Ford F-250 ball joint problems

Filed Jul 22, 2025 · Steering, Suspension · 263,000 miles · AR

The contact owns a 2011 Ford F-250. The contact stated that while driving over a bump at a high rate of speed, the contact experienced the death wobble and the contact temporarily lost control of the vehicle. The contact slowed down and the violent shaking ceased. The contact stated that the tie rods, ball joints, and other front-end parts were replaced to reduce the risk of the failure recurring. The contact stated that while driving 70 MPH and towing a trailer, the contact experienced the death wobble. The vehicle drifted from the far-left lane over to the far-right lane and the contact lost control of the vehicle. The contact called a local dealer and was informed that there were no recalls on the vehicle. The contact was then referred to the manufacturer and was provided a case number. The manufacturer advised the contact to report the failure to the federal safety agency Hotline. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 263,000.

Filed Jan 23, 2025 · Steering, Transmission · WA · crash

The tie rod broke while the vehicle was in motion. This caused the vehicle to lose control and crash into another vehicle, causing damage to both vehicles. There was no warning and no sign of any issues. Vehicle has been very well maintained, in fact, it has been in the shop at least once per month for the past year due to a number of mechanical issues unrelated to the tie rod.

Filed Apr 19, 2024 · Steering, Suspension · KY

The Ford Death Wobble. I was driving down the highway at speed and hit an overpass expansion joint and the truck started violently shaking and I had to slow down and get in the center median against the concrete barrier to get it under control. Once I got it under control and got back on the highway I moved to the slow lane and a couple of miles down the road I hit another expansion joint, and it did the same thing. This time there was an exit ramp coming up and I took the ramp to slow down to get it back under control. We had just had it at the local Ford dealership and had the suspension all changed to new from OEM. New tie rods, steering damper, and most of the other suspension parts to fix the issue. They said that should fix the problem. It did not fix the problem. Now it is back at the dealer, and they are saying that it "could be a couple of other parts" and it will be an additional $600.00 to have them replaced after we spent $1600.00 the first time it was supposed to be fixed. Why is it that Ford and the other manufactures that have this issue have not fixed the problem. This has been going on for years and the same issue. Also, why have they not issued a complete recall on these trucks to fix the issue? My truck is not part of the recall at all, and it is doing the same things as the ones that are on the recall. This makes no sense. If it is a known safety issue and it is a manufacturing defect, then there should be a recall. Is it because no one has died as a result of this yet? Or are they just waiting until someone does before they do something about it? This is absolutely insane to me. My wife will not drive the truck and that is who it was purchased for. We also bought it to haul our horses and she will definitely not haul her horses with this truck. She will continue to use the 1999 F250 that does not have this issue. I need some resolution to this and I would like to be reimbursed for the money that we spent to fix the problem that didn't fix it.

Filed Mar 27, 2024 · Steering · 120,000 miles · NJ

The contact owns a 2008 Ford F-250. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH on a bridge, the vehicle drove over potholes and the vehicle experienced the death wobble, causing the steering wheel to shake uncontrollably. The contact firmly gripped the steering wheel and decelerated to 30 MPH to prevent the vehicle from shaking. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The contact stated that several independent mechanics had previously replaced the tires, control arms, shocks, struts, steering damper, and pitman arm, as well as performed an alignment; however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000.

Filed Aug 30, 2023 · Steering · 167,000 miles · WA · crash · 1 injury

The contact owns a 2011 Ford F-250. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 68-70 MPH, the vehicle drove over a bump and experienced a death wobble. The contact attempted to turn the steering wheel with force, but the vehicle crashed into a guardrail. The contact developed blisters on the palms of his hands from gripping the steering wheel, but medical attention was not received. Police arrived on the scene; however, no police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, and the contact was informed that he needed to pay for the diagnostic. The vehicle was then towed to the residence, where the contact replaced the steering gearbox, ball joints, tie rod ends, track bar, shocks, front springs, and wheel bearings. The failure recurred. The vehicle was later taken to three different independent mechanics; however, the cause of failure was not found. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to file a complaint with the federal safety agency Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 167,000.

Filed Dec 27, 2022 · Steering, Suspension · SD

The truck developed a "death wobble" about a year ago. Over the past year the death wobble has happened almost every single time we have drove it. We have had multiple diesel mechanics look at it numerous times. We have replaced all the tie rod ends, drag link, steering stabilizer, track bar and track bar bushing. When the truck starts shaking, the driver has to immediately engage the breaks, running the risk of being rear ended and risking losing control of the truck. No warning lights have displayed throughout this time. The shaking has happened when driving between 35-55 mph, while the truck is alone and also once while pulling a horse trailer, loaded with horses- posing severe risk to the horses and passengers in the truck. The truck is available for inspection if need be.

Filed Sep 4, 2022 · Steering, Suspension · TX

The truck is experiencing what is commonly referred to as the "Death Wobble." At around 55 mph, the vehicle starts to violently shake. It shakes the whole vehicle, especially the steering--the steering wheel severely shakes until I slow the vehicle slows down below 40 mph. From my research, I've found this is a common issue among other Superduty owners. It seems like there are faulty front end suspension and/or steering parts at play: pitman arm, drag link, tie rod ends (and their bushings/ball joints), etc. The shaking happens on the freeway and is frightening to experience as it could potentially lead to losing control if unable to slow down in time to stop the shaking. Being at freeway speeds, my family and I are at risk as well as other vehicles on the road if we were to lose control. This issue did occur 1.5 years ago. I took it into a Ford dealership where they replaced the steering dampener/stabilizer. Now the death wobble is happening again. From what I've learned, this is a band-aid fix that doesn't address the root cause of the death wobble. No warning lamps or error codes are present before, during, or after the shaking.

Filed Sep 2, 2022 · Suspension · WV

I recently purchased this vehicle with approximately 93000 miles on it. I have been experiencing wheel oscilation (AKA death wobble). I have replaced numerous suspension parts (tie rod ends, pitman arm, track bar bushing, track bar ball joint, front shocks). I have spent close to $1000 on trying to resolve the problem and am obviously not done yet. I am still experiencing this problem intermittently. The mechanic hasn't been able to find any loose or worn parts but there is obviously a problem, perhaps in the design of the system. I know I am not the only one experiencing this issue. When this "death wobble" occurs on the interstate the vehicle becomes almost impossible to control. The only way to make it stop is to slow down to below 50 MPH.

Filed Apr 25, 2022 · Suspension · 170,000 miles · IL

The contact owns a 2012 Ford F-250. The contact stated that since purchasing of the vehicle, the vehicle experienced the death wobble on two separate occasions. The contact stated that the failures occurred while driving at undisclosed speeds. The contact stated that after driving over bumps on the road the vehicle experienced a violent and uncontrollable shaking without warning. The contact stated that once the vehicle slowed down, the vehicle would resume normal operation. The contact had initially taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic who replaced the track bar and track bar ball joint; as well as, the front and rear shocks. Despite the repair, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the independent mechanic after the second failure and remained in the possession of the independent mechanic. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and he was informed that there were no recalls on the vehicle and was provided a case number. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 170,000.

Filed Feb 13, 2022 · Suspension · TN

My wife and I were traveling on I-40 at about 70 mph when the front end of the vehicle started shacking violently. We had to slow and come to a complete stop. This happened twice so we returned home driving about 50 mph. The first shop replaced the stablizer shock. This did not help. Took it to a second shop they replace the ball joint this seemed to help until got to highway speed. It happened again. The shop then installed shocks for each wheel. So far this has corrected the issue.