Ball Joint problems of the 2006 Ford F-350

The initial occurrence in December 2011 was a steering stick in the direction of the turn and required force to turn opposite the direction of the turn. The problem ceased and did not reoccur until mid-may of 2012. The problem manifested itself as a severe oscillation of the vehicle steering accompanied by directional sticking and "indexing" in the steering. The first attempt at repair was to flush the power steering system. This actually resulted in a worse oscillation. The problem was still intermittent but occurring more frequently. The dealer was unable to duplicate the problem and I asked for the steering gear to be replaced. This did not solve the problem. The next step was to replace the steering damper. This also did not result in elimination of the problem. During the damper replacement it was noted that there existed a very small amount of play in the dragling ball joint. While not particular out of the acceptable range we agreed to replace the drag link. The drag link has been replaced and the vehicle continues to demonstrate a "walking" motion requiring the operator to actively steer the vehicle to remain in a lane. In addition, the vehicle will demonstrate relatively good stability in a sweeping turn until the wheel is displaced beyond roughly 5 degrees at which point the steering displays an active pull in the direction of the turn. The vehicle is being returned to the dealer for continued evaluation. The Ford technicians have examined and passed the power steering pump, the hydroslave system, front tires, front tire pressure, front ball joints as well as the front axle u-joints. At this point, they have no further suggestions as to the cause of the problem.

2006 F-350 lariat super duty- in March while driving on I-70 I hit a bump in the road at 65mph and the front end and steering wheel shook violently and I was immediately thrown into the passing lane. I took the truck to summit Ford in silverthorne, CO where they called my description the "death wobble" and they replaced the track bar, ball joint and steering dampener. I felt fortunate that no traffic was near me and I survived the uncontrollable event! now with the $600. 00 "repair" expense I left the service center satisfied that I would be safe on the road. Two weeks ago while on a trip, the same "death wobble" happened again and I was out of control and in the other lane again, thankfully no traffic was beside me or oncoming which would have caused an accident. So now I have lost all confidence in the safety of my truck and drove conservatively to get home avoiding all bumps and slowing dramatically when approaching any imperfect road surfaces. Even with my new cautious approach to driving the "death wobble" happened again at only 50mph. I have since discovered numerous complaints and you-tube videos of others with the same problem as well as complaints on the national highway traffic safety administration's website. I have found 2 documents issued by Ford motor company regarding this problem, a technical service bulletin 04-26-1, and a letter dated April 2009 (literature program 09l02) addressed to mr. John sample regarding "shimmy, a severe vibration and oscillation in the steering wheel. . . . . . . . . . . ". I am running the truck at the label specified tire pressure and there are no suspension modifications . I am considering replacing the F-350 with another vehicle that I can be assured of not having this problem. My question to Ford is, what am I supposed to do now? sincerely, matthew clark.