What 397 owners told NHTSA about the 2018 Ford F-250 Supercab

My f250 has experienced the “death wobble”. Was brought to dealership 3/2022 where they confirmed death wobble & fixed the problem. It has begun again 10/2022, even worse than before the correction. It is unsafe to drive. Especially with small children in the truck. I almost crashed more than 10 times today alone- while on the highway with other motorist. I call ford motor company who told me that it’s not covered under lemon law because it is a 2018. I only have 40,000 miles on it. It is going to Seriously hurt or kill someone. I have video of the death wobble occurring

NHTSA ODI 11491266

When driving at speeds in excess of 45 mph, if the front wheels strike a pothole or some other significant bump in the road, occasionally - but with increasing frequency - it will cause the wheels to start violently bouncing up and down (alternating each wheel so one is up and the other is down) and the steering wheel shimmies violently back and forth. This will continue until the vehicle is slowed to under 10 mph. During these events, there is no controlling the steering and the vehicle does not slow quickly since the front wheels are not in constant contact with the pavement. Research on the internet has shown that this is not an isolated problem and it has been labeled the “death wobble” by many. (Google “Ford F250 death wobble”). The result of this event - and thus the safety hazard - is that one must immediately stop the vehicle to make the malfunction stop. I have had to stop in the middle of the commuter lane on the highway on several occasions, causing many people to slam on their brakes and swerve to avoid hitting me. It is completely terrifying as it puts me, my passengers, and any other vehicles around me at risk. I am appalled that so many apparently know about this issue and nothing has been done to get Ford to take ownership. When I described the problem to my service center, they knew exactly the problem that I was speaking of. Unfortunately, there is no definitive fix other than to try this or that which will become costly.

NHTSA ODI 11489611

2018 has Death Wobble which has been reported by many and a recall was issued but we have taken it back 3 times for this recall/death wobble=tie rod, sector shaft, drag link replaced (the first time it wasn't recalled yet so we had to pay for it and still have not been reimbursed) last 2 times they fix the tie rod, shaft or whatever but it keeps happening and it is scary. Lucky not to have caused an accident. Also because of the "death wobble" it has ruined the alignment and some tracker line thing as well as our tires and we have to pay for those things even though it is caused by the death wobble/recall?! -Component described above, yes it is available for inspection upon request -Safety at risk because if we are going over 60 and hit a bump the vehicle starts to shake uncontrollably and we have to slam on the brakes to make it stop while going that fast with other vehicles going that fast we have almost caused several accidents and almost hit a barrier trying to stop it -yes problem has been preproduced, verified and supposedly fixed but never lasts more than a month --yes the vehicle component has been inspected by the manufacturer it is an open RECALL -NO WARNING LAMP, MESSAGE etc. Just uncontrollable shaking of vehicle if hits a bump

NHTSA ODI 11488961

On September 28, 2022 i was driving my Ford F-250 on Interstate 10. I was in traffic and had other vehicles in front of and behind me. I hit a small bump in the road and my steering wheel in front tires began to shake so violently I began to have difficulty steering the vehicle. I had to slow the vehicle to 30 mph to regain control. As I begin to slow the vehicle the shaking became more violent. Luckily there was an opening on the right side for me to try and steer the vehicle to the shoulder. Other vehicles around me noticed the issue and also had to take evasive action to avoid a collision. My truck has 89,000 miles on it and has been properly maintained. I had this vibration also previously and the manufacturer installed a new component at 56,000 miles. I contacted the same dealer who did the repair. They stated that Ford's recall was only to replace the part one time. At this point I will have to pay for a repair but they are not sure which parts to replace to prevent the issue as they said many Superduty trucks have the same issue. The oem part that was aleady replaced is also out of stock, with no eta of when it is available. Im 54 and driving since i was 15. Ive never been more terrified. My truck is stock configuration with no customization with factory tires and wheels.

NHTSA ODI 11487505

Steering wheel started shaking so violently that we thought we’d blown out a tire (or two). Speed approx 70mph on highway. Luckily no traffic around us or we could’ve been in a serious accident.

