What drivers should do if they experience the ‘death wobble’

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Customers call it the Ford “Death Wobble.”

Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke first reported the issue in February and more than 30 people have complained to him so far. Some are local, like Dave Ellison and Brian Farley and his wife.

“We’ve been sadly disappointed,” Brian Farley said.

“I thought one of my wheels was loose and a front tire was going to come off,” Dave Ellison told Stoogenke. “The thing just started shaking tremendously and I actually started looking for an escape route off the highway not knowing which way I could go because of the traffic. I was heavily in traffic.”

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Some live in other states, like Ricky Luna in Texas and Ivan Wolder in California.

“I was coming off the freeway on the off-ramp, and, all of a sudden, I got this violent shaking and it’s been doing it ever since, which is really weird,” Wolder told Stoogenke. “The shaking gets so violent, everything comes flying off the dashboard and it’s crazy.”

Ford hasn’t issued a recall over the issue, but the class action lawsuit Stoogenke reported on in February is still going on.

The lawsuit involves 2005-2019 Ford F-250 and F-350 trucks. The plaintiffs say customers usually feel the wobble when they’re going above “50 miles per hour and one of the tires hits a groove or bump in the road.” The lawsuit claims 12 people had accidents and injuries and more than 1,200 filed complaints with the federal government.

“I hope before anybody gets killed that Ford steps forward and realizes that they do have a problem with these trucks and they need to resolve the issues as soon as possible,” Ellison said.

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Ford won’t comment while the case is going on. So it won’t say what the fix is. But, that said, many of the people Stoogenke spoke with tried repairs and say some helped. The most common ones:

The steering damper/ steering stabilizer
Caster and camber
Track bar bushing

These may sound like a foreign language to some people, but they may be worth a shot.

Plus, if you have the wobble, take the truck to the dealer, if for no other reason than to document the problem. And, if you spend any money because of the vibration, save your receipts, just in case there’s a recall, legal settlement, or some other way for you to get reimbursed later.