Anyone else having this problem with their 3/4 ton and above 4WD trucks?
I'm going to take my 3/4 ton to a specialty shop and have them beef up the suspension along with HD dampers. Also considering a small lift.

Doc Hayworth said:

---

Anyone else having this problem with their 3/4 ton and above 4WD trucks?
I'm going to take my 3/4 ton to a specialty shop and have them beef up the suspension along with HD dampers. Also considering a small lift.

---

Have you made any changes recently? Or has this always been an issue. Troubleshooting 101, find out "what changed".

Also, speaking from the Jeep community, my death wobble was associated with driveshaft angle due to lifting the vehicle. So any changes to the suspension and drive train geometry can and will affect vibration.

F250? Yeah mine started about 10 days ago. It's a known problem but not a recall. Dealership said it should be covered under warranty but they can't get to it for a month.

Even some in here will try to tell you that steering stabilizers will fix death wobble or that it fixed it for them. As Furlock Bones mentioned many shops and will push new stabilizers. They know that it will temporarily cover up the problem. The problem will usually go away long enough for you to be happy a while and them to be able to say you have another issue or your stabilizers just wore out. Many hope you will be in a new vehicle by that point and that it will be someone else's problem.

I have had it happen two times in my F250. Both times was with tires that had very high mileage (90k plus and 65k plus). I got new sets of tires and it resolved the issue both times.

JD05AG said:

---

F250? Yeah mine started about 10 days ago. It's a known problem but not a recall. Dealership said it should be covered under warranty but they can't get to it for a month.

---

Don't let them push stabilizers as the solution. Someone in a previous death wobble post was going on about how steering stabilizers are recommended by Ford as a solution and that it worked for them. As many people will tell you they will work for a while but eventually they wear out because the underlying problem was never solved. The dealership will probably be very happy to push stabilizers because by the time the issue shows again you will be out of warranty and their cheap (for them) stabilizer fix will now be something that makes them quite a bit more money when they actually get to dive in and solve the problem with more expensive parts and labor.

My 04 Ram developed it. I replaced the hubs, shocks and steering stabilizers about 130,000 miles ago and have never had the issue again

Dealer said I should consider HD dampers. My front tires were worn. and I had not rotated them prior to this starting 4 weeks ago. That's my fault. they rotated my tires and it seems to have fixed the problem for now. they also went through to make sure everything was torqued to spec.

I may need to go ahead and buy new tires and make sure to keep them rotated. thats the only thing I can think of that started this.

Six months ago I had nails in both back sidewalls and had new tires put on. The original tires were still on the front. It was after this that I started noticing some vibration. It may be my fault for not rotating or by not just replacing the entire set. Maybe I should have put the new tires on the front?

Mine has been in the shop for a total of 7 days over the past 3 weeks, Dealer hasn't charged me anything, since it's covered under warranty.

Ford initially told me I caused the problem by putting a Ranch hand Guard on the front. I called BS on that. it's been on there since the day I bought it back in 2017.

great advice

Following for education if it pops up on my new F250. Did not have an issue on my last 2011 with 195K miles.

Over a million miles total combined on my Chevy 3/4 ton 4x4s in the past 30 years and I've never had this problem. But I've never felt the need to lift one either.

besides everything already stated (particularly worn/loose ball joints/knuckles and rod ends), alignment can cause/fix death wobble too, I forget the exact number but there's a minimum amount of toe-in your front tires should have...I wanna say it's something like 1/4 or 3/8"

Worn or loose steering linkages and axle attachments is going to be the vast majority of problems. Rod ends, factory bushings, ball joints, don't last forever and heavier tires don't help. Bolts need to be re-torqued on occasion.

My dad had it on his 3/4 ton, 4wd, GMC. Took it back to the dealer and they fixed it. No idea what they did, but it's fixed and hasn't come back in over a year.

Ford did this the first time I went in since stabilizer was blown. Still had the issues took it back a month or so later and they replaced everything. Was good until I upgraded everything with the suspension. Have Carli track bar and link as well as the front radius arms. Other once to have them check is the camber I believe. Whatever is the one that controls the tilt into and away from the vehicle. Some are in spec but a lot more neutral if I remember right which can cause the problem to show up more

Negative castor will lead to death wobble. If you've lifted need to use new bushing (Ford) or adjust cam (dodge)

I was one of the folks that Ford did that to, on a stock diesel 3/4, under warranty. Didn't know any better but also didn't keep the truck long,

My F250 started the wobble several years after I got it. I put on a new set of tires and it went away for about 9 months. Tires were still in great shape so I put on a steering stabilizer system. Problem went away for about two years but slowly started coming back. It was time for new tires so I put on a new set. Still had the wobble. Crawled up under it and discovered that the rubber bushing in the steering stabilizer arm was worn out. Replaced the bushing and took off the steering stabilizer system about a year ago. So far the wobble has not returned.

