Oscillation in steering - aka death wobble
New User
Joined: Apr 2021
Posts: 7
Likes: 2
@Lin19687 Yeah sorry, I forgot to really answer the main question 
. I think I may have had a mixture of the two, but after those parts being replaced and the dual SS I started to love my truck again.
Yeah I agre, Ford acts like it isn't a problem at all which is quite annoying since you have to go aftermarket for some parts.
. I think I may have had a mixture of the two, but after those parts being replaced and the dual SS I started to love my truck again.Yeah I agre, Ford acts like it isn't a problem at all which is quite annoying since you have to go aftermarket for some parts.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 3,778
Likes: 153
Just a few comments on DW:
Been dealing with it since 1969.
Don't think Ford is special, had it on my Corvette, had it on my Harley, Jeeps, Stuperduty.
What causes it? Root cause is in the Trackbar. Track bar's job is to keep the axle group centered under the vehicle. Very difficult to do on Superduty due to the size/weight of the axle group.
Input from the road: Expansion strip, pothole, speed bump you just name it causes and action and sends a shock wave thru the suspension. They wear on the Trackbar attachment points, they cause the axle to move left and right due to wear. As time goes by wear gets worse and at some point in time, DW raises its ugly head.
But What about the Steering Stabilizer? It's there and its job is to mitigate the lateral inputs. Over time the Track rod wears and the SS finally gets the point it cannot handle the inputs and DW shows up.
TIP at the FIRST indication of DW, replace the SS and maybe the Track Bar also.
Why does DW get so bad? Because most are in a state of denial (which is NOT a river in Egypt). They continue to deal with DW without taking action until what time DW literally takes over, then they want to go screaming to the FORD to fix my truck. However, the cause of the DW, Wear, spreads like cancer thru the suspension system.
Can anything else cause DW? YES!!!!!! Shocks, tires, low tire pressure, ball joints, or better said: Anything that hangs under the frame out to the wheels/tires and is a contributor to DW.
Can it be fixed? YES, it can been doing it for at least the past 25 years. Several ways I prefer to change the suspension (if it's out of warranty). Make your suspension components all parallel, cut off the steering box and rotate it until the drag link is a straight bar, no linkage that is not straight, no Y's or over and under, all straight lines. Cut off the frame link from the frame and lengthen to obtain parallelism, use a double shear Johnny joint where the track bar attaches to the frame. There are other approaches if you are in warranty.
Ford, Jeep, etc could redesign their suspension and have it work, but the bean counters insist on cheaper Y designs and thus you have issues and have had issues for over 50 years and longer is my bet.
Been dealing with it since 1969.
Don't think Ford is special, had it on my Corvette, had it on my Harley, Jeeps, Stuperduty.
What causes it? Root cause is in the Trackbar. Track bar's job is to keep the axle group centered under the vehicle. Very difficult to do on Superduty due to the size/weight of the axle group.
Input from the road: Expansion strip, pothole, speed bump you just name it causes and action and sends a shock wave thru the suspension. They wear on the Trackbar attachment points, they cause the axle to move left and right due to wear. As time goes by wear gets worse and at some point in time, DW raises its ugly head.
But What about the Steering Stabilizer? It's there and its job is to mitigate the lateral inputs. Over time the Track rod wears and the SS finally gets the point it cannot handle the inputs and DW shows up.
TIP at the FIRST indication of DW, replace the SS and maybe the Track Bar also.
Why does DW get so bad? Because most are in a state of denial (which is NOT a river in Egypt). They continue to deal with DW without taking action until what time DW literally takes over, then they want to go screaming to the FORD to fix my truck. However, the cause of the DW, Wear, spreads like cancer thru the suspension system.
Can anything else cause DW? YES!!!!!! Shocks, tires, low tire pressure, ball joints, or better said: Anything that hangs under the frame out to the wheels/tires and is a contributor to DW.
Can it be fixed? YES, it can been doing it for at least the past 25 years. Several ways I prefer to change the suspension (if it's out of warranty). Make your suspension components all parallel, cut off the steering box and rotate it until the drag link is a straight bar, no linkage that is not straight, no Y's or over and under, all straight lines. Cut off the frame link from the frame and lengthen to obtain parallelism, use a double shear Johnny joint where the track bar attaches to the frame. There are other approaches if you are in warranty.
