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Old 11-01-2021, 11:16 PM   #1
Gubs
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Death Wobble

Anyone out there with F-350 that has experienced the Death Wabble yet? We just returned from a 3,700 mile trip and experienced this three times, scared the holy Sh t out of me. I thought I had blown a tire, but checked the monitor and all tires had the right amount of air. I guess, from what I've read, 2005 thur 2020 Ford 250 and 350's have had this problem and ford does NOTHING about it. HELP.
 
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Old 11-02-2021, 05:12 AM   #2
RMcNeal
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I've had that on my 2014 since new. It only seems to appear at 40-45 MPH. Any faster or slower and the wobble goes away. According to a Ford Engineer, the problem is due to the "C" channel frame rather than using a full boxed frame. There's supposedly no way to fix it. My solution is to either speed up or slow down. I've gotten so used to it now that I rarely notice it. They used to call it the "Super Duty Hop".
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Old 11-02-2021, 07:04 AM   #3
Daryles
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2016 F350 crew cab 8' bed dually 36750 miles. Out of warranty.
From what I have researched, all big 4wd trucks can experience this under the right conditions.
We experienced this for the first time Nov 2019 on the horrible roads of Philly in rush hour traffic. Death wobble underneath (not us BTW)
https://youtu.be/07yvJuhnUYM
DW was driving. Very scary. Slowed down and brought it under control.
Never happened with RV hitched.
Took it to a repair shop in Va Beach. Used to live there. These guys work on monster trucks. They said there is a TSB out on this. They changed both front tires and balanced them. Changed all 4 shocks to heavy duty. Upgraded the steering dampener to a heavy duty one. Did a full alignment. Drove home to Mo. No problems. $1200!!!
2 years later again on the terrible roads of Philadelphia, at 70mph in rush hour we hit a bridge seam and "DEATH WOBBLE" worse than I've never had. Researched problem again. Again they say Steering dampener, track bar/bal joint, outer tie rods.
I looked and saw The shocks and steering dampener that they installed was some no name brand. I ordered a Bilstien steering dampener for 2016 F350.
Bilstein 24-196284 B8 5100 Steering Damper Front B8 5100 Steering Damper https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009FU6WTO...ing=UTF8&psc=1
It's not hard to change, just make sure you have a good torque wrench. Also you will need to take the tapered mounting bar from the old one and put it on the new one.
You do not have to jack up the truck. You can do it laying on the ground.
After I changed it I test drove it and it was good. BTW, the one I took out had absolutely NO resistance whatsoever. It was totally worn out after only 2 years (30,000 miles).
The truck drove fine after that.
After we got home, I took it to my local Ford dealership and gave them the history. They changed the outer tie rods, track bar/ball joint and did an alignment.
I'm still going to change all the shocks to Bilstien shocks.
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Old 11-02-2021, 07:15 AM   #4
Montana Man
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Our tv does not experience this. If I remember correctly it was spoken to previously on the forum. Jeeps are notorious for this since they are often improperly lifted and modified beyond recognition. For a late model, unmodified truck to do this is unacceptable. Kind of like our trailers, if the factory won't make it right we have to fix it ourselves.
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Old 11-02-2021, 08:05 AM   #5
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I have read on the forums of all 3 having the same problem. But I have had a 2004 F250, 2007 F350, and 2012 F350 and never experienced it.
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Old 11-02-2021, 08:21 AM   #6
Ron & Izzy
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gubs View Post
Anyone out there with F-350 that has experienced the Death Wabble yet? HELP.
steering dampener
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Old 11-02-2021, 08:24 AM   #7
R.S.O'Donnell
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I know it's a phenomenon that's possible on all straight front axle 4x4's. We had it BAD on our 71 CJ5 and 78 Jeep Honcho J-10 pickup both were stock and had stabilizers but didn't seem to help much if at all.

It appears all marques are still trying to resolve it:



We haven't had any problems on our 2018 F350 crew cab long bed DRW yet. Ford has issued an extended coverage bulletin on the stabilizer but I'm not convinced that alone would fix it.

