Ford Death Wobble?

[Mollysdad]

I see that the current video from KYD concerns the Ford death wobble on their 2019 F-250. The front end starts a violent shaking. There's YouTube videos of poor quality that show it on the road, It looks like the front end is shaking apart.
I'm curious how many of you Ford owners have experienced it and if you've found a solution.
I don't think Ford has a handle on the problem, or at least the solution.
I don't think it's unique to the F-250 but all Ford pickups.

[rowiebowie]

Originally Posted by Mollysdad

I see that the current video from KYD concerns the Ford death wobble on their 2019 F-250. The front end starts a violent shaking. There's YouTube videos of poor quality that show it on the road, It looks like the front end is shaking apart.
I'm curious how many of you Ford owners have experienced it and if you've found a solution.
I don't think Ford has a handle on the problem, or at least the solution.
I don't think it's unique to the F-250 but all Ford pickups.

I think it is mostly a solid front axle problem. I had a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee that did this a couple of times. I feels like the front end is shaking apart as if a tie rod let go, except everything is intact. Scary as hell. Braking doesn't stop it.

The only solution is slowing down and it takes 5-15 seconds of coasting down to do so. A new steering stabilizer shock prevented a recurrence. But I've never understood how such violent shaking can happen like that.

[Hans627]

I watched that video for KYD also. That wobble is disconcerting for sure!

[primepower]

I have a 2012 f250 with a solid front axle and no death wobble here at all.

[JonDNC]

I have a 2019 F350 with about 15k miles, no wobble and had it double checked by the dealer.

1st - Ford understands the problem and has a recall/ warranty extension to 100k miles for it. They have an improved stabilizer

2 - it’s a perfect or imperfect set of conditions that cause it on any solid axle. They are in no order; alignment (all the variables), wear on suspension components, tire pressure, tire balance, front stabilizer.

This has been beaten to death on the Ford truck forum.

[primepower]

It's not just Ford though I've seen this for Harley-Davidson and plenty of other manufacturers of all vehicles.

[KK4YZ]

It is indeed an issue with any vehicle with a solid front axle. I have 18K miles on my F350. I have owned other solid front axle 4wd vehicles in the past. Never experienced the problem.

From what I understand it’s mostly due to worn or loose fitting steering components. I think Fords approach is a new steering damper.

Go to Powerstroke Help. Com (maybe one word) they discuss it at length.

[tbrowne]

Trucks with independent front suspension do not and have never had this problem - that would include all half tons. GM 2500HD's do not have the problem and will not because they have independent front suspensions. In the main, Ram and Ford are the ones with it. Jeeps can be included but From viewing Jeep WEB sites,they don't seem to have as much of a problem as the others.

[Melucy2airs]

I have a 2019 Ford F-350 dually with 18k miles on it, never experienced any death wobble and I am hoping that I do not experience it at all.

[pjshier]

With just over 30K miles on our 2017 F350, i would very rarely experience some vibration in the steering wheel at speed after hitting a bump or road-to-bridge transition where the road had been rutted by studded tires. Took it into Ford and they performed the extended warranty already mentioned. The truck was 6 months beyond the 36 month warranty.

I asked the technician to thoroughly inspect the other joints and rod ends and while well within specs, they were showing signs of wear - perhaps due to the added stress of the first issue? I had them replace all the rod ends.

[drbrick]

No issue with our 2013 f150 FX4 so I don't know

[oldenavy]

Had a ‘14 F250 that was hard to control on rough roads. Not sure if it qualified as death wobble but it was annoying. It would vibrate pretty violently. No problems at all with the two RAM HD trucks I’ve owned or a couple of Jeeps with solid axles.

Many years ago I had an E150 van that definitely had a death wobble. Eventually figured out it was caused by worn tie rod ends. Wasn’t a solid axle but was the twin I-beam that Ford used to have.

[Joyman]

No issues yet with my 2016 F350 I recently changed the Rancho OEM shocks to Bilstein shocks and put a bilstein steering stabilizer shock on also..... Only time will know....

[wilsodf]

We have a 2020 F350 and no issues here. I wonder if they installed the fix on the 2020's during manufacturing. I have to have some warranty work done the 1st week of Dec. I will ask them if my truck is covered by the recall. I looked on our app and only saw a recall for back up camera, nothing with the front suspension.

I'll post a reply after my service on Dec 3rd.

[Jswill]

Never on my 2017 F250. Not yet anyway.

[BayouBiker]

It is an unfortunate and difficult problem because it is a harmonics thing. Live and long axle suspension are more susceptible because the longer distances bring the natural frequencies more in keeping with suspension response frequencies. Worn components allow things to get started, but it is fundamentally a geometry issue. A damper will shift the frequencies a bit and prevent amplification until it wears out, but once you have hundreds of thousands of trucks on the road you can't easily change up the geometry and who's to say you won't land on another one that is just as bad... Vehicle design is not for sissies.

[SnooMc]

We have a 2019 f350, with about 25k on it, and we've experienced the death wobble one time, driving at hwy speed. No trailer attached. Sounded like a tire blew and was flapping, and the whole truck felt like it was having a seizure, but slowing down to about 40mph made it quit.

[mikeinca]

2017 F250 Powerstroke....no death wobble problems to date. I did receive the notice from Ford extending the warranty for this potential issue to 100K miles. Although it may have no bearing, full disclosure, I do have aftermarket Bilstein gas shocks on the truck.

[KCurtis]

Mid 1970s Ford Trucks had this problem too. I experienced them personally. Some things never change. UGH!

[rideair]

Known problem, as JonDNC stated "Has been beaten to death on the Ford Truck forum". Had a new Ford truck do it with less than 5K miles on the OD.

Would suggest going there for possible "fixed until it does it again fixes". No Silver Bullet on this problem.

Not that it helps you, but on the old Chevy (1980's) K30's replacing worn King Pins was almost a 100% fix.

Good Luck,