Went over a bump in the road today at around 60 MPH. My steering wheel started to shake uncontrollably and I had to slow down to about 25 MPH to get it to stop. My truck has about 24k miles on it and this is the first time I have experienced anything like this. Upon further research it appears to be known as the 'death wobble' and hundreds of super duty owners are experiencing. This is something that should be investigated because this will cause someone to get seriously injured. I am lucky today no one was behind me on the highway slowing down from 60 to 25.
2017 Ford F-250 SD suspension complaints
Page 19 of 21: complaints 521 to 550 of 587, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Driving south on I-95 just north of portland,me. Traveling with no load at 70 MPH on dry pavement. Came across a bridge expansion joint which ran slightly diagonal to the direction of travel. The truck went into a violent death wobble. The entire vehicle was shuddering. I had all I could do to keep two hands on the wheel. The steering wheel was shaking left to right at a high oscillation. I had limited control of the vehicle and let of the accelerator and drifted toward the breakdown lane. At approximately 25 MPH the oscillation stopped. Shortly thereafter the condition repeated. When I got home I went on line and discovered that this is a common problem. I have just over 50k miles on the truck. The dealer recommended that I replace the tires as they may be getting worn. I did follow that instruction although the tires still met the wear limits. I was also informed that ford has issued a tsb # 18-2268 which I am going to have executed next week which looks into this problem and makes minor adjustment to the front end alignment. All that said, the problem is far greater than some tire wear and alignment adjustments. No vehicle shouls shake and ocillate you off of the road in a violent oscillation where the driver loses their ability to control the vehicle. Ford has a far more serious design issue with these trucks. As they do not acknowlege the problem and offer a true fix (at their cost) the owner of these vehicles is playing a game of russian roulette until the vehicle goes back into the violent oscillation. After reading many on-line posts, this appears to be happening at all different mileage levels. Ford needs to be investigated for this problem. The customer and their family should not be endangered for a defective front suspension
I experienced what is considered the "death wobble" twice last week while traveling at around 70 MPH, both times it happened after crossing a bridge seam the truck became uncontrollable shaking violently , I thought my axle under the truck had broke , it was so violent I wasn't even thinking about the other drivers traveling at same speed as I had to slow to almost 20 MPH to get it to stop but I was able to get off to the side of the road once I could control the steering. So after checking to make sure all was good ,I was still on all fours and not ever hearing of anything like this "death wobble thing " assuming vdot needed to fix some pavement I continued and about three miles down the road the same thing happened after crossing a bridge over a bridge seam but this time I was in the passing lane and was right beside an eighteen wheeler .with vehicles on all three sides of me , no way to get off highway , and a violent, shaking and uncontrollable steer wheel, I had no other choice but to brake and slow to 30 MPH . The next day I took the truck to ford dealership where they are deciding what is wrong with and what caused this to happen. I have researched and found this is not an isolated issue and seems a huge problem with the 2017.
Tl* the contact owns a 2017 ford f-250. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced a death wobble while driving moderate speeds over unleveled land. The contact stated that the vehicle shimmied violently and force had to be used to steer. Ford of murfreesboro (1550 nw broad st, murfreesboro, tn 37129, (615) 713-1436) was notified of the failure and provided a loaner vehicle. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 34,000. *dt
2017 ford f250 front end. At speeds of 50 MPH and above if I run over a bump in the road, the front end begins to shake uncontrollably. It is an extremely dangerous situation. I must slow to around 30 MPH for it to subside. Upon researching this on line, there appears to be hundreds of reports of the same condition. Death wobble it is being called. The truck is becoming unusable.
Uncontrolled "death wobble" when driving over 45 MPH. This occurs when the front of the vehicle begins to oscillate violently, which causes the truck to shake (wobble) in an extremely uncontrollable manner. Since the death wobble usually occurs at high speeds, it is extremely dangerous and could potentially cause the vehicle to turn into adjacent vehicles causing fatalities. The only way to recover from a death wobble is to unexpectedly slow down, which is also dangerous to neighboring vehicles especially when traveling at high speeds. In my particular case, this occurred while traveling at 70mph on an interstate, at night, and during inclement weather. I was driving straight and after driving onto a road-bridge transition, the vehicle began to suddenly violently shake, and the steering wheel rocked back and forth. I was forced to slow down and all the vehicles around me had to turn into the median to avoid hitting my vehicle. I checked my vehicle for damaged tires or debris underneath and found no such debris or damage. The next day I drove to the dealership and the service department knew of tsb 18-2268. I should have been notified of this problem because it almost killed me and my children.
