Ball Joint problems of the 2012 Ford F-350

I recently crossed a bridge expansion joint doing somewhere between 70 and 75 mph my truck steering wheel shook violently as I could barely hold it. I slowed down to about 40-45 mph before it quit. This was on a Saturday. Monday I took it to a local garage to have the tires rotated and balanced and check for anything that could be bad in the steering/front end suspension. They rotated the tires and found the steering stabilizer shock was leaking, they replaced it and started to bring me the truck. It started shaking violently at 50 mph. They ended up replacing the drag link, right outer tie rod end, adjusting sleeve, ball joint at tracker bar and right outer lower tie rod end. They said I needed to get an alignment on it, I drove the truck a couple hundred miles seemed to be fine. I took to the shop they used for a alignment, they did their thing and I left. When I left I noticed the steering wheel wasn't straight so I took it for a quick drive. At 60 mph I did the violent shaking again and having to slow down to 45 mph for it to stop, it shook twice in a 6 mile stretch of interstate. I returned it to the alignment shop and they said they could not have done anything to cause it. . I took it back to the first shop and they got it in the Ford garage for an alignment. Still shaking after they had it for most of a week they replaced the tires and it seemed to help. Until a couple days later I was running 62-64mph in a slight turn and it started doing it again. It is still doing it and I know when it is going to start so I'm ready. After research on the web I hear that this is called the "death wobble".

I have been dealing with wobble and vibration on my F-350 for years now and it seems to be getting worse. It has always seems to occur between 45-55 mph. They first replaced ball joint, then I was told it's the tires, got new tires. It was always just a little vibration and play in the wheel. Now when I hit a bump, a frost heave or like a bridge joint I get extreme shake and vibration in the steering wheel that makes the vehicle hard to control. They most recently replaced stabilizer but it still occurs. The effect seems to be worse when I have my truck camper on it. Started to do research today on it and discovered this so call death wobble complaint. I am filing a complaint too because it almost caused me to have an accident today as I had no control and was forced to suddenly slow down today after I hit a bridge joint.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford F-350. While switching lanes at 65 mph on the freeway, the vehicle shook violently and experienced the "death wobble". When the contact released the accelerator pedal, the vehicle stopped shaking and was driven to its destination. The contact called hoffman Ford (5200 jonestown rd, harrisburg, PA 17112, (717) 657-1600) and was informed to have an independent mechanic observe the suspension from underneath the vehicle while turning the steering wheel aggressively from side to side. The dealer stated that the track bar attached to the ball joint should turn from side to side. The manufacturer was contacted and provided a case number. The failure mileage was 150,000.

Front end suspension bouncing at med-high speeds upon hitting a bump. Described in other searches as caster wobble or "death wobble" truck has less than 100,000 miles, unable to correct the problem even after replacement of over $2000 worth of parts. Multiple other complaints found online from other owners. Parts replaced include, tie rod ends, tie rod tube, ball joints, track bar, steering stabilizer and end bushings. The issue creates an undrivable and extremely dangerous condition for driver, passengers and other motorists. Upon reaching speeds of 40 mph+ any disturbance (bumps) in the road creates the start of the front end violently bouncing and it will not stop until the vehicle comes to almost a complete stop. I was required to stop 6 times within 3 miles of a busy 5 lane interstate (I-285 in atlanta) quite literally in the middle of the interstate. This has been worked on with 2 different dealerships , sunbelt Ford in albany GA, & angela krause Ford in alpharetta GA. It's my feeling that a $65,000 vehicle with less than 100,000 miles should never have a dangerous issue like this. There should absolutely be a fix and/or recal ahgainst this vehicle before someone gets killed.

At 55 miles an hour on rough pavement, the truck begin to violently shake back and forth. This shaking and jerking caused me to enter into the oncoming lane of traffic. In order to regain I had to slam on the brake pedal control thereby getting the speed down to 40 miles an hour. Ford suggested I checking the ball joints and the steering stabilizers. After spending over $600 in parts (not covered by warranty)and replacing the whole front end linkage, the vehicle then drove fine until I reached another 45 thousand miles or approximately 90 thousand miles total on truck. Now it has repeated the same process all over again throwing me into the opposite lane of traffic. The reason for purchasing a new truck is to have a save vehicle to use for preform ing my job. This truck has all original equipment and has not been altered in any way prior to this experience. This is definitely a safety issue that needs to be addressed by Ford. I have found an aftermarket stabalizer bar that corrected the problem, however I feel that Ford should recall and repair this problem with the proper equipment before someone looses their life of it.