Death wobble

[Medic-554]

How serious and true is this “Death Wobble”? Is this really a concern? My wife drives very well while we tow with our GMC. If she is driving and this Death Wobble happens. She’ll never drive again.

 

[TxTremor]

I'm sure others will chime in but yes death wobble is true but usually due to worn out components in the front end. So if you experience it then more than likely there is something on the front end that is worn out and needs to be fixed. Search around here there have been a few posts that discuss it, the cause, and fixes.

 

[FT_Guest3342]

Death wobble is real. @TxTremor is correct. It is usually caused by warn out parts or by adding parts that change the geometry improperly. You will often hear that a steering stabilizer is the answer. IT IS NOT. All a steering stabilizer does it mask the symptom. It does not fix the problem.

 

[Mambajeep]

experienced death wobble once in my TJ. Did some research, and mine was a loose nut on the track bar. After tightening, never happened again

 

[Guest6786]

experienced death wobble once in my TJ. Did some research, and mine was a loose nut on the track bar. After tightening, never happened again

Carli track bar solved the wobble on my lifted '15 ram 2500
I think solid axles are more prone to this- rutted lanes where one axle gets in the rut and the other pops out of it flexes the components-

 

[Driftwood]

15K miles on my 2020 Tremor, never had any sort of 'death wobble'.

 

[thevol]

I have not seen a single instance of death wobble on this forum yet. It can happen on any solid front axle vehicle but maybe Ford finally has it under control.

 

[Patriot]

I have not seen a single instance of death wobble on this forum yet. It can happen on any solid front axle vehicle but maybe Ford finally has it under control.

Agreed, I have not seen anything other than posts asking about it. As others have said ANY straight axle vehicle with poorly maintained or worn out suspensions, tires out of balance and general lack of proper maintenance can cause DW. The topic is pretty played out....

 

[RedZilla]

Death wobble is a phenomenon mostly in vehicles with solid front axles. I happens in all brands. Modifies front suspensions are more susceptible. It's actually pretty rare and it's easily repaired if it happens. It's usually caused by warn steering linkage end joints.

 

[Grabber]

Having owned 3 super dutys, I have never experienced death wobble, now bump steer, I have (Especially on my '15). In saying that, my Tremor by far has been the best riding driving out of all of them. It has bump steered a few times in my ownership, which were extremely minor. Other than the initial wandering, when new (thanks to the Goodyears), this truck has been an absolute dream to drive.

 

[Tx-Tremor6.7]

All of the posts I have read on the Death Wobble are people asking about it with the Tremor and commenting on previous vehicles or other brands. As others have stated, solid axles are well understood by Ford and there are very few, if any, reports of a factory Tremor having this type of problem. I say "if any" because some people had issues with the Duratrac tires being maxed on air pressure from the factory and have reported similar symptoms using the same term (incorrectly), but lowering the air pressure resolved it.

 

[sgtkersh]

Being in the Jeep community for a long time, the #1 culprit of death wobble on Jeeps is people putting larger/heavier tire and wheel combos on and wearing out the ball joints and then other front end suspension components. Inferior lifts and/or bolts not torqued to specification can be another major culprit.

 

[SVT4X4]

I have only had it happen on one vehicle, 2001 Excursion. Dealer worked on it many times under warranty and was never able to fix it. I agree with others that this is normally older vehicle with worn components. But I have also heard larger tires and other modifications can make the track bar flex causing this, along with steering stabilizer not being strong enough, or not being mounted in the best location possible.

 

[skybopper]

I only have a 1000 miles on my 2021 Tremor so I haven't experienced the wobble in this truck. My previous truck was a 2019 F250 Limited with 67,000 miles on it. The truck has stock suspension and wheels/tires. The Limited was very prone to have the death wobble until I had the recall done on the front end. The truck still has the original tires on it and I think they are contributing to the front end issues. The wobble could be a pretty violent shaking of the steering wheel but I never felt in danger. I would just slow the truck down until it settled down and then continue on my way. Prior to the death wobbles starting on the truck, the front end just felt looser that it used to feel. If I hit a pot hole in the road it didn't recover from the disruption as quickly as it did when it was younger. This gradually increased until it may or may not give me the wobble that required me to slow down until the truck recovered. As I said, the recall as least made the front end feel tighter and gave me confidence in the truck again. My wife was more concerned about the wobble than I was and didn't like driving the truck.

 

[CK1]

I only have a 1000 miles on my 2021 Tremor so I haven't experienced the wobble in this truck. My previous truck was a 2019 F250 Limited with 67,000 miles on it. The truck has stock suspension and wheels/tires. The Limited was very prone to have the death wobble until I had the recall done on the front end. The truck still has the original tires on it and I think they are contributing to the front end issues. The wobble could be a pretty violent shaking of the steering wheel but I never felt in danger. I would just slow the truck down until it settled down and then continue on my way. Prior to the death wobbles starting on the truck, the front end just felt looser that it used to feel. If I hit a pot hole in the road it didn't recover from the disruption as quickly as it did when it was younger. This gradually increased until it may or may not give me the wobble that required me to slow down until the truck recovered. As I said, the recall as least made the front end feel tighter and gave me confidence in the truck again. My wife was more concerned about the wobble than I was and didn't like driving the truck.

My 2019 F250 Platinum (6.7L) had an aftermarket front end level. And I had the death wobble when I’d hit a significant bump in the road. It will absolutely get your attention the first time or two it happens. I only felt in danger one time and that was primarily due to a semi encroaching into my line when the wobble happened. I traded the F250 for other reasons before I had it repaired. I’m convinced the level kit altered the front end enough to cause failure of components up front. I‘m not going to alter the front end of my Tremor and doubt there will be any issues.