Suspension oscillation when hitting rough pavement or bridge transition at 65 miles an hour. Violent shaking of steering wheel and tires bouncing (aka death wobble). Truck has 28,412 miles at the time this occurred. Unable to safely drive on the interstate. This issue is a safety problem that ford needs to address. Multiple 17' 18' super duty's having this issue.
When traveling at highway speeds (60+ MPH) and you hit certain types of bumps the the road the steering wheel shakes violently after the bump. This has happened four times in the last month. It appears to only happen over a road imperfection where the two front wheels hit it independently ie a skewed angle bridge joint or a single pot hole. At the dealers instruction I have rotated and balanced tires, checked tire inflation. The truck has 20,000 miles on it now and this first happened at 17,000 miles. My research tells me that this problem is commonly called "death wobble" which it appears ford has issued a technical service bulletin for. I am going to try another dealer and give them the info I have.
Hit a break in the pavement on an interstate driving 70 MPH and the trucks front wheels began to shake violently. This truck has only 13,000 miles on it and has never been anywhere except the highway. No load (empty) in the vehicle. Had to almost come to a stop before it would quit shaking. I have noticed a little shimmy the last several weeks when crossing expansion joints but nothing to compare to the interstate episode.
Driving at 65-70 MPH on a concrete paved highway. Hit a rough patch of pavement or expansion joint, and the front end began shaking violently, as if one or both of the front tires had flatted. I could see the hood shaking. The steering wheel also oscillated significantly. I almost lost control of the vehice. I let off the accelerator and lightly braked to about 45mph before the shaking and oscillation stopped. Ford does have a tsb out on the issue tsb 18-2268, but they are only replacing parts that have worn out, not the hidden issue that is causing heavy duty suspension parts to wear out so quickly.
The vehicle was went into "death wobble" on numerous occasions. It was extremely scary for my wife and kids. The vehicle was taken to a dealership where the problem was "fixed." it has since occurred 2 more times after the fix. Ford does not seem to have a permanent fix.
While driving, if the vehicle hits a bump the front end and steering wheel will shake violently back and forth and side to side causing instability and making the vehicle hard to control until the vehicles speed is dramatically decreased or in some instances stopped completely on the side of the road. This has happened numerous timeson the highway traveling at speeds around 70 MPH as well as when traveling on city streets at a lower rate of speed
Death wobble at highway speeds after hitting expansion joint in road
While traveling about 60 MPH on a rural road the truck front end started shaking rapidly. Steering wheel violently jerked out of my hand. Truck was very hard to control and rapid braking was required in order to remain in control. Vehicles traveling behind me also had to rapidly brake to avoid hitting me. Checked the truck out and found nothing loose or obvioulsy broken. Went on my way. Truck now does this several times daily while drving. Extremely dangerous. Someone is going to get killed due to this issue, its just a matter of time. After some research I can see that this is a known issue referred to as "death wobble". Two others I know of with brand new trucks are also having these issues. I took my truck to dealer at 7,000 miles complaining about "chatter" in the front end when hitting bumps. They stated nothing wrong, and now at 14,000 miles I am experiencing this violent shake. I no longer feel safe driving this truck, and it appears ford isnt fixing the issue, although I do have a call in to the dealer. Ford appears to be slapping a new steering damper on the vehicle to mask the problem for a number of miles until it will return. A steering damper is designed to prevent this issue from happening on old or worn front end parts. This should not happen on a new truck under any circumstance, even with no steering damper. This issue needs a recall before someone is killed.
This has happened numerous times. While driving the vehicle begins shaking and "wobbling". It happens on regular city streets and on highway. No control of it from the steering wheel. Called "death wobble" by numerous other ford owners online.
The trucks steering wheel shakes violently at highway speeds. You have to hold on and reduce speeds to almost a stop to get it to stop. It is the scariest thing I have ever encountered with a vehicle in over forty years of driving. Ford is well aware of the problem. I'm concerned that you all are silent. If your agency continues to ignore this you all should just closedown and find something else to do.
