2017 Ford F-250 SD: shudder or vibration when accelerating

Filed Sep 23, 2024 · Steering, Suspension · NM

Death Wobble. Was driving speed limit of 65mph and vehicle started a violent, uncontrollable shuddering and bouncing movement to the left almost hitting the dividing wall on the interstate. I had little control over steering of vehicle and was barely able to avoid slamming into wall. Finally got vehicle stopped. Has happened before at lower speed. Has happened several times before with less violent shuddering after hitting bumps in roadway. Now understand how very dangerous and scary the less severe incidents have been after this latest incident!

Filed Oct 1, 2022 · Steering, Suspension · NJ

At roughly 50mph while on a left hand curve over slightly uneven pavement the front end of the truck started shuddering and bouncing with loss of control in the steering such that only after significant braking could I regain control of the truck and realized I was in the next lane over to the right. Vehicle was brought to Ford dealer and they replaced a stabilizer bar that had a "dead spot" in it. While the problem is slightly better, it is by no means resolved. Waiting for a call back from the service manager of the dealership after being told today that the repair they had done was all that Ford was willing to do. Vehicle is still under warranty. Purchased 2017 vehicle in march of 2021 with 17,500 miles on it. It now (September, 2022) has 25,000 miles on it.

Filed Feb 22, 2022 · Steering · IL

At a high rate of speed the steering wheel suddenly began to shudder and shake back and forth causing the whole truck to shake violently and become uncontrollable. My life and the lives of everyone near me were in jeopardy until I regained control of the vehicle. I could not steer the vehicle. The problem has occurred with others employees of our company. The vehicle has been inspected and repaired by the dealership but the problem persists. There were no warnings before the failure. It came on abruptly and my only recourse was to aggressively apply the brakes to minimize the what seemed like an eminent catastrophic outcome.

Filed Feb 21, 2022 · Steering, Suspension · IL

At a high rate of speed the steering wheel suddenly began to shudder and shake back and forth causing the whole truck to shake violently and become uncontrollable until speed was reduced. My life and the lives of everyone near me were in jeopardy until I regained control of the vehicle. I could not steer the vehicle. The problem has occurred with others employees of our company. The vehicle has been inspected and repaired by the dealership but the problem persists. There were no warnings before the failure. It came on abruptly and my only recourse was to aggressively apply the breaks to minimize the what seemed like an eminent catastrophic outcome. This event scared the hell out of me and my passenger.

Filed Jun 4, 2021 · Steering · CA

My truck has a front-end suspension shudder when I travel over 60 mph. I've been told it's the early stages of a condition known as the "Death Wobble". Over the last 3 months I've had the tires replaced 2 times and balanced numerous times to make sure the shudder is not caused by the tires. The tires are not the issue... it's a suspension problem. I became aware of the Death Wobble about a month ago. The Ford Dealerships are well aware of the issue. Ford issued a TSB (now expired) to replace the Steering Stabilizers. Ford's TSB - replacing the Steering Stabilizers - is a temporary solution. I believe the Death Wobble is a design defect with the Ford F-250, 350, 450 trucks, in particular those manufactured from 2017 to today. The Death Wobble is a serious problem and WILL cause accidents, injury, and death. My truck has not yet gotten bad enough to cause me to loose control. I believe this is a serious design defect. I urge the federal safety agency to take action and insist that Ford recall the trucks that may encounter this condition. Ford needs to correct this problem.

Filed Feb 24, 2020 · Steering, Suspension · 38,800 miles · CO

I was driving 70 MPH on a sunny beautiful day on the highway in a straight line and all of a sudden the truck started to shake, vibrate, and shudder uncontrollably. It was so violent that it woke my two young kids up as well scared the hell out of the wife and I. I immediately pulled over to see if I had a flat tire. I did not have a flat. After research and talking to fellow people it is called the death wobble. I should not have to say anything else when people are calling this a death wobble. This will severally hurt or even kill someone. I thought my new 2017 ford f250 was going to fall apart. This is a serious problem and needs to be addressed.