Ford, Jeep, etc could redesign their suspension and have it work, but the bean counters insist on cheaper Y designs and thus you have issues and have had issues for over 50 years and longer is my bet.
New User
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
From: Haslet, Texas
Dropped my f350 SRW off at the dealer because of a second instance of severe oscillation in the front end after hitting a bump. The first time the dealer said it was a low tire and alignment. I let that ride for the time being because I did not have time to deal with it. The truck still did not feel right. I would still get more than what I consider reasonable steering shake when hitting a bump, as well as a feeling of the steering going light after hitting a bump. Over Christmas the wife and I were rolling down the interstate at 75 when we crossed an expansion joint and the steering went into a violent oscillation and was increasing in intensity. I had limited control on the truck, hit the brakes, tried to put the truck on the shoulder without loosing it off in the embankment or getting clobbered by the semis behind me. The oscillation did not stop until I slowed to 10 or so mph. Anyway, told the dealer this is not safe - fix it, my family and I would have died if I would have been towing my 5th wheel. Dealer says they found the issue and I need a new track bar and stabilizer, however, they are on backorder and they think it will be "released for shipping" next week. That sounds to me like a design change or service bulletin has occurred if the parts need to be "released for shipping".
Cargo Master
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 2,243
Likes: 554
Just a few comments on DW:
Been dealing with it since 1969.
Don't think Ford is special, had it on my Corvette, had it on my Harley, Jeeps, Stuperduty.
What causes it? Root cause is in the Trackbar. Track bar's job is to keep the axle group centered under the vehicle. Very difficult to do on Superduty due to the size/weight of the axle group.
Input from the road: Expansion strip, pothole, speed bump you just name it causes and action and sends a shock wave thru the suspension. They wear on the Trackbar attachment points, they cause the axle to move left and right due to wear. As time goes by wear gets worse and at some point in time, DW raises its ugly head.
But What about the Steering Stabilizer? It's there and its job is to mitigate the lateral inputs. Over time the Track rod wears and the SS finally gets the point it cannot handle the inputs and DW shows up.
TIP at the FIRST indication of DW, replace the SS and maybe the Track Bar also.
Why does DW get so bad? Because most are in a state of denial (which is NOT a river in Egypt). They continue to deal with DW without taking action until what time DW literally takes over, then they want to go screaming to the FORD to fix my truck. However, the cause of the DW, Wear, spreads like cancer thru the suspension system.
Can anything else cause DW? YES!!!!!! Shocks, tires, low tire pressure, ball joints, or better said: Anything that hangs under the frame out to the wheels/tires and is a contributor to DW.
Can it be fixed? YES, it can been doing it for at least the past 25 years. Several ways I prefer to change the suspension (if it's out of warranty). Make your suspension components all parallel, cut off the steering box and rotate it until the drag link is a straight bar, no linkage that is not straight, no Y's or over and under, all straight lines. Cut off the frame link from the frame and lengthen to obtain parallelism, use a double shear Johnny joint where the track bar attaches to the frame. There are other approaches if you are in warranty.
Ford, Jeep, etc could redesign their suspension and have it work, but the bean counters insist on cheaper Y designs and thus you have issues and have had issues for over 50 years and longer is my bet.
Been dealing with it since 1969.
Don't think Ford is special, had it on my Corvette, had it on my Harley, Jeeps, Stuperduty.
What causes it? Root cause is in the Trackbar. Track bar's job is to keep the axle group centered under the vehicle. Very difficult to do on Superduty due to the size/weight of the axle group.
Input from the road: Expansion strip, pothole, speed bump you just name it causes and action and sends a shock wave thru the suspension. They wear on the Trackbar attachment points, they cause the axle to move left and right due to wear. As time goes by wear gets worse and at some point in time, DW raises its ugly head.
But What about the Steering Stabilizer? It's there and its job is to mitigate the lateral inputs. Over time the Track rod wears and the SS finally gets the point it cannot handle the inputs and DW shows up.
TIP at the FIRST indication of DW, replace the SS and maybe the Track Bar also.
