Table 1 shows one common wheel related problems of the 2016 Ford F-350.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Wheel problems |
We have consistently had issues with severe wheel oscillation, which I’ve seen referred to as the death wobble, that causes the entire cab of the truck to shake violently and feels like the front tires are bouncing back and forth laterally on the road, when driving over 55mph and hitting any sort of uneven road or bump, especially after bridges. We have spent thousands on replacing different parts which sometimes alleviate the issue for a short period of time, but it always comes back when you least expect it. We have come incredibly close to being rear ended on the interstate several times because the only way to stop it is to slam on the breaks to decelerate quickly and get the truck below 30 miles per hour. It is more common when not hauling anything but still occurs wether hauling a light load or very heavy one as well. We have ptsd now when driving and can’t function in our business with out using a heavy duty truck. It is absolutely terrifying. This started approximately 6 months after purchasing the truck. We just had it into a Ford repair shop and put $2000 into repairs less than a month ago.
While driving at approximately 62mph, my truck hit a small bump in the road and began shaking so violently that I could barely hold onto the wheel. I immediately braked which caused the truck to shake even more until I finally slowed to about 20th and pulled off the 2 lane highway. Luckily there was very minimal traffic and I was able to keep from losing control. I have only had this truck that I bought from a Ford dealership approximately 5 weeks. This is extremely alarming that a truck like this has no safety recall for something that after some research is named the death wobble across the web. There is no warning, and I do not believe the dealership will do anything to fix this issue without compensation.
Any time I hit a bump going over 50 mph the front end of my truck starts shaking violently. So much that it feels like the front end is about to break apart. The only way to stop is to slam on the brakes and slow down as fast as possible. It’s ways on the highway so it’s a danger to myself and the people behind me. I have to hold the steering wheel as tight I can to keep from losing control. Dealer told me it happens but they don’t know why. This has been happening on a daily basis since I drive on highways to get to work. And only a matter of time before I get into an accident.
While traveling at interstate speed (55-75 mph), when you hit a certain bump or pothole or road irregularity, the front passenger wheel will begin vibrating which quickly grows in magnitude until the entire engine compartment and cab starts to violently shudder, to the point where all 4 tires begin losing contact with the road surface. The only way to regain control and reduce the harmonics is to apply maximum braking. However, as the truck starts to slow, the shudders will become more violent until finally dampening out appx. 100 yards later at around 40 mph. Once damped out, the truck will drive smoothly and predictably again at speed until the next bump. As it stands now, I am afraid to drive the truck and my wife refuses to drive it. The big fear is having this happen while in a turn or in heavy traffic where the sudden maximum braking can cause an accident.
Assuming something in suspension. Uncontrollable vibration in front suspension/steering of vehicle. Not as of yet for my vehicle. Did find many reports online referencing what I/we experienced. Scheduled to take into dealer and local service facility for further inspection. No warnings of any kind. Around 65 -70 mph there's violent vibration/shaking on the wheels making steering uncontrollable. Vibration continues till vehicle's speed is reduced to around 40 mph. Seams to occur when tires experience bumps/imperfections in road. These bumps/imperfections are minor at that. I have now experienced this situation now 6 times. As previously mentioned, during research I found multiple youtube videos other online references this situation as "death wobble". Multiple news affiliation have done reports on this experance/situation.
I have a 2013 f350 king ranch. It only has 31. 755 miles on it. I’ve had it for 2 years. On November 28, 2021while merging onto the freeway my trucks front end stated shaking, bouncing and vibrating so bad that I had to immediately stop to about 5mph. This just happened out of absolutely nowhere. It didn’t do it again until I returned home. This time it again came out of know where at around 60mph. I had to come to a dead stop on the freeway. The truck was uncontrollable. I again accelerated to 65mph. It started again and I stopped. This happened another 7 times on the way home. I could control it between 53-60mph. When I got home, both of my front tires were worn down on the outside 3in of tread. There were chucks of rubber the size of dimes that broke off during the violent shake and wobble. I had to get new tires the next day and today my truck to the dealership this morning. It is December 1, 2021. The best way I can explain the feeling is the following. It’s was like driving over speed bumps that where evenly spaces 3ft apart, all in a row. When hit them I immediately hit the brakes and it was like coming to a stop on the same row of speed bumps. The wobble was more violent and could just barely be controlled. I really thought the truck was coming apart. Then at 5-10mph it turned into smooth road. But my tires where getting more tore up during each wobble. Total of 11 wobble on a 10 mile stretch.