Filed Jan 29, 2020 · Steering, Suspension · 30,000 miles · OK

While driving on the highway at around 70+ MPH, the vehicle hit a highway transition bump. The steering wheel jerks one direction and immediately begins to oscillate left and right. The entire cabin of the truck simultaneously begins to shudder violently. This oscillation/shuddering continues until the truck is slowed down to approximately 30 MPH. This has occurred to my vehicle three distinct times during two years of ownership. This is colloquially known as the "death wobble" on the internet. It is a known issue with this generation of ford super duties. The problem was reported to the dealership, who stated this is a known issue. Dealer attempted a remedy by replacing a drag link. Steering is still "wobbly" to this day.

Filed Jan 26, 2020 · Steering, Suspension · 39,000 miles · OH

Vehicle starts to violently wobble, shudder, vibrate at speeds over 50mph for unkown reasons. It appears that highway speeds cause car to begin this death wobble. Road, weather, and speed conditions appear to be at random. This is so dangerous that it must be addressed immediately. This issue had been happening since the vehicle was new. It happens randomly and is very dangerous. Dealership needs instructions from manufacturer on how to repair.

Filed Dec 11, 2019 · Steering, Suspension · 31,000 miles · OK

While traveling on the expressway at 65 MPH I passed over a rough piece of asphalt and the truck started to shimmy then immediately severely shake and shudder. I immediately braked and tried to steer to the shoulder steering was almost impossible. The shaking continued till the truck stopped. This was extremely frightening and uncontrollable. This is the third time this has happened but by far the worst. All 3 times the truck was driving normally at 60 or 65 MPH till it hit a minor bump or rough patch of road.

Filed Nov 13, 2019 · Suspension · 20,700 miles · IA

Vehicle shakes very violently at high speeds (60 MPH+) when a slight bump in the road is hit. Entire vehicle shudders and shakes super hard and the steering wheel twists as the driver fights to retain control while driving at highway speeds. The only remedy is to slam on the brakes and reduce speed very quickly, all the while hoping and praying the truck doesn't roll and you don't hit or get hit by the other vehicles around you, at highway speeds. It is terrifying. Ford truck owners apparently call this the "ford death wobble" and I couldn't think of a more apt description. Videos circulating online of this phenomenon mirror our experience exactly. Ford attempted to fix the wobble the first time this happened to our truck in march 2019 at 20,700 miles by installing a steering stabilizer (see attached document). This helped for a few months but now in november 2019 at a little over 30k miles the wobble is back and worse than before. The truck is currently at the dealership awaiting another stabilizer. But I'm not confident this is something ford is able (or willing?) to properly fix, and I have no confidence whatsoever in this vehicle anymore. I am terrified to drive it above 50 MPH. I am terrified to drive it with my 2 children (aged 2.5 yrs and 6 months) in the vehicle. I am filing this complaint in case anything happens to us while we're driving our truck, or in case this has happened to others and the outcome has been serious injury/ death. I have also notified ford of the problem.

Filed Aug 22, 2019 · Steering, Suspension · 20,000 miles · TX

While driving at highway speeds (>45mph) when passing over rough pavement the front of the truck would shake uncontrollably and the steering wheel would shudder significantly for up to 100 yards after passing the rough spot and on smooth pavement and required slowing down and even stopping to make the vibration cease. There was also a continuous slight vibration in the steering wheel at and above 50 MPH on smooth pavement.

Filed Mar 5, 2019 · Steering · 19,037 miles · OH

Saturday, may 2nd, 2019. Drove over a highway bridge expansion joint that was on an angle. The steering wheel suddenly started to oscillate fairly violently back and forth and the truck began to shudder. I was going between 60 and 70 MPH. As I pulled off the road, once around 30mph the shudder/shaking stopped. My truck has 19,037 miles on it. It is stock. No modifications have been done.