Rear Suspension Shock Absorber problems of the 2011 Ford F-250

Let me start by saying that my truck does not have any aftermarket changes - it is completely stock/oem. At highway speeds (60mph+), the front end of my truck sometimes shudders severely after going over small road surface changes such as joints/seams in the highway. At first it only occurred during sweeping highway turns, but it has progressed to happening on straights as well. The shudder is so severe that the steering wheel nearly shakes out of my hands and things in the stowage spots on the doors are shaken out. I now have to slow to <30mph in order to settle the front end which is obviously extremely dangerous to have to suddenly do on a highway. The initial event occurred at roughly 80k miles and only happened a few times a year. I now have 130k miles and the problem has occurred 3 times within the last month. I've recently replaced all shock absorbers and the steering dampener, had an alignment and the tires balanced and rotated - to no avail. The truck is currently in the shop where they are trying to identify the specific problem but have told me this is relatively common among Ford super duty trucks. After doing some research online I have found numerous online communities discussing this problem that has apparently been occurring with Ford super duty trucks for over a decade and is still occurring on new units with as few as 15k miles.

The contact owns a 2011 Ford F-250 sd. While driving various speeds over a bump in the road, the front end of the vehicle wobbled very violently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer on numerous occasions for a diagnostic testing and repair. The contact stated that the ball joints, shock absorbers, and other unknown components were replaced or repaired by the dealer, but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 200,000.

When driving on a freeway at 65 mph, the truck encountered a slight bump and the front end started shaking violently, including the steering wheel shaking back and forth violently. The truck wandered out of the lane due to loss of control of the steering. The shaking only stopped after slowing to about 35 mph. The failure repeated itself a few minutes later before I could pull off the highway. This occurred previously (6 months / 3000 miles ago). The Ford dealer suggested I take the vehicle to an independent suspension mechanic. He inspected the truck and said all the front end components were fine but he noted that the steering damper had about a 1" dead zone. On his recommendation I replaced the steering damper and the factory shock absorbers. . Read more...