Our Fire Department purchased a Job 3, F-350 CC, 172"WB, 4x4, 6-speed, plow prep package and dual alternators as a command vehicle. The truck is a take home vehicle for me so I have the most seat time in it. The truck has ~7000 miles on it and has done the death wobble twice in the past 2-3 weeks. After reading posts on this I will check the panhard bar mounting bolts tomorrow. I just wanted people to know that it is occuring on the Job 3 trucks as well. Take care...Jeff

 

Confused as to TSB and warranty.

I just purchased an 06 250 46k miles and this thing tore the steering wheel out of my hands. I called the dealer and they said " it's NOT a recall the TSB, just tell them where to look fo rthe problem.

Amazing, Ford knows about this and knows it's their fault YET I have to pay to have it fixed.

Granted it's out of warranty, granted the previous guy didn't do the fix, but still.

I mean if Ford knows they screwed up - FIX IT.

 

Can not argue with that. To bad Ford (they are not the only ones) will not step up to the plate. I agree with this problem being a design flaw of the coil spring front end. Take care...Jeff

 

First I heard about a WB problem with the 2008's. Please let us know what you find out. Mine is rock solid and I have about the same mileage. Further, I never heard of the panhard bar. I will look under my front end tomorrow. Good luck in your resolve.

 

I have had the "old, no name lift" removed and replaced with a 6 inch Fab tech kit....this did not fix the problem, but it is a better kit, and I can rationalize anything...lol. What did fix the problem, and Im talking a wobble so bad I think both the mechanics that test drove it , **** their pants...was a dual steering stabalizer. Whether it fixed it , or masked it, its gone. It been in for a few months and not a hint of the wobble.
Thanks for all of those you posted, much appreciated.

 

I will. Should be able to crawl under there tomorrow and take a look. Maybe I got some of the posts confused but I believe solid axle trucks front axles are still located laterally with a panhard bar. Even the coil spring ones, guess I will see tomorrow. Take care...Jeff

 

Glad to hear your truck is driving better, it definitely puckers you up when it happens. Our old ambulance (Ford) did it regularly and you had to be on your game while transporting down our two lane mountain road. Take care...Jeff

 

Well today was a good day, I learned something new. Apparently the '08 front axles are located laterally via the radius arms, no panhard bar. I was not able to check the bolts under there for tightness yet, so I still have yet to solve this problem.

 

I just purchase a 2006 42K miles and a extreme death wobble. Shook the wheel out of my hands on the freeway home.

After reading here I took off the almost new BFG tires and put on Goodyear
Wrangler Featuring Silent Armor Technology, and it cleared up the problem.

I still went with the dual steering stabilizer PRO COMP, and an alignment alignment wasn't that far off anyway.

Then finished it off with new Bilstein shocks.

I took it for a long highway and rough pot hole run on the freeway trying to force a wobble, and I couldn't duplicate the wobble.

I can't say for sure what cured it because I did it all at once, but just glad it's gone.

 

It was the stabilizer

 

krewat Roget that.

The dealer gave the truck away when I purchased it thinking he had a lemon, and I bought it and now have sweeeeeet Lemonaid.

Thanks for all the advice.

 

All of the comments have been very informative. I do have one question regarding death wobble. Perhaps I technically should start a new thread, but I'll risk it and post it here. From all that I have read here and elsewhere, I am not clear as to whether 2WD SD's have this problem as well. I am likely going to be purchasing a 2006 F-250 2WD and if DW is an issue, I would like to go ahead and install a good steering stabilizer as a preventative measure.

Larry

 

I've only heard about it with the 4x4's, but anything is possible. I've driven a few straight-axle (and twin I-beam) trucks in the past, and they all had some type of bump-steer.

The "death wobble" is an oscillation that occurs where the wheels NEVER stop going back and forth on their own. My guess is that it's the steering box fighting the wheels and it won't stop.

The 4x4 coil-spring setup has the stabilizer near the pitman arm, while an aftermarket setup is as far away from the steering box as it can get on the passenger side.

The fact that the stock stabilizer is so weak, coupled with it's location, leads to the hydraulic system in the steering box oscillating. Even a stronger aftermarket stabilizer in the stock location does not seem to fix it. The only thing that really totally gets rid of it is the aftermarket stabilizers on the passenger side.

I know, tire pressure, alignment, and lots of other things have a lot to do with death wobble, but if you never EVER want it to come back, a good aftermarket dual stabilizer seems to really get rid of it.

For the 4x2, I just don't recall many people complaining about it - it's still there I'm sure, but not the continuous oscillation, just the normal "bump steer" you get in a TRUCK

 

Thanks for the reply Art. I can live with the "bump steer". If I get anything worse than that later on I can always add a dual steering stabilizer or whatever else is necessary.

Larry

 

Well, I don't even own a SD yet, and the death wobble is making me #*#$^ my pants....because I'm super close to buying a bone stock 2006 with 25K miles on it. I've been looking for a nice, newer, and SAFE truck for me and my family (my current truck is a beater, som I'm trying to upgrade).

Would it be safe to say that every 2005-2007 4X4 owner has experienced the wobble at one time or another?

Can someone give the name of the aftermarket dual stabilizer and its price? (If not, could you please PM me with it?)

And lastly, would installing the dual void the existing factory warranty that is on the truck I am looking at?


What scares me the most is that the truck is 200 miles from me.....so I cannot test drive it easily, I need to drive there first, and hopefully get it to replicate the wobble during the test drive. If not on the test drive, I guess its fair to assume it would happen on the way home if I buy it?

THANKS!! Great info in this thread, never knew of such a thing.