NHTSA ODI 11477884

Doing 75 miles an hour on the interstate and did a death wobble

NHTSA ODI 11475888

The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-250. The contact stated while driving approximately 50 MPH, the front end was shaking and vibrating, and the steering wheel was uncontrollable. The contact had to hold the steering wheel tightly to keep the vehicle under control. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact called the dealer and was informed of a steering damper failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 40,000.

NHTSA ODI 11468044

After hitting a small bump in the interstate on I65 North, my F250 began shaking uncontrollably. Only by emergency breaking, was I able to regain control on my truck. This has happened 4 times. It is not safe to have to do this on the expressway, at any speed.

NHTSA ODI 11461189

At highway speeds my 2018 Ford F250 4WD will start shaking severely. The steering wheel shakes violently back and forth and the entire truck shakes like it's coming apart. The truck feels like it could swerve out of control at any moment. I was in great fear for my well being because I thought the truck was going to cause an accident. To get the shaking to stop I had to pull off the road and reduce my speed to less than 30mph. This has happened multiple times. Having to pull off the interstate and reduce speed to such a great extent is a safety hazard in itself. I took the truck to the dealer and they replaced the steering dampener under a recall. This caused the problem to go away for approximately 6 weeks. The problem has now returned. There were no warning lights or any indication that this was going to happen or when it did happen.

NHTSA ODI 11458313

We had previously experienced severe shaking when driving at freeway speeds. We took the pickup to a dealership and the replaced the drag link at no cost and we paid to have tie rod ends replaced which they said would fix the issue. We took our first road trip in the vehicle this weekend and the problem is rven more frequent and severe. We almost had 3 accidents because the truck is very difficult to steer once the vibration starts.

NHTSA ODI 11457673

I have experienced at least 6 incidents with my truck in which it starts violently shaking at highway speeds. In order to stop the shaking, I have had to either slow way down or pull over and stop completely to get the truck to stop shaking. In the most recent incident, there was a semi truck directly behind me and I was barely able to get to the side of the road to avoid being struck from behind and I nearly went into the ditch. After the first incident, I took my truck to the local Ford dealership and they told me there wasn't a problem when they drove it even though I provided them information about the "death wobble" from sources on the internet. The problem continued, so I took it back and they put "stabilizers" on it. I had no problem for almost a year until it happened twice yesterday. The first incident occurred on 12-25-18.

NHTSA ODI 11456628

It is commonly referred to as The Death Wobble”. When hitting a bump the front end wobbles back and forth causing you to lose control unless you break immediately. It has been to the dealer to be repaired twice but it only lasts a short time. This is terrifying most recently occurring today on an interstate. Could hardly keep it on the road before getting it to slow down and veering into other lanes

NHTSA ODI 11454970

When driving above 50mph we experience a problem that our Ford service department originally called the Death Wobble, it is now called High Speed Oscillation. The steering wheel and entire front end of the truck shakes violently and I have to slow to almost a complete stop in order to regain control of the vehicle. We have have the steering damper replaced twice (the tech today said about every 20,000 miles) and the truck is in the dealer for the third time addressing this issue. This third time the work that is also being done involves a large nut that requires 450#'s of torque to adjust. We had to replace tires that wore out prematurely. This last time the impact of the violent shaking caused the other vehicles on the road to move away from us because they could see something was wrong as well. I don't scare easily, but these events are terrifying. The problem has been confirmed by a Ford Service department multiple times. This has not had third party inspections, but I will ask for the worn out part when I pick up my vehicle from the current servicing. There were not any warning lights or messages that gave alerts to the incidents. The incidents would occur on macadam, concrete, going downhill and uphill, on transitions between road surfaces and on roads that have rough surfaces from heavy use.

NHTSA ODI 11452897

Steering began to shake uncontrollably when driving at approximately 45 MPH after going over a bump. When the vehicle was slowed down to minimum speed and stopped the wobbling/shaking stopped. It did the same thing again 3 additional times when speed increased at a later time in the day. Safety of others could have been a major threat if unable to slow/stop.