Why does DW get so bad? Because most are in a state of denial (which is NOT a river in Egypt). They continue to deal with DW without taking action until what time DW literally takes over, then they want to go screaming to the FORD to fix my truck. However, the cause of the DW, Wear, spreads like cancer thru the suspension system.
Can anything else cause DW? YES!!!!!! Shocks, tires, low tire pressure, ball joints, or better said: Anything that hangs under the frame out to the wheels/tires and is a contributor to DW.
Can it be fixed? YES, it can been doing it for at least the past 25 years. Several ways I prefer to change the suspension (if it's out of warranty). Make your suspension components all parallel, cut off the steering box and rotate it until the drag link is a straight bar, no linkage that is not straight, no Y's or over and under, all straight lines. Cut off the frame link from the frame and lengthen to obtain parallelism, use a double shear Johnny joint where the track bar attaches to the frame. There are other approaches if you are in warranty.
Ford, Jeep, etc could redesign their suspension and have it work, but the bean counters insist on cheaper Y designs and thus you have issues and have had issues for over 50 years and longer is my bet.
. i think what they did adresses two of the main problems on the fords. get rid of the ball joint for a double shear through bolt connection and in the process it appears the bracket raises the axle side of the bar alittle so the bar angle is a bit flatter thus better equiped to handle lateral loadshttps://bajacustoms.com/trac-inator-2.html
Logistics Pro
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 3,778
Likes: 153
have you seen the tracinator . i think what they did adresses two of the main problems on the fords. get rid of the ball joint for a double shear through bolt connection and in the process it appears the bracket raises the axle side of the bar alittle so the bar angle is a bit flatter thus better equiped to handle lateral loads
https://bajacustoms.com/trac-inator-2.html
. i think what they did adresses two of the main problems on the fords. get rid of the ball joint for a double shear through bolt connection and in the process it appears the bracket raises the axle side of the bar alittle so the bar angle is a bit flatter thus better equiped to handle lateral loadshttps://bajacustoms.com/trac-inator-2.html
ChroMo Track Bar with Johnny joint and the Track bar dropped mount I fabbed, there is your fix for the snake track bar
Tuned
Joined: Mar 2021
Posts: 370
Likes: 178
So I believe death wobble and this spring oscillation phenomenon are two separate issues. I have a 2005 F350 with an aftermarket track bar and I recently have had a violent axle/spring oscillation occur when hitting a significant bump. The steering wheel isn’t wobbling back and forth, the axle is moving like a seesaw and seems to self energize and gets worse even when I slow down. I’m thinking the shocks aren’t working because I’ve never had this problem until now.
And when I mean angle, I mean where the joints are in relation to each other. Your panhard could be the shape of a pretzel, but the only thing that matters is a straight line distance qnd angle from joint to joint.
have you seen the tracinator . i think what they did adresses two of the main problems on the fords. get rid of the ball joint for a double shear through bolt connection and in the process it appears the bracket raises the axle side of the bar alittle so the bar angle is a bit flatter thus better equiped to handle lateral loads
https://bajacustoms.com/trac-inator-2.html
. i think what they did adresses two of the main problems on the fords. get rid of the ball joint for a double shear through bolt connection and in the process it appears the bracket raises the axle side of the bar alittle so the bar angle is a bit flatter thus better equiped to handle lateral loadshttps://bajacustoms.com/trac-inator-2.html
Unless you're making the steering drag link flatter too, you're introducing bump steer...
Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 7,946
Likes: 4,037
I have had DW on my 2012 even though all components were new. I guess the PO was tired of it after replacing the entire steering linkages, and all new brakes. I'll bet he hit the brakes one time and had the right front caliper stick and said, screw it and trade it in. Turned out the hose was bad. Anyway, I hit a bad section of road and sure enough, Death Wobble. Man that wheel sure gets a shakin. I cured it for now with a Bilstien Stabilizer. The Motorcraft that was on there was still new, but just could not settle the front end down. I went over the same section of road at the same speed many many times and no longer have it, BUT, I can still feel it trying to shaky shake itself. The only full cure is to take away the shopping cart tendency of the wheels with some additional Caster, but need new inserts installed for that, so a project for later if I decide to keep the truck.
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