Cause of the Death Wobble?

Maintenance/Repairs
1

I have a 2006 F-250 (Ford) with 15 thousand miles on it. At higher speeds (70 or so) it can go into a severe shake/bounce when it hits normal roadway bumps (not major potholes, for example). I can maintain control until the truck gets slowed down and then the shake/bounce “releases” the steering/control of the vehicle. This event is random and unpredictable. The day it nearly bounced me into a semi-truck on the freeway, I called a Ford service manager who claimed to understand the problem, having gone through it. He said it is caused by a shimmy shock and one needed to be installed. When I took the vehicle in, they “fixed” it by claiming the tires were underinflated, which they corrected. Now, I’m skeptical and have done more searching on the net. Others have had similar problems with other vehicles and they get sold lifters, shocks, steering columns and new tires.

Does anyone have a suggestion that is more certain than guessing? This is a dangerous thing to happen on the highway and I think it earns the name I’ve seen on the net: the Death Wobble.

Thanks.

2

Take a look at alldata.com & enter the info for your truck at “recalls & technical service bulletins”

They show TSB 06-22-14 (Steering wheel oscilation on rough roads) which seems to be a match for your problem.

This TSB may or may not apply to your particular truck, but if this were my truck I’d want to take a closer look at the entire TSB.

3

To read the entire TSB at alldata will cost you a one year 25 buck subscription.

Or -and I have done this- a Ford dealer should’nt have a problem with showing it to you

4

Or you can go here http://www.ford-trucks.com/tsb/fulltext/index.php?p=cauta
and type the tsb in the tsb search, its there.

5

Or you can go here http://www.ford-trucks.com/tsb/fulltext/index.php?p=cauta
and type the tsb in the tsb search, its there.

6

Well, that sure makes that easy.Thanks for the link americar

7

It’s caused by a resonant oscillation in the steering linkage. A “steering stabilizer”, a shock absorber attached to the drag link will cure it.

But first, lift the entire front end and turn the wheel back and forth, lock to lock, and make sure there is no binding or catches in the linkage. Also, have the alignment checked…

8

I had this exact problem with my 97 Dodge Ram 2500. I replaced EVERYTHING that was possible. There was basically nothing else that I could have done. Front end alignment didnt work, track bar didnt work, nothing. Come to find out it was actually my tires. I had tall skinny tires on it and the two front tires had just a little bit of wear on the outside edges. I rotated the tires (front to back, back to front) and the problem did not go away. A couple of weeks later i put some brand new BF Goodrich All-Terrain 285/75/R16’s and it took care of the problem. Hasnt happened since. I would strongly recomend having your tires checked out. They may not look like they have much wear on them but you have to remember that when you are going down the road the smallest thing can turn into something bigger. Like an accident.

PS-The same thing happened with a friend of mine’s 94 Ram 2500 with the cummins turbo diesel. He replaced everything also. I told him to get his tires switched to better ones and it took care of his problem also

Good luck to you and let us know more when you find your solution.