NHTSA ODI 11452283

I experienced the Death Wobble running around 60 mph. It was one of the scariest moments I have ever experienced. I took my Truck into the Ford dealership and they replaced the Steering Stabilizer. It has really made me scared to drive my Truck.

NHTSA ODI 11450296

With no indication the truck started shaking violently after driving over an overpass expansion joint at about 60-65 mph on highway. After slowing to about 20-25 mph in breakdown lane, it seem to go away. Approximately 3-4 miles down the highway, again going over an expansion joint to a bridge this time, it happened again. With the same process of pulling into the breakdown lane and reducing speed to 20-25 mph it went away. Obviously looking this up on the internet, you come across the Ford death wobble. If this doesn’t constitute a recall, what does, death..

NHTSA ODI 11449079

While driving on the freeway at 75 miles an hour the whole truck started shaking violently! I had to back out of it to get it to stop. I continue driving at 65 miles an hour and I hit a small bump in the road and it again started shaking violently! It started approximately 30 minutes ago and has happened three more time!

NHTSA ODI 11449095

Traveling 75 mph on a 3 lane interstate with mild expansion joint cracks and imperfections caused the steering to start shaking violently and I could not control the vehicle. I swerved across a lane of traffic into the median / emergency lane while other vehicles attempted to avoid me. I had to slow to under 20mph to regain control of the steering. I refer to this condition as death wobble. Truck has 54,000 miles and has no suspension or wheel/ tire modifications and no previous damage.

NHTSA ODI 11447939

Going down Interstate 99 in Pennsylvania I hit a bump on the approach of a bridge at 65mph front end started shaking violently almost lost control of truck had to pull to shoulder and slow down until it cleared up. I got out and checked everything could not see anything visibly wrong with the front end. It is a 2018 F-250 with 23,000 miles on it. When I bought it the dealership said the death wobble was takin care of. I asked about the issue before I bought the truck but obviously it has not been fixed correctly this is a concern as I pull a camper in the summer months quite often.

NHTSA ODI 11447597

“Death wobble” at 60mph while on the highway after hitting a small pothole. Controllable when slowed to 35mph on the shoulder

NHTSA ODI 11444412

While merging onto the interstate yesterday, there was a slight bump in the road and the truck began violently vibrating, including the steering wheel. The vibration lasted at least 10 seconds this time, making steering very difficult. This is at least the third time this has happened in the past 2 months. Upon researching, this seems to be an very big issue with these trucks & has been named "the death wobble" on MANY websites. This is obviously a huge safety issue. What would happen in icy conditions? This could have deadly consequences and cannot understand WHY Ford has not recalled for correction!

NHTSA ODI 11441261

I was driving down the road at approximately 60 mph and the steering wheel and whole truck started to shake violently. I had to slow down to around 20 mph to get it to stop. I had an almost impossible time just keeping the truck under control. This has happened twice now within the past 3 weeks

NHTSA ODI 11441329

I went over a bridge joint on the highway and the truck started shaking uncontrollably. I had to slow down under 50mph for it to stop. The windshield cracked in the process. Everyone driving around me slowed down and moved away. There were and still are no warning lamps. I have not taken it to the dealer yet. I feared that the truck was going to roll over because of the uncontrollable steering and shaking.

NHTSA ODI 11439758

Twice my truck has shook violently when I hit a Pot hole or bump traveling above 50MPH. The shaking is so bad, your scared, needing to slow down quickly or even stop to get it to stop. It's a danger to the occupants and the surrounding vehicles when this occurs.

NHTSA ODI 11436364

The Truck Violently shook when I hit a bump on the highway. I've never felt anything like that before. My wife and I we're shocked as what the truck was doing. I slowed down immediately and pulled over on the shoulder of the highway and walked around the truck to see what happened. Didn't see anything wrong, so I got in the truck and drove to the house.

NHTSA ODI 11436365