Had my 2017 in to the dealer AGAIN for death wobble issue. Everything according to them has been replaced that they can possibly do with regard to the steering and they could find nothing wrong. Guess what, it happened 4 times after I left the dealer within 45 minutes, and seemed worse. Fortunately, I had a Ford employee with me when it happened, comment was "the truck is a death trap". So I am driving an expensive death trap. Maybe when people are killed as a result of this issue Ford will be forced to find a solution. My DW usually occurs anywhere between 35 and 60 miles per hour. I have a F250SD 4WD. This has been going on it seems like forever. Now up to 43000 miles. My DW wobble literally takes the steering wheel out of my hands. There are times when it shakes so violently that it almost feels like the truck and front axle want to separate and go in different directions.

I want to say that my dealer and I know him supports me and they have what I feel are an exceptional service team, the issue is beyond them and rests with Ford. I love this truck, but it is causing me to lose faith with Ford. I am 72 and have been Ford all along. I had one of the first 2011's that came out and had the DW, thought I got away from it by getting a newer truck, but now believe it is a systemic problem. I has a '99 SDF250, put 250,000 miles on and never a problem.

 

What are your caster numbers?

 

Don’t know the service history, but has the death wobble happened on the same set of tires? Have the tires been swapped out or checked?

i ask because a few years ago I put my summer tires back on after winter storage and they were out of balance real bad; steering wheel shaking. Had been fine when I took them off in the Fall. One tire had to be replaced, and the other three are still slightly out of balance. I live with it because the tires are fairly new and it’s not my daily driver anymore.

 

Details on tires?


I would ask the dealer to install aftermarket shocks and steering stabilizer.

 

I always suggest tires. My step-dad had an 89 Chevy 3500 4x4 CCLB, square body bought new. Had death wobble that caused you to pull over to a stop. Changed everything as far as hard parts and an alignment, still did it. Put on new tires, never happened again.

I used to drive a friends dump truck, like an 85 chevy dually 4x4. Same thing same solution. Try tires- see if they will swap tires off a different truck off the lot and let you drive to the spot where you know you can recreate it. My money is it will stop.

 

Sale truck. Unload the POS. Go to GM or Dodge. Why carry the cross.....

 

+1, some issues dealerships cannot fix.

Bruce

 

Just don't get the dodge 4X4 with solid front axle, could happen with it as well. Chevy is independent front I believe.

 

New tires turned out to be the fix on my 2011. Get your dealer to put a set on from a new truck on the lot and try it out for a few days. That is what my dealer did and I knew almost immediately that the ride had improved. The tires that I had on the truck still had lots of tread left on them and looked perfectly fine but something obviously was wrong internally.
Gary

 

Do you have a list of they have replaced?

Do you have your caster/camber numbers or do you know they have been reset and confirmed?

Dealers have limits as to what they can or will do.

Do you know what can be a source of DW? ANY and EVERY thing from the frame down to the pavement!

Wheel bearings
Shocks
Ball Joints
Track Bar
Tie Rod
Tires
Loose bolts/nuts improper torque
Bent components
Tire Pressure
ETC

If it's under the front end then it can be a source or a contributor.

You need to find a compent mech that understands DW and know the approach of how to mitigate it. A dealership has restraints of what the "Book" says, what they do or check.

DW if fixable ( I have done it, know it and understand it) in some cases, especially those that have long suffered DW it begins to affect more and more components. Early on maybe a stronger Steering stabilizer would have fixed it, but as time goes by more and more components wear. If you have a good long-standing off-road shop in your area you might turn to them, but ask if they know, understand and have FIXED and what they did to fix.

As for Ram and Chev, if they use front coil suspension they too are candidates for DW and have just like Ford. Motorcycles get it (ask me HOW I KNOW!), shopping carts, you name it. Solid axle with leaf spring does not, key is the 2 leaf springs which hold the axle group firmly in place.

Best of luck in your quest.

 

X2 on tires. Mine did it real bad about 4 times on the highway. added air to the specification of the tires, been 3 months no repeat incident 11,000 miles on truck

 

I experienced the DW with 29k miles on my truck. I only had the truck a few months...it was a prior Enterprise rental. Based on the service report, it appeared the truck had 2 previous alignments. My dealer applied the death wobble TSB, then I replaced the worn Continental tires and installed a steering stabilizer about the same time. It has been almost a year and 10k miles later and I have not experienced the wobble again. I love this truck but it rides rough.....I sure miss the IFS on my previous Silverados.

 

Great post, but that is not exactly true. Death wobble is well know on solid axle, leaf sprung rigs as well. I posted this in another thread too, the old solid axle leaf sprung Toyotas, when built up, lifted for offroad/rock crawling type use, are susceptible to DW. Usually its because caster is way out from the lift, but also large tires and flexy leaf springs contribute to it.

I bone stock, heavy duty truck in 2019 should not be having such a problem.

 

Just talking OEM here...

But since you brought it up: Pick ANY component and go outside the design parameters and issues/fails and all kinds of stuff happens and that goes in SPADES for suspension modifications.

 

As others have already mentioned and I'll vote for it too. Replace the tires!