A Letter From Ford

Chdamn

Chdamn

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So the wife tells me it looks like I have a recall letter from Ford. That would be odd since the newest Ford I have is an 06 F250 (and have being a relative term as I’m still entrenched with the dealership on that one).

I open it up and my goodness it’s about that truck. But it isn’t a recall letter. It’s a feelgood PSA from Ford about, what owners have referred to as, the death wobble.

After you remove the friendly words and lawyer speak here is basically what the letter says......

We at ford recognize that some of you people are complaining about a front end shimmy, especially you 4wd owners with solid front axles.

Ford is not to blame for this. Everything that we can control has been controlled. You idiots aren’t inflating your tires properly. In case you don’t know what a tire inflation chart is, here’s one. Read it, learn it, live it.

If you’ve made any suspension mods at all, you’re an idiot and part of the problem. Don’t do that. Return your ford to spec.

If you’re still having an issue Ford is here for you. Bring your ford in and we’ll charge you to diagnose the problem and then arbitrarily replace suspension and steering components.

Once again ford is not to blame for this supposed issue. We acknowledge that it is so rampant that people are really mad at us but we didn’t do it.

SMH. And LMAO.
 
Jp8819 said:
Guess they felt guilty to send a cya letter after the explorer/firestone mess a few years ago.
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LOL agreed, but this is a ford only issue. While a solid front axle has a few issues they aren't a real issue as long as everything is heavy duty. No jeep I've owned had the issue, they didn't have it in the 7.3 fords. It only happened in the 6.0's when they tried to make the ride more comfortable.

The fix for this issue has nothing to do with tire inflation or anything else. It's replacing a couple of components with much beefier aftermarket components with metal bushings. It is absolutely an engineering and design flaw from Ford they just don't want to admit it. That's fine, but don't send out a letter telling everyone it's their fault.
 
Jeeps drivers have had there share of the death wobble issues over the years but mostly seemed to be around worn parts or someone putting a lift and large tires on from what I have seen and not a huge problem. Dodge rams have had some as well if you google bfg a/t k/o tires and cummins or ford you can find a lot of reading about issues and solid axle vehicles. Short of it is suspected that particular tread pattern makes dw more likely on heavy vehicles.

With that said still honestly suprised a mfg would even send out a letter to acknowledge the issue or open the can of worms on a 12 year old vehicle.
 
Dodge has got the same problem. My '01 4WD 2500 with a Cummins did it with me one day. Scariest 10 seconds of my life. You lose total control of steering. When I left a store just shortly before I heard a loud pop when turning wheel. I got out looked underneath, but couldn't see anything wrong. Took off down the road and all of a sudden at 55 mph the steering wheel starts violently shaking. Come to find out a bolt in the track bar broke where it went through chassis. I didn't see it because the bolt head was still there, but rest of the bolt was gone. Got it home, replaced and all was well except the stain, that one never did wash out!

Dodge has known about this issue for decades, but has not addressed it all that I know of.
 
ford-wants-you.jpg
 
I drive a 2012 F350 4x4 for work. Mine does shake at interstate speeds, but I feel like its caused by the tires. With new tires, it rides smooth, but after the first rotation it picks up some vibration. Seems most pronounced at 65-70, and above 70 it seems to smooth out some.
 
They've been sending me that letter every 2 years since '07.

It has actually changed some. Used to say we know about, but have no fix. They have always blamed tire inflation, funny story, mine does it a whole lot less at 65psi. Not related to tread, came with Trail T/As, got GY Duratracs, now wears Nitto Dura Grapplers all very different did it with all of them.

The TSBs were very vague, haven't looked at them in a while. The only aftermarket fix I knew of was some brackets adding caster IIRC. I do understand lift makes it worse.

Scares my wife pretty well, I've gotten used to it. Pretty sure in a tight curve it'd be a bad day. I think there've been some fatalities attributed. I may take mine in this time.
 
RedneckFur said:
I drive a 2012 F350 4x4 for work. Mine does shake at interstate speeds, but I feel like its caused by the tires. With new tires, it rides smooth, but after the first rotation it picks up some vibration. Seems most pronounced at 65-70, and above 70 it seems to smooth out some.
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This is about a 20-40 times per second 2 inch oscillation of the steering wheel, that will continue for 100yds or more occuring at 45+mph after hitting a certain type of bump. Can't recall it happening over 75mph.
 
Beef15 said:
This is about a 20-40 times per second 2 inch oscillation of the steering wheel, that will continue for 100yds or more occuring at 45+mph after hitting a certain type of bump. Can't recall it happening over 75mph.
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My work truck doesn't do that. Mine acts like a tire is out of balance... which it may be from wear after being rotated. Our trucks are loaded down to their max weight and get used hard.
 
RedneckFur said:
I drive a 2012 F350 4x4 for work. Mine does shake at interstate speeds, but I feel like its caused by the tires. With new tires, it rides smooth, but after the first rotation it picks up some vibration. Seems most pronounced at 65-70, and above 70 it seems to smooth out some.
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My '17 F150 4x4 has a slight vibration at 65 or so, then smooth at 70 plus. I thought maybe the tires had flat spotted since the truck sat new on the lot for a year till I bought it.

Hmmm.
 
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Ive had several F350s and have never had that happen. My 17 is smooth as a babies azz.
 
Beef15 said:
This is about a 20-40 times per second 2 inch oscillation of the steering wheel, that will continue for 100yds or more occuring at 45+mph after hitting a certain type of bump. Can't recall it happening over 75mph.
Click to expand...

There were certain parts of the roads near my house where the combination of the uneven pavement and speed would cause the wheel to start flailing around. I thought I broke a tie rod or something it was so significant. I learned to either change my speed or expect the shimmy over time at these certain locations
 
They could have made that letter quite a bit less wordy and saved you some reading time. All they needed to mail you was this: "Dear Ford customer, We're sorry you bought a Ford. Next time buy a Chevy." :D
 
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Beef15 said:
This is about a 20-40 times per second 2 inch oscillation of the steering wheel, that will continue for 100yds or more occuring at 45+mph after hitting a certain type of bump. Can't recall it happening over 75mph.
Click to expand...

That is a very close description of the death wobble. The only difference I had was mine was close to half a wheel play. You could not hold onto the steering wheel at all. Like I said, the stains tell the story!
 
Had that happen with a dodge I was driving in the military, but I blame that on motor pools "maintenance"
 
Qball said:
They could have made that letter quite a bit less wordy and saved you some reading time. All they needed to mail you was this: "Dear Ford customer, We're sorry you bought a Ford. Next time buy a Chevy." :D
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No, they just want to piss off their customers. They don't actually hate them.

;)
 
Chdamn said:
LOL agreed, but this is a ford only issue. While a solid front axle has a few issues they aren't a real issue as long as everything is heavy duty. No jeep I've owned had the issue, they didn't have it in the 7.3 fords. It only happened in the 6.0's when they tried to make the ride more comfortable.

The fix for this issue has nothing to do with tire inflation or anything else. It's replacing a couple of components with much beefier aftermarket components with metal bushings. It is absolutely an engineering and design flaw from Ford they just don't want to admit it. That's fine, but don't send out a letter telling everyone it's their fault.
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Toyota did the same thing years ago with the oil sludge issue. Essentially the letter said you people don't maintain your vehicles but out of the goodness of our hearts we will replace 1 engine should you have the sludge. Right.
At that time I would have been inclined to change my own oil but that van had every scheduled maintenance item on time and documented by the dealer just in case.
 
The only thing Ford has ever done right is circled the problem on their vehicles, but they even screwed that up and it's a oval.
 
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