10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 5 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 4 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 12,660 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
On 10/19/22, driving on an interstate at approximately 70mph. Hit normal bump in the road. Vehicle began shaking so violently that one hand thrown free from steering wheel. I grabbed steering wheel with two hands and a very tight grip to control the vehicle, immediately steered onto shoulder and braked. Extremely violent shaking did not stop until vehicle slowed to approximately 20 mph. I immediately exited and inspected wheels and tires. All tires were fine and inflated to normal, recommended PSI. Wheels had all lug nuts installed to normal specifications (I always have torque wrench, tire inflator, inflation tester, tire plug kit, 700lb impact wrench and many other tools). No contact was made with any other vehicle or object. No visible damage to any part of the vehicle. It felt as though the issue was coming from the front of the vehicle. The section of road was completely straight and well maintained. I initially, I thought I may have blown a tire but the vehicle did not pull to one side or the other. The vehicle was not overloaded in any way even though I did have an ATV that weighs approximately 700lbs in the bed of the truck. The ATV was securely tied down with 4 separate ratchet straps on all four corners. A check of the straps confirmed that the ATV was still completely secure. No adjustment or tightening was required. There were no more issues on this trip. On, 11/23/22, I was driving on a highway at approximately 65mph. I was traveling on a section of a small bridge and going through a curve in the road. As I transitioned from bridge to normal section of paved highway, there was a normal bump. Bump was minimal and ordinary as is typical. Vehicle experienced exact same violent shaking and did not stop unit vehicle came to stop. On this same day, I had another incident on straight section of road that resulted in violent shaking until stopped. This vehicle has experienced same issue three (3) times. This issue MUST be reviewed.
- Drexel Hill, PA, USA
The steering linkage damper failed. I experienced complete loss of control of the vehicle on a highway. The vehicle was taken to my local Ford dealership for repair. There were no warning lamps or symptoms.
- Kitty Hawk, NC, USA
The contact owns a 2019 Ford F-250. The contact stated that while driving approximately 70 MPH, the vehicle experienced the death wobble. The contact slowed down until he was able to stop the vehicle and the vehicle started driving normally. There was no warning light illuminated. The failure persisted while driving and exceeding 45 MPH. The contact had taken the vehicle to the dealer who diagnosed the vehicle with a faulty steering damper. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 35,000.
- Monroe, MI, USA
Uncontrollable steering wheel shake at highway speeds after hitting bumps on the road above 45 mph. Above 45 mph the front wheels oscillate making the vehicle uncontrollable until slowing down to under 45 mph.
- Jacksonville , FL, USA
I was traveling West on interstate 74 at approximately 70 mph when I drove over a small imperfection in the road surface (an overpass transition) the vehicle steering wheel and front of the vehicle started to violently shake uncontrollably and caused me to loose control of the vehicle and drive off of the road. It happened on the return trip as well however, I slammed on the brakes this time as soon as it started for fear of the life of my family that was riding with me. My wife now refuses to ride in my vehicle after the two incidents. Luckily no one was behind me on the interstate.
- Sneads Ferry, NC, USA
Experiences what I found to be called the death wabble. It-??s getting worse
- Mechanicsville, VA, USA
Took the truck on I-40 and to 75mph hit a crack repair and steering went crazy. Had to full stop to get it to stop. Back on the road and it happened again at 75mph. Got it into dealer and found out that it is a death wobble. Dealer replaced the steering dampener and returned. Dampener was purchased locally. Six weeks later and it happened on US550, after driving over a rough spot. This time it was 70mph. Happened again on US550 a few days later but at 65mph. Truck is in the dealer's shop again, and has been for eight days. They test drove it and got it to duplicate the problem. They have put a new steering dampener on as the last one is bad already. They are lowering the camber (wharever that is) and will test drive it tomorrow again.
- Kirtland, NM, USA
Traveling at 70 miles per hour, hit bump on highway and front end of vehicle began shaking violently, almost lost control. Took foot off gas and applied brakes, vehicle finally stopped shaking. "Death Wobble ". Vehicle has 22,500 miles, tires original, no modifications to vehicle
- Fruita, CO, USA
2019 F250, 13,000 miles: While traveling along interstate 64 in Virginia, I crossed a bridge in the early morning, pre-dawn hours which caused the truck to "bounce" as it transitioned across the joints that joined the bridge to the pavement. Immediately after crossing, the truck entered into an uncontrollable vibration that caused me to lose positive control to the vehicle. The loss of control lasted until I was able to ride-out the incident alongside the roadway. Believing I had blown a tire, I checked the truck to find that all tires were serviceable. I reentered the roadway, having checked all items I could, only to have the issue reoccur as I crossed another bridge at a reduced speed. I exited the interstate highway and utilized back roads, at reduced speeds (below 50), to reach a safe location to diagnose the issue. Utilizing online research, I located videos of the exact same problem I had experienced. I am beyond shocked this vehicle has not been recalled. As an experienced driver, with over twenty years of law enforcement driving experience, I can assure you it took everything I had to keep the vehicle from crashing. Had I been towing a trailer/camper or had the interstate traffic been heavier, I cannot imagine how a serious accident would not have occurred. The vehicle has been meticulously maintained, possesses a current state inspection sticker, and gave no warning prior to this incident of having any issues related to the loss of control.
