— A Ford class action lawsuit in court more than six years has been put on hold as the judge waits for the results of an appeal filed by Ford.
Called the "death wobble," the problem is really a "shimmy" allegedly caused by suspension and steering defects.
The 13 plaintiffs complain the trucks shake and the steering wheels oscillate.
The Ford "death wobble" is supposedly caused by loosening of the track bar bushing, abnormal wear of the bushing, and problems with the ball joints, steering dampers, control arms, shock absorbers and struts.
The affected trucks include 2005-2007 and 2017-2019 Ford F-250 and F-350 vehicles and when first filed in 2019, the class action included additional model years, and the lawsuit included customers nationwide.
But in 2024 the judge certified the death wobble class action for only eight states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, New Mexico, South Carolina, and Texas.
Ford 'Death Wobble' Lawsuit Put On Hold
Two implied warranty claims survived for customers in Maine and South Carolina, but the judge found the customer representing Maine did not fit the requirements for a class action lawsuit. The plaintiffs then asked to substitute the Maine class action representative with a customer from South Carolina.
Although Judge Anthony J. Battaglia did tell the plaintiffs they could name a different Maine representative for the class, he didn't mean from a different state. Ford argued against that logic and the judge agreed with Ford.
"Under Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit precedent 'a class representative must be part of the class,' for Maine." — Judge Battaglia
Separately in January, Ford filed a petition for permission to appeal the court's ruling about common issues regarding implied warranty claims related to both Maine and South Carolina. In Ford's opinion, the judge was wrong to find common issues that predominated over the implied warranty claims for those two states.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted Ford’s permission to appeal, and oral arguments are scheduled to begin December 8.
All deadline and hearing dates for the Ford "death wobble" lawsuit are vacated and no additional actions will proceed until the appeals court releases its decision.
The Ford "death wobble" class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California: Lessin, et al., v. Ford Motor Company, et al.
The plaintiff is represented by McCune Law Group, and Sohn & Associates.