2019 FORD F-350 SD Complaints

ON 10/19/2019 WHILE MY 2019 F-350 WAS IN MOTION TOWING A 36-FT 5TH WHEEL ON A TWO-LANE HIGHWAY AT 55 MPH, I DROVE OVER A SERIES OF BUMPS IN MY LANE THAT CAUSED THE FRONT OF THE TRUCK TO SHUDDER VIOLENTLY. I HAD TO SLOW THE TRUCK TO APPROX. 30 MPH TO GET THE SHUDDERING TO STOP. I DID NOT LOSE CONTROL OF THE 5TH WHEEL. THE STEERING WHEEL SHUDDERED SO VIOLENTLY I COULD BARELY KEEP MY HANDS ON IT. ALL VEHICLE WEIGHTS WERE WELL WITHIN THE GVWR/GCWR OF BOTH THE TRAILER AND TRUCK. IRONICALLY ENOUGH I WAS ON MY WAY HOME FROM WEIGHING THE TRUCK AND TRAILER AT A CAT SCALE WHEN THIS INCIDENT OCCURRED. FOUR DAYS LATER I TOOK THE TRUCK TO THE DEALER WHERE THEY REPLACED THE STEERING DAMPER ASSEMBLY IN ACCORDANCE WITH TSB 19-2274.

TRAVELING BETWEEN 55-65 ON THE HIGHWAY I HIT A SMALL BUMP IN THE ROAD AND THE TRUCK STARTED SHAKING VIOLENTLY. HAD TO SLOW DOWN TO ALMOST A COMPLETE STOP TO GET IT TO STOP. VERY UNSAFE.

MY TRUCK STARTED A 'DEATH WOBBLE' AT 13K MILES. I TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP WHERE THEY KEPT IT FOR 29 DAYS. I WAS TOLD THEY FIXED THE PROBLEM WITH AN ALIGNMENT. AFTER GETTING IT BACK THE TRUCK DID NOT DRIVE THAT WELL. STIFF STEERING. THE TRUCK FELT WEIRD AND SHOOK WHEN YOU HIT BUMPS. I TOOK IT BACK TO THE DEALER WHERE KEPT IT FOR ANOTHER WEEK. I WAS TOLD ANOTHER ALIGNMENT AND STEERING DAMPENER WAS REPLACED. AFTER GETTING IT BACK. THERE IS NO CHANGE. IT STILL DRIVES BAD. THE SERVICE MANAGER TOLD ME THAT THE PROBLEM WAS NOT FIXED. JUST MASKED BY THE ALIGNMENT. I REPORTED IT TO FORD CORPORATE. THEY SAID THE TRUCK DIDN'T HAVE A PROBLEM. THIS IS VERY FRUSTRATING CONSIDERING HOW MUCH I PAID FOR IT.

JULY-2019 - WHEN DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS THE STEERING WHEEL BEGAN SHAKING VIOLENTLY (DEATH WOBBLE) AFTER CROSSING A BRIDGE EXPANSION JOINT CAUSING ME TO LOSE CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE. I WAS ABLE TO SLOW DOWN GRADUALLY AND THE SHAKING STOPPED AROUND 40 MPH. HAD IT SERVICED AT A LOCAL FORD DEALERSHIP AND IT WAS FIXED UNDER TSB 18-2268 WHERE THEY REPLACED THE STEERING WHEEL DAMPENER. SEP-2019 - DEATH WOBBLE OCCURRED AGAIN FOLLOWING JULY REPAIR ON HIGHWAY WHILE TOWING A 5TH WHEEL TRAILER. IMMEDIATELY SCHEDULED SERVICE AT A DIFFERENT LOCAL FORD DEALERSHIP AND WAS TOLD THERE WAS A NEW TSB THAT SUPERCEEDS THE PRIOR ONE. THEY REPLACED THE STEERING WHEEL DAMPENER AGAIN BUT WAS DISAPPOINTED TO HEAR THAT IT WAS STILL THE SAME OEM PART NUMBER USED FOR THE DAMPENER. OCT-2019 - DEATH WOBBLE OCCURED AT 60 MPH ON THE HIGHWAY. HAPPENED 3 TIMES IN A ROW THIS TIME CAUSING ME TO VEER INTO ANOTHER LANE. IMMEDIATELY SCHEDULE SERVICE APPOINTMENT AT A 3RD FORD DEALERSHIP. REPAIR CURRENTLY IN PROGRESS AT THE TIME I'M WRITING THIS SO NO OUTCOME YET. BEGAN A FORMAL INQUIRY WITH FORD ON POTENTIAL BUY-BACK OR REPLACEMENT.