Here is the best info I've found on the subject regarding Super Duty's:

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Old 11-02-2021, 08:49 AM   #8
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That's a good video. But, how can you tell if it's death wobble or just driving through CA?
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Old 11-02-2021, 08:59 AM   #9
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2019 F350 Superduty, 4x4. I hit a pothole at speed and got the violent wobble you describe. Took it to the dealer, and they replaced the steering damper. I believe there’s a TSB on this.

Anyway, it seems to have fixed the problem, since I haven’t had it since. I have been told, though, that this is a band-aid fix, and the problem is with the geometry of the front end or sloppy tolerances.
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Old 11-02-2021, 09:13 AM   #10
1retired06
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Never a problem with our truck
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Old 11-02-2021, 10:54 AM   #11
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It certainly gets your attention. Any looseness in the front suspension brings it on. A bad tire can make it worse. A heavy duty stabilizer will help.
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Old 11-02-2021, 11:13 AM   #12
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Never hear of or experienced this, very strange.
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Old 11-02-2021, 03:15 PM   #13
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I have not experienced death wobble with my current truck, but have with a couple of previous Fords. The problem appears very infrequently, but when it does things get exciting for a minute. I had a 2015 F350 that would do it every time when I hit a certain spot on a highway that I traveled; not full blown death wobble, but it would shake it's head like a wet dog for a couple seconds. I think it had to do with the harmonics between the truck and the road surface. I got used to it and was ready. They repaved the road and it never happened again.

Anyway, something to try that won't cost anything; lower the tire pressure in your front tires. If I run my F-450 at 90psi, like Ford calls for, it just feels a little unstable (but never death wobble). Dropped the pressure to 80psi and it feels much better.

On my previous trucks that had death wobble, Ford would do something; usually replace the steering stabilizer. That would help. I put dual stabilizers on one truck; can't recall a problem after that. There are a bunch of ideas out there; nothing definitive. If it is real bad do something, don't ignore it. Other than the tire pressure, the least expensive next step would be the steering stabilizer; there are some heavy duty after market ones out there. After that check all front end components for wear/looseness.

How many miles on your truck? Does it have stock tires? You said "Ford does nothing"; what did they say when you took it in for this problem? Tell them what it is doing and reference Ford Field Service Action (FSA) 20N04.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...74720-0001.pdf
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Old 11-02-2021, 03:16 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RKassl View Post
Never hear of or experienced this, very strange.
I don't believe GM trucks have a solid front axle; that is where the problem originates.
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Old 11-07-2021, 02:19 PM   #15
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Your use of the term "Death Wobble" made me think of a worn out front end. Then someone posted about chassis hop. That normally appears like there is a back tire out of balance or not round and it occurs in the 45-50 mph range but goes away above and below that speed. I had chassis hop that drove me crazy until I finally found out that Ford has an expensive TSB 16-0087 that installs a cage damper on the side rail of the trailer hitch at the rear driver's side. The part number is 9C3Z*5D008*B. That damper eliminated 95% of my chassis hop.
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Old 11-07-2021, 02:21 PM   #16
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One F250 and 3 F350s and it came while towing the Montana in the Smokies on a steep down hill. Same spot same thing without the Montana. This is a 350 LB dually. When I got home told my dealer not happy something like this after the warranty expired. He said Ford will still pay and they did. Not sure what else they did besides the steering damper that they keep in stock.
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Old 11-07-2021, 02:37 PM   #17
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I had same problem with my Ram 1 ton dually. It was a new 2014. The dealer replaced steering box and a bunch of other things over several visits. Never could fix it. I went to Discount Tire and they discovered my left front tire had a separated belts in that tire and when I hit a rough spot in the road the tire started bouncing like a basketball and stopping was the only way to get control. Two new front tires and no death wobble in since then. The tires I had were new but with bad belt separation.
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Old 11-07-2021, 02:55 PM   #18
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My 2009 F350 had the same problem took it to the Ford dealership and they replaced
most of front end parts that were worn out had 90,000 mile. I took it home and it
did the same thing. Took it back and they replaced the rest. I have 110,000 miles now
and all is good Ford should have had a recall
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Old 11-07-2021, 02:56 PM   #19
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There is a recall on this issue, put out a while back. Ford will fix for free.
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Old 11-07-2021, 03:03 PM   #20
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We have a 2014 SD 350 long bed crew cab w/86,000 miles never had a problem with or without towing the 38’ beast!
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