later. On september 17, 2019 the truck was taken to the dealer where it was purchased new, mark moats ford in defiance, oh. At this time the steering dampener was replaced a second time. It was told to me that this dampener was an upgraded component that would solve the death wobble issue. Within a short time, the vehicle began once again with a death wobble. This time it was taken to a third mechanic. This mechanic found a service bulletin that was meant to fix the death wobble. That service bulletin # is 18-2268: 4wd sustained steering wheel oscillation above 45 MPH, veh built on or before 7/31/18). It should be noted that the dealership service department at mark moats ford never informed me of this service bulletin when the truck was there in september of 2019. On november 16, 2019 the death wobble occurred again. This is an extremely dangerous situation. When it occurs the truck can shake so violently that I've had problems controlling the vehicle and in one instance I could not see the road for several seconds because of the violence of the shaking. Quickly slowing at high speeds on busy roads to stop the death wobble is also highly dangerous
While driving at highway speeds 65mph plus, when truck encounters bump in road or irregularity at bridge crossing, it causes steering to violently oscillate (death wobble) which forces reduction in speed to around 40 MPH before oscillation subsides.
In motion on highway, truck has experienced "death wobble" on (2) separate occasions
I'm on my 3rd steering damper to fix the "death wobble" problem. I'm sure you are well aware of this problem. This needs to get fixed permanently! Someone is going to get killed from this problem. Technical service bulletin (tsb) #18- 2268
At 60 MPH on level paved roads and on a straight stretch of roadway, steering wheel is impossible to control when running over uneven roadway due to left to right to left abrupt movement. At 55 MPH, the steering wheel is manageable, but still jerks left and right rapidly. This same issue happened 11-2017 with about 8600 miles on the truck. It was repaired by glen sain ford of paragould.
Death wobble. First time at about 70 MPH with 5,000 miles on the truck. Almost got side swiped by a semi on the highway trying to get slowed down. New dampener from dealer. Second time at about 65mph with 13,000 miles. New dampener from dealer. 3rd time at 22,000. New dampener. Now I'm at 24,000 and it's doing it again. Truck is 100% stock. These are the major times it has happened, I can hit bumps on back roads and it'll vibrate right off the road at 45 MPH. I'm scared to even let my wife drive the truck or have the kids in it going down the highway. $60,000 death trap.
The truck goes into a 'death wobble' at highway speeds. This has occurred repeatedly starting at only 7500 miles. Some front end components were replaced by the dealership at that time (steering stabilizer and tie rod ends). Now with 13,800 miles, the truck again goes into a 'death wobble' or a severe front-end oscillation on some road conditions (expansion joints/rough areas). It shakes violently and is difficult to control. It occurs empty or with several hundred pounds in the bed. It seems like a very serious safety issue and has been on-going since the truck was nearly new. Still with very low mileage, it continues to be a problem. Back to the dealership tomorrow though I'm not sensing that there are any real remedies to this problem. I've owned many solid front axle 3/4 ton and 1 ton trucks. This is the only one that is almost un-driveable on certain highway conditions.
While driving (even at highway speeds) when hitting a bump or bridge link the vehicle begins violently shaking on the front end. I would have to hold to steering wheel tight and slow down to almost a complete stop before it corrects itself. We have read on an online forum to reference tsb #18-2268 when speaking to the dealership but it is apparently an issue with 2017-2019 ford f-250s. Attached is a work order I found online from someone with the same issue.
2017 ford f-250 king ranch diesel started experiencing the "death wobble" violently shaking on the highway pulling the truck into on-coming traffic lane. There was nothing out of the ordinary that day. I was just driving on a straight-a-way highway, no weather conditions, no trailer, no load, etc.. Truck has 32,000 miles on it and is under the original warranty. However, ford has a national backlog of parts to fix the problem and the truck is not "road worthy" and remains at the ford dealership awaiting repair. Ford does not have a date for when replacement parts will be available. This is a very serious safety issue. People do not expect their vehicle to begin violently shaking at high speeds and causing the steering to not be responsive to the situation! I am afraid of this vehicle! Please take action against ford to recall and correctly fix this problem. I was lucky to not have been in a head-on collision!
Tl* the contact owns a 2017 ford f-250. While driving 60 MPH, the steering wheel started to shake violently. The contact lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a concrete barrier. There were no injuries and a police report was not filed. The vehicle was driven to bob thomas ford (2215 dixwell ave, hamden, ct 06514, (203) 281-7500), but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000.
When driving 55 MPH, the pickup shakes so bad it's hard to keep it on the road
While accelerating into traffic on I-40 left front wheel hit small pothole and steering wheel and truck shook violently. Traffic was fairly lite and other drivers saw what was happening and let me get off hwy. Thought I had blow out or lost tire. Looked truck over nothing wrong. Continue on to destination at no more then 72mph. Had around 1000 lbs in bed of truck, unloaded. Next day headed home at 74 MPH hit bridge connection and violent shaking occurred again, had to slow on interstate to 40 to stop shaking. Dropped speed to 70 MPH and hit patch of rough road and shaking happened again. Continued home off interstate, did not occur again but speed was never over 60 MPH. Waiting for dealer appointment.
Around 20,000 miles I experienced isolated incidents of violent front end shaking after hitting a rough portion of highway while traveling 70 MPH. Recently around 65,000 miles the truck has experienced this same issue more frequently. The steering becomes uncontrollable and I have to apply the brakes quickly to avoid losing complete control of the vehicle.
Truck isn't even two years old and have had multiple occasions of violent shaking after hitting a small bump on highway. I had to almost come to a complete stop for the shaking to stop. It seems that this is a known ford issue that they are ignoring. These are near uncontrollable and luckily no other cars were near me when it happened.
I've had multiple occasions of the death wobble while drive at higher speeds. The latest incident happened yesterday 11/16/20 and was the worst incident so far. Driving down the highway at 60 MPH after hitting a couple seems in the concrete the truck began to violently shake and wobble, progressively getting worse over the course of 1-2 mins. I let my foot off the gas peddle and applied slight pressure to the breaks, which made the wobble worse. After finally slowing down to ~30 MPH the truck stopped wobbling and shaking. I honestly believe a less experienced driver could have easily lost control and rolled the truck causing a multiple vehicle accident on the highway killing people.
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