I PURCHASED THIS F350 NEW, AND TOOK DELIVERY OF THIS VEHICLE ON DECEMBER 12 2019. 8 TIMES SINCE RECEIVING. THIS VEHICLE I HAVE EXPERIENCED EIGHT (8) UN COMMANDED TAILGATE RELEASES. I NOTICED THAT THE TAILGATE WAS DOWN WHEN RECEIVING A WARNING WHILE BACKING. I HAVE A TONNEAU COVER ON THE TRUCK WHICH PREVENTS THE REAR CAMERA FROM SHOWING THE TAILGATE OPEN. AS OF YET I HAVE NOT LOST ANY CARGO AS A RESULT OF THIS OPENING. I DID NOT HIT I THE INSIDE RELEASE, OR THE KEY FOB TO DIRECT THE OPENING.

1ST INCIDENT-DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY THE TRUCK STARTED VIOLENTLY SHAKING AFTER HITTING A SMALL RISE GOING OVER AN OVERPASS. EXTREMELY BLESSED THAT I WAS IN AN EXPRESS LANE (TOLLED) AND NO ONE WAS AROUND ME. 16FT TRAILER WAS HOOKED UP AND IT TOOK EVERY BIT OF STRENGTH I HAD TO KEEP THE TRUCK IN THE 2 LANES AND NOT THE WALL. THANKFUL NO OTHER VEHICLES WERE AROUND ME. 2ND INCIDENT- AGAIN DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY THE NEXT DAY; A VERY SMALL BUMP IN THE ROAD CAUSED THE VIOLENT SHAKING. I WAS NOT TOWING, BUT I DID HAVE VEHICLES AROUND ME THIS TIME THAT THANKFULLY WERE PAYING ATTENTION AS I WAS IN AND OUT OF THE FAST AND MIDDLE LANE. THE EXPERIENCE IS INDESCRIBABLE AND FRIGHTENING.

I WAS DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEED 65 MPH DOWN THE LHIGHWAY MWITH MY SON IN THE TRUCK WITH ME. MY TRUCK BED WAS EMPTY. I RAN OVER SEVERAL SMALL POT HOLES OR BUMPS IN THE ROAD AND MY TRUCK STEERING WHEEL STARTED SHAKING AND GOT PROGRESSIVELY WORSE AND I ADVANCED DOWN THE INTERSTATE. I HELD ON TO THE WHEEL AS HARD AS I COULD AND TRIED TO KEEP CONTROL OF THE TRUCK AND NOT LOSE COMPLETE CONTROL. THE VIOLENT SHAKING ONLY GOT WORSE UNTIL I WAS ABLE TO GET THE VEHICLE DOWN TO BELOW 20 MILES AN HOUR. SEVERAL OTHER VEHICLES WERE HONKING AND POINTING AT THE FRONT END OF MY TRUCK. THIS DEATH WOBBLE WHICH I AM HEARING BEING REFFERED TO IS STARTING TO HAPPEN WITH MORE FREQUENCY. I AM TERRIFIED OF LETTING ANY OF MY FAMILIY DRIVE MY NEW $85,000 FORD F 350 KING RANCH. I AM TAKING IT TO A FORD SERVICE THIS WEEK TO GET FIXEDL. THE MORE I RESEARCH THE "DEATH WOBBLE" THE MORE I AM FINDING OUT THAT THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF NEW FORD TRUCK OWNERS JUST LIKE ME THAT ARE EXPERIENCING THIS VERY DANGEROUS AND HORRIFYING PROBLEM. IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT FORD HAS NOT RECALLED THIS TRUCK YET TO FIX THIS VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION. IT WOUD NOT BE SUPRISED TO FIND OUT THAT THIS NEGLECT BY FORD HASN'T RESULTED IN DEATH ALREADY. THIS DEATH WOBBLE HAS OCCURRED AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS AND WHILE DRIVING IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS GOING 45 MPH.

COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS THE DEATH WOBBLE. AT HIGHWAY SPEED (65 MPH) HIT ROUGH ROAD ON THE FREEWAY, THE TRUCK SHAKES UNCONTROLLABLY. HAVE TO COME TO A COMPLETE STOP TO STOP THE SHAKING. HAS HAPPENED 3 TIMES SO FAR. APPROXIMATE MILAGE 13,000. AT DEALERSHIP NOW FOR ATTEMPTED FIX.

EXPERIENCED `DEATH WOBBLE` AT ABOUT 28,000 MILES IN 2019 FORD F-350. STEERING BECOMES VERY UNSTABLE AND DANGEROUS. THIS HAPPENS AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS AND WHEN VEHICLE HITS A TINY BUMP OR POTHOLE.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2019 FORD F-350. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 3 MPH AND PULLING A FIFTH WHEEL TRAILER, THE TAILGATE DROPPED OPEN INVOLUNTARILY AND PUNCTURED A HOLE IN THE TRAILER. THE TAILGATE WAS ALSO DAMAGED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO HART FORD/LINCOLN (117 LAKE ST, ROSCOMMON, MI 48653), BUT WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE DEALER SUBMITTED AN OPEN GEOSPATIAL CONSORTIUM TO HEADQUARTERS, WHICH WAS DECLINED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 8,800.