In november of 2018, at 25,000 miles, my truck became temporarily uncontrollable while traveling on a straight and level section of interstate 10. I experienced severe oscillation of front tires at 70 MPH. I was on straight and level ground and was able to slow down to 30 MPH at which time I regained control. During the incident, I was unable to maintain lane integrity. After stopping, I checked the tire pressure and all tires were at the recommended pressure's. Took the vehicle to chapman ford dealer in scottsdale az and the inspection came back "no problems detected". In january 2019, at 28,000 miles I experienced the same problem at 50 MPH while traveling on a straight and level paved road. This time I did not regain control until 20 MPH. In both of the described instances I was pulling a light utility trailer loaded with a polaris ranger. *note: I do not recall hitting a bumpy section of roadway to initiate the severe oscillation.
Truck front end and steering wheel shakes violently after hitting a bump going 70 MPH
I have the death wobble like so many others. It starts when I'm driving and a small bump in the road and the steering wheel start rotating left and right almost uncontrollably unless I slow almost all the way to below 10 miles an hour. My neighbor and countless other owners are having the same issue. I also have a 2011 f250 that I've never had this issue. I think it's an geometry issue. Two times I was on the north loop 289 access road turning north under the overpass and traveling around 15-20 miles an hour. Dec 2017 the third time I was between cr 7700 and hwy 41 on cr 1730 both in lubbock tx. Dec 28th 2018
Ford "death wobble" 2017 ford f-250 4x4 with 20,000 highway miles driving at approximately 50-60 MPH on a straight smooth paved highway, the vehicle started shaking violently in the front end without warning. Another motorist stopped to check on the driver described the front wheel shaking so bad he thought it was going to come off. Three different dealer service departments we spoke to all know of the issue with these vehicles and gave the impression that this is a common problem with these trucks.
Tl* the contact owns a 2017 ford f-250. While driving 70 MPH over a bump in the road, the steering wheel and front end of the vehicle started to experience mild shaking. In order to stop the vehicle from shaking, the contact had to decrease the speed from 70 to 30 MPH. The contact stated that the same failure occurred multiple times whenever the speed exceeded 60-75 MPH. The vehicle was taken to phil long ford (301 s 2nd st, raton, nm 87740) and unknown repairs were performed. A month after taking the vehicle to the dealer, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 17,000. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr *dt
I have had multiple occurrences of "death wobble"...... Vehicle only has 12,000 miles on it..... Have done research. Seems like there is a safety bulletin out. Ford told me the parts are on backorder for fix.....people online saying even after ford fix still not fixed. I dont feel safe letting anyone else drive this vehicle....or me driving it above 50 MPH. So basically if you hit a road joint for a bridge for example (where I have had it happen 3 times so far) it throws the front end into a rythmatic violent shake. You have to slam on your brakes and slow down to about 25mph for it to go away. I am good at recovering from it now..... But I almost smashed into the guy next to me the first time it happened..... It is very unsafe and ford has not been very helpful. Please help and make this a more known issue. I have read alot of the same stories online. I had nothing in tow during my occurrences. Thank you in advance.....
At highway speed, hitting a bump in the road, front end develops severe wobble, know as "death wobble"
Three seperate occasions I have experienced a "death wobble" after first occurance returned to ford dealer for repair. Parts were exchanged and vehicle returned to me. First repair completed oct 11 2017. Next two occurances were week of thanksgiving dealer could not see vehicle for service till 11-30-2017 vehicle stillat dealer as of 12-19-2017 told parts on order till 1-28-2019
Sustained steering wheel oscillation (aka death wobble) while driving down a us highway at approximately 55-60 MPH I encountered a slightly rough patch of pavement that affected the passenger side of the truck only. The steering wheel started to violently shake back and forth until I slowed to approximately 35mph and the oscillations ceased. Ford does have a tsb out on the issue but they are only replacing parts that have worn out, not the hidden issue that is causing heavy duty suspension parts to wear out so quickly.
Terrible shaking of the front wheels, steering wheel and the whole rest of the truck at highway speeds......(death wobble)
Violent front end shaking after hitting bumps while driving at 50-60 MPH.
Tl* the contact owns a 2017 ford f-250. While driving above 50 MPH, the vehicle suddenly began to vibrate violently and shake after driving over uneven terrain. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The local dealer (vic bailey ford, 501 e. Daniel morgan ave, spartanburg, sc) was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 15,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2017 ford f-250. While driving various speeds on a clear road surface, the vehicle shook violently out of control. As a result, the steering column shook violently. The contact stated that the steering wheel needed to be held with extreme force to keep the vehicle in its lane. The contact stated that the failure was experienced on a daily basis and the shaking failure worsened. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 8,000.
Vehicle shakes violently at highway speeds when it encounters not smooth highway conditions such as small bumps, chatter, or elevation changes at bridges.
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