I talked with a mechanic I met through one of my admin's about it. He is a Toyota mechanic now but worked for Ford for over 20 years. He claims that if your truck has the wobble, either your tires are to blame or there is slack in your steering system caused by some part starting to wear out. Could be ball joints, bushings, slack in your steering box or some other steering related part. Based on my experience, i tend to believe him. Steering stabilizer systems will help for a while but once the part is worn enough, even they wont stop it

Not everyone wobbles for the same reason. Like others stated above (and the graphic is a good start), run through things step by step.

I had a 2011 f250 that started wobbling about 15k. Track bar bushing was shot. Replaced under warranty. Would later level it, go through a couple sets of BFG's, then trail graps, replaced garbage Rancho shocks with bilsteins (ranchos were trash by 20k!!!), and rack up 170k miles. Never had any rough riding, wobble, or even alignment problems after replacing that trac bar.

My dad got a 2012 right after me. Always used the same Michelin's, never lifted or leveled, never replaced shocks and now at 200k he's just starting to get wobble. Haven't diagnosed it yet, but step by step we will.

Just had my first death wobble in my '14 F350 with almost 90k... scared the **** out of me and I was sure I had blown out a tire

Lots of good responses. Have had death wobble with multiple F-250's. I purchased a single cab, 3/4 ton, gasoline this past December. Only have 18,000 miles on it and has "wobbled" multiple times. It started once the weather got cool and my tire pressure was low. I checked vehicle specs and increased tire air pressure. It solved my trouble on this vehicle. Others went to the dealership. I would make sure and check tire air pressure first.

Since I was an idiot and didn't rotate my tires for 38k miles, I put a complete new set on and problem solved. I won't do that again.

There's a lot of guys on the Ford forums that talk about replacing the stock Michelin's with something else and the problem going away. Other big change that people mention that has helped has been new caster shims. Ford's apparently don't have enough caster from the factory.

I had it on my '19 and was planning on leveling it anyways. Put a Carli Backcountry kit on it and haven't had a problem since. I know most don't care to or want to lift or level, but just passing the info on.

I have had the wobble a few times in the last 15 years on my 99 Dodge Ram 2500 4WD. A couple of times was when I was pulling an empty trailer. I would just either speed up or slow down to make it go away. Changing tires or adjusting tire air pressure made it go away for me.

Had death wobble 5 times on a trip up 281 between about Encino and Three Rivers. Limped the rest of the way home with white knuckles. Roughly 39K miles on a '17 F350, no lift or anything like that. Original tires at the time (P'sOS Generals) pretty much worn out. This was last June if I recall correctly.

Bought new tires the next day. No more death wobble, but most definitely still a shimmy at certain speeds, just enough to make you wonder if the death wobble if fixing to happen again.

After the tires, the drag link and steering stabilizer were replaced, caster adjustment and alignment. Slight improvement but still some shimmy. Got talked into another stabilizer, Fox ATS, at a truck accessory place...$600 later, no change...still had the shimmy and decided I'd just live with the sorry a$$ Ford front end.

Fast forward to this past Sunday running 85-90mph up I-45 between Conroe and Buffalo trying to not get run over, watching my hand shake while holding the top of the steering wheel. Up to 48K miles now. Decided to give the front end shop another try before my complete disgust set in on a trade for another potential problem. Left there late yesterday with a new pitman arm and one tie rod end (both parts according to the shop owner who is a friend of mine said had some slack but not bad enough he'd change them on his own vehicle) along with an alignment, and best I can tell so far the shimmy is gone.

Long story short, apparently it doesn't take much wear on Ford SD front end parts to cause problems. Also, the $ I spent on the Fox stabilizer were a complete waste.

Had it twice on my 99 SD, belt shifted in a front tire both times. Buy better tires and stop hitting potholes

I just bought a 2016 F350 with 38k miles on it and the original Michelins. All stock grandpa looking truck and I got the death wobble for the first time a few weeks back while driving 55mph on slight curve and hit a expansion joint or maybe it was a center marker. Scared the hell out of me. The tires still have pretty good tread left., but if you are telling me that I HAVE to go get new bigger tires, I guess I will

Just took my 2017 to the dealer...he said they have an after market fix which ford does not pay for and that it is very common 250/350's...this is BS my truck is still under warranty...note there is a class action lawsuit pending

Colonel A. 1976 said:

---

Just took my 2017 to the dealer...he said they have an after market fix which ford does not pay for and that it is very common 250/350's...this is BS my truck is still under warranty...note there is a class action lawsuit pending

---

Any idea what the aftermarket fix is?

I've found a couple service bulletins online, but seems they only address caster adjustment and the stabilizer.