Yep, failing ball joints would do it! Make sure a fresh alignment is performed when they're done.

 

Dustan - don't try it for $800, buy it and fix it for $800. I did everything you did to my '08 and still had the issue. Bought the WC Motorsports "Track Bar Kit" and the problem was GONE! It's an actual steering geometry issue that the manufacturer refuses to acknowledge. Had it on there for almost 2 years before I traded the truck in and NEVER saw the Death Wobble again! 'Nuff said?

Super Duty Wobble

 

Maximum,

I wanted to say thank you for the information.

Ball joints are replaced, and the issue seems to be fixed. I am going to get an alignment tomorrow and upgrade the castor bushings for safe measure.

Seems like the combination of fixes took care of the problem.

Thanks for everyones help.

 

You are very much Welcome. When the truck was new it did not have the death wobble, over a period of time with wear, it happens. Different years, different models and makes can get away with slop to a point. I would still check the rim for balance and hope the shop you chose for the alignment is good. A little puzzled why the dealership did not pick up on everything.

 

This may not be too helpful, but when I got my 08, it had 130k and I saw the death wobble a few times. I put my front receiver on almost 20k miles ago and haven't had it happen once since then.

 

Our 2012 f250 at work has a bad case of death wobble. The dealer tried a new stabilizer and then an alignment. Didn't help so we called ford. They are sending some spacers to fix the problem. Don't know what the spacers are or where they go but I'll let you know when they get here. I be it has to do with the Caster.

 

Hi Budman1962,

Were you given an ETA for the spacers? How many miles are on your work truck? I'll hang around this thread to see how the repair goes.

Crystal

 

The work truck has 50,000 miles. It still has the factory tires on it and they look great. The dealer and the alignment shop said that everything in the front end is good and tight. But when we hit a RR crossing at highway speeds it shakes uncontrollably till I get down to about 45 mph. Because the warranty is out the dealer had us call ford. They called back a few days later and said they were sending spacers to the dealer. She didn't know anything about the spacers but was told it would fix the problem. I'll keep you posted.

 

Sounds good, Budman1962; thanks for offering to keep me updated!

Crystal

 

I am also interested on the results and the spacers. I just installed the BD Diesel 1032100 Kit and The Death Wobble is still there.

 

After installing the BD kit what did you set the positive caster at?
The ford dealer is supposed to call this week about the spacers so I'll get back to you on that.

 

I told them to set it at 3 degrees. My truck is a 2009 F350 SRW. I checked all the ball joints yesterday and might just change them all out. I will probably start with the track bar bushing and ball joint.

 

It's going in for the camber shims Monday. I'll let you know if it works.

 

I had the wobble once when my 05 was fairly new. Know exactly how you feel. If I remember correctly the place I have do my alignments and rotate and balance was running the tires around 60psi for a better ride. After that happened and much reading here. It was recommeded to keep the tire pressure at 70+. I think ford even sent me a letter about it back then to. Same deal on the tires. I keep the tires at 70+ all the time now. With 132k on the clock. It hasn'the happened since. Knock on wood here now. Best of luck getting it resolved.

 

I asked the boss not to replace the tires till we knew for sure that the camber shims were the fix but he didn't listen. He had the shims installed and the tires replaced at the same time. It seems that the problem is fixed. We fit the railroad crossing several times at different speeds from 60 to 80 mph. No death wobble at all. Ford had sent the shims with some slightly different alignment specs. The tires install are cooper AT3. At slower speeds it doesn't seem to have as good of return to center as it did. That may be the tires.