I got my truck back after 3 weeks from the dealer service department. Replaced the radiator and fan blade and I had them change the serpentine belt while they had access.

Driving my truck on the Interstate I experienced the death wobble after hitting a large crack at 75 mph. Felt it in the drivers front tire. Thought the tire was coming off.

Anywho, this got me investigating and learning about this issue. Better minds than mind have talked about it but after driving 360 mile round trip today on the highways and not experiencing the death wobble I'm wondering if my initial experience with the DW was due to flat spots on the tire from sitting so long? I checked all the front end parts, visually and by yanking on various parts, and didn't see anything obvious.

I'm going to have an alignment done by a reputable shop next week and have them perform a more detail inspection while its on the lift. The guy I spoke with on the phone said he was well aware of the DW on the F250's.

I also purchased Bilstein 5100 front and rear shocks and will install those next week. From what I read of the OEM Rancheros I don't have much confidence in longevity. That and the ride is a bit rough on non-smooth highways.

I stopped by Discount Tire today to have the wheels road forced balanced to see if that could be a contributing factor to the DW and one of the techs told me that my Firestone Destination A/T tires weren't the greatest and could possible contribute to the DW.

The guy at powerstrokehelp.com says there are a few factors that contribute to DW:
1) Loose Parts
2) Lift kits
3) worn or damaged tires
4) Improper alignment
5) Not enough caster.

I'm going to tackle #4 next week I don't know if #4 will take care of #5. I might splurge and buy new tires such as the BFGoodRich All Terrain T/A K02.

I'm making this post to keep track of parts I replace or labor performed to minimized the DW.

 

My 96 F350 had a DW and it was tire balancing for me. Can't remember if it was one of both. Good luck with your problem. Here's a link:

http://www.trucktrend.com/how-to/chassis-suspension/1305dp-curring-death-wobble-tightening-up-your-steering/

 

 

I've had the occasional incidence of DW since about 33,000 miles. My truck is a '15 F-350, short bed, SRW, 4x4. It didn't happen very often but when it did you certainly remembered it. I took it into Ford after the first time and, of course, they couldn't detect any cause and had no re-currence during test drive. Last summer I decided I wanted to get serious and solve it so I took it to a local respected front end shop for an inspection prior to going back to ford. I was looking for some ammunition to go with since my truck is still under extended warranty at 67,000 mi. The shop gave it a clean bill of health with the suggestion that installing a double steering stabilizer MIGHT help to solve it but, in his opinion, the front end looked good. I went to Ford (different dealer from prior trip) and finally got a service dep't. that cared to take a look. He found that the track bar ball joint showed a little bit of play. I looked and would have missed it as did my front end shop inspection but the service manager felt it showed play and suggested replacement. Now, right about this time I needed tires so had them done along with balance, of course, AND had an alignment AND at the same time installed the double steering stabilizers. So I really can't point to any single item being at fault here but in the end with all this done it drives solid as a rock and no indication of any death wobble. I wish I had the time and desire to drive it a bit between each of these improvements but I didn't but I'm pleased with the end result and it drives like a new truck.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all. And to ALL A GOODNIGHT

Roger from NJ

 

It was the track bar, as it almost always is.

 

I had a 2012 F250 SRW 6.7 4X4 SC LB 164" for 93K miles, it produced a DW at 24K miles up front, I had worn tires (OEM Continentals 18" F250)
Went into dealer and they replaced one tie rod end due to being loose. Still got the DW but not as bad and was able to correct with a quick stab of the brakes.
Bought a set of take off platinum 20" wheels with OEM tires and they got rid of the DW till I wore the 2nd set of tires out at 37K miles then went back to the stock 18" tires brand new continentals.
4th set of tires from Yokohama that I won from the photo contest they had here on FTE! Geolandar M/T that were put onto my platinum 20" wheels.
Those tires have been great for the last 14K miles and probably are the best tires I've had on the truck. Not great for mileage on the pavement due to being MT but they hold their balance well throughout the life of the tread and have good wear. Off the pavement on the dirt/rocks or snow/mud they perform well. Dig in and good turning traction. Everything was left stock on the vehicle, even the oem shocks. Sold the truck last week and ordered a 2019 F350 DRW 6.7 FX4!

 

There are a lot of potential factors to Death Wobble. Here is a list of some, may have missed a few:

- Track Bar - this is common in a lot of vehicles - any fixed front axle from jeeps to heavier duty pickups. Very common on Jeeps.
- Ball joints
- Drag link ends
- Tie rod ends
- Steering damper
- Steering gearbox (excessive slop/play/backlash)
- Worn hubs
- Shock absorbers
- Tires
*Wear pattern
*Balance
*Flat spots from sitting
*Belt structure - if you have a broken belt inside that could throw things out of whack, you'd probably notice a vibration and poor tread wear first

At the end of the day, all that is going on under a Death Wobble instance is an oscillation. That is the intense vibration and hard steering that you get. You have to stop the oscillation. Slowing down under a speed that won't support the oscillation is what you have to do. That may mean you drop down from 70mph on the highway to 30mph to kill the oscillation.

It can be a real challenge to find the root of it.

I rebuilt the front end of my 2011 F350 after having such issues. I am sure it is a combination of a lot of things in my case, but it comes down to worn out parts - ball joints had slop in them, steering damper was shot, etc. I replaced the tie rod ends, hubs, ball joints, drag link, drag link ball joint on the axle, and replaced the bad steering damper with what was somewhat an experiment, but has been more permanent - a dual steering stabilizer I made out of the stock rear shocks (I replaced the stock shocks not too long after I bought the truck). It isn't 100%, but I have no death wobble. The wear pattern on the tires is bad, the shocks need replaced, and I suspect the steering gearbox needs tended to.

Just a thought - with there being a lot of parts that could contribute to Death Wobble my thought is to surpress the potential as far down the mechanical chain in the steering as possible. That would be right at the tie rod and is why I tried the dual stabilizer idea. The tie rod is before the drag link, pitman arm, and steering gearbox and there isn't a logical way to add any surpression at the knuckes/hubs. With my tires having bad wear until those are replaced with new ones and balanced correctly I have the supression in my steering system as far down as I can get it and it works.

If you are trying to keep the front steering system as stock as possible, to limit down time and head banging trying to figure it out, you really need to bite the bullet and replace everything. If the front end is taken apart so far as to replace hubs you might as well replace ball joints while you're in there, for example. An extra hundred or two hundred dollars in parts when you've already either dug in to it or paid someone to dig in to it won't seem so expensive when you consider the time and/or money to get back in there yourself or pay someone to get back in there.