Since new a death wobble has occurred while traveling at speeds over 30 mph. This is a random issue that happens when hitting a bump in the road. Sometimes it goes away quickly other times I need to pull over and stop completely.
There is an uncontrollable shaking at 60 miles an hour or higher, after investigation it seems that there are hundreds of cases, the shaking has been called " the death wobble" dealerships don't seem to know whats going on and Ford not giving any good solutions. This cant be seen with pictures there is hundreds of videos in youtube about this issue.
~tl the contact owns 2016 Ford F-350 equipped with wild trail tires (na), tire line: commercial lt, tire size: 275/70/r18, and the dot number: kafk d25a. The contact stated that the tire was produced with the wrong ply range 7 instead of 10 like it stated. The traction was not good, giving the rating was traction a. The vehicle was hard to stop if it must brake at speeds for 30 mph or higher. The treadware was worn down way too fast even though it was rated a. The failure mileage was 64,000. Tf.
(jl - no dealer or manuf info) the contact owns a 2016 Ford F-350. While traveling 55 mph, the steering wheel began to vibrate. Initially, the contact thought there was a flat tire. After pulling the vehicle over to the shoulder of the highway, the contact observed the vehicle and did not see a flat tire. The contact proceeded to drive on the interstate at 50 mph and the vibration recurred for 40 seconds. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The failure mileage was 27,000. Jl listed this as the place where the vehicle was purchased, but did not mention if the vehicle was taken here after the failure. (james Chevrolet of johnstown, 108 s comrie Ave, johnstown, NY 12095).
The brake dust from the stock oem brakes bites into the rims of the stock wheels and cant get it polished out , even the dealer in labelle Ford FL agrees but Ford will not warrant these under my 12000 mile bumper to bumper . They declined because I dont wash it often enough (I wash it weekly , did I ever get a washing schedule from them?) two weeks ago I met a young man with a new f250 and had the exact same wheels and and guess what, he had the exact same problem. He stated that he washes his truck almost daily.
Ford does not allow the tpms alert threshold to be reduced to reflect aftermarket tire pressure needs. I have owned three superduties to date, a 2011, at 2013 and now a 2016. On each vehicle I have been running toyo opencountry a/t tires on them, and the proper tire inflation value on these is way below what the oem michelin tires come from the factory. The oem tires are suppose to be inflated to 65 psi in the front and 80 psi in the rear. The tpms alert will kick on at a small percentage below these values. The toyo tires on the other hand are suppose to be run at 34 psi, given the gross weight of the vehicle, in order to achieve proper wear, best gas mileage and proper safety performance. I have been trying for five years now to find a dealer that can adjust the tpms alert threshold so my wife does not have the tpms alert incorrectly on all the time. I have had to make a compromise between inflating the tires past their optimal level so the light goes off so she can take advantage of tpms alerting her to a flat tire, or to inflate the tires to the proper lower level to achieve proper wear. When I have inflated the tires to the level required to turn off tpms, the tires have literally been destroyed in 1/10th the time as they should have. In one case I mounted new snow tires on the vehicle and she took a cross country trip, putting about 4000 miles on the vehicle. The tires were inflated to the level Ford says so the tpms would turn off when she arrived back, the rear tires were destroyed. I now run the tires at toyo's recommended value and told my wife to ignore the tpms warning. Ford needs to follow the other manufacturers in allowing the customer to change the tpms alert threshold. Every Ford dealer thinks all tires should be inflated to 65 psi, which is only applicable for oem tires. This is a major safety issue.