- Christiansburg, VA, USA
Odometer: 45847. Two weeks ago I hit a bump on GA 400 going about 70MPH and the death wobble happened. Had to brake heavily to get it to stop. No warning lights. Knew there was an ESB on the Steering Dampner and took it to the dealer to have that replaced along with the other recalls. The service advisor calls today and wants to charge me $1800 to replace the tie rods. Ford should be taking care of the affected components in relation to the steering dampener not holding up.
- Sandy Springs, GA, USA
Uncontrollably shaking (death wobble). Lost control and had to brake quickly.
- Keller, TX, USA
This has now happened on two separate occasions. When driving the truck at 55mph and hitting a small bump in the road the truck started shaking violently and would not stop until I slowed down to under 25mph. Upon researching this, consumers are calling this the Ford Wobble of Death. The truck became uncontrollable until I slowed down and the vibration ceased. Fortunately, it was on a straight section of roadway and no other cars were in close proximity at the time. There was little steering control of the truck until I slowed down to make the violent shaking stop. The problem appears to be with the front steering components (drag link, tie rod, tie rod ends, ball joints). Since this occurrence the front of the truck vibrates slightly almost all of the time when driving over 55mph. The Ford dealer replace the steering damper, and this helped the vibration, but it still continues to vibrate. Ford may still have the replaced part (but this part replacement has not fixed the problem.) The Ford dealer has said replacing the steering damper was the first item to change (per Ford Corporate) to fix this problem. The vehicle has not been inspected by anyone other than the Ford dealer. There were no warning lamps or other symptoms of the upcoming problem until the first time is shook violently.
- Calvert, TX, USA
I have a 2019 Ford F250 and I have had the Death Wobble happen to me two times. The first was with my entire family in the truck. Going 60 mph and the truck starts to shake violently and is uncontrollable until you get to 15 mph. The second incident was a week ago just outside of Haskell TX. Speed limit is 70, my son and I were travelling at 72 mph and the truck shook so violently that he was crying and the next thing I knew, we were going east bound in the west bound lane on the shoulder. Extremely close to losing total control of the truck. I do not feel it is safe to drive the truck any longer and I am going to sell it if I can.
- Argyle, TX, USA
From the day I bought the truck in November 2019 it would jerk aggressively when hitting expansion joints. 6 Months ago I asked a dealer to fix it and they did nothing. Then, between 10/8/22 and 10/15/22 we experienced for incidents of the death wobble on E470 and north I-25 in Colorado. Each incident occurred in heavy traffic. The only way to regain control was to pull off the road and completely stop. I currently have the vehicle scheduled to go to a dealer, but need this fixed as it is not safe to drive.
- Arvada, CO, USA
Uncontrollable shaking after hitting uneven pavement from bridge to road. Happened around 65 mph and didn-??t stop until I braked to 30mph
- Gaithersburg, MD, USA
I own a 2019 F250 platinum diesel and the last 5 months have been teetering on a very thin line of causing a serious accident. At highway speeds, my truck will start to violently shake after hitting small bumps, bridge entrances/exits, potholes. Pretty much any un-level surface has the potential to cause my truck to violently shake. It-??s referred to as Death wobble and for good reason. It feels like all 4 tires had just blown out at highway speeds. It-??s very hard to control the vehicle and the only way to fix the issue is to come to a complete stop as fast as you can before you lose control. I have contacted ford several times and they are aware of the issue. There still has been no recall as far as I know. This is completely unacceptable and is risking potential lives. It-??s only a matter of time before some is seriously injured or killed from this. Ford put my name down, and I was told in about 2 months they might have the parts to fix it. That just isn-??t a good answer. Something needs to be done. Unfortunately I don-??t have another vehicle so I am forced to drive this death trap. I-??m not sure what to do, and don-??t want to get in an accident or end up hurting someone but I have to get to and from work. I refuse to let my family drive in the truck because it-??s so unsafe. This doesn-??t just happen once in a while. It happens every single time I-??m on the freeway which is every day, sometimes multiple times driving to and from work. Im hoping someone can give me some help. I really feel like ford has swept this under the rug and left it-??s customers in a terrible position. My truck is one of fords top models and it has under 50k miles. This shouldn-??t be happening and they are not too concerned about getting it fixed fast in my opinion. I hope to hear from you soon, thank you.
- Weatherford, TX, USA
Extreme steering wheel shaking aka death wobble. Caused my truck to jump across 3 lanes on i75 almost costing me and my wife our life's. Starts after hitting pot hole and becomes so extreme your hands loose contact with steering wheel. This is clearly an A Rank Safety issue that Ford has not addressed. No warning when it happens, all control is lost and up till now we have been lucky. Truck did this at 20000 miles and again at 32000 miles I currently only have 32250 total miles on this vehicle. After contacting my dealer they told me it was out of warranty because it had exceeded 36 months.
- Russell Springs , KY, USA
Was traveling highway speed, front end of truck started violently shaking causing the vehicle to be uncontrollable and entered the ditch. Steering wheel then was not centered in relation to the tires.
- Plymouth, WI, USA
Death wobble severe controlable I reported it to nhtsa they are replacing the damper but dealer says the drive link is wore out too.only has 36,881 mile on it 881 miles over warranty plus two months past 36 months but won't cover under warranty this is wrong the steering drag link is not supposed to wear in that kind of miles should be recalled for safty issue also
- Independence, MO, USA
- Waco, TX, USA