What do you think was the problem with this Ford Super Duty?

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Mar 23, 2003
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Hopewell, Virginia, USA
Yesterday on the road I saw a new or nearly new (2019 or newer) Ford Super Duty dually 4–door pickup that had a sudden front-end problem. It appeared to have 4wd, and it was pulling a relatively light trailer at 60 mph. It did not look as if it had a lot of miles on it.

The truck pulled on the shoulder and slowed. Suddenly I saw the left front wheel violently wobble as if it had somehow been mounted off-center in relation to the axle, then it straightened out, then wobbled again. It continued the wobbling/straightening out until the driver pulled off at an exit to get to a truck stop with a service area. I was passing the truck with a w-i-d-e berth and couldn't see whether the right front wheel was doing this too.

What on earth would cause that? This was way beyond what being out of balance and needing a wheel weight would cause. Front drivetrain failure? If so, what? Is this a known problem for these trucks?
 
It wasn't side-to-side as on that Jeep. On that Super Duty the oscillation was up-and-down like an extreme out-of-balance wheel. At first I thought the left front tire had had a blowout.

Looks as if death wobble is a well known problem on those pickups and various steering and alignment links are the main suspects. This smacks of a design problem, as the video says it first showed up in 2005 models. So 2004 and older models aren't affected, apparently.

Something occurs to me: the Super Duty pickups have become far heavier in recent years. I think Car and Driver mentioned in a brief late–'00s test that the one tested, which was not even a dually, was over 8,000 lb (4 tons) as equipped. That stuck out in my mind and it has to play a role. Everyone's full-sized pickups have become porkers. Weight would aggravate suspension problems.
 
Had that in a few 2009 f250 gas work trucks. Brand new and they were bad. Bomb them off road or gravel roads, all was well. Hit a small expansion joint on the highway doing 100km/h, you had to pile on the brakes and pray to God you could steer it into the ditch and not into the opposing lane.
 
Dodges/Rams 4X4s do it too, it seems to be a solid front axle issue. My old F-450 has it to some extent, my steering box is getting bad, although my steering components & kingpins are still OK, it’s getting an add-on steering stabilizer.
 
My '95 Dodge Ram Dually had this problem. Making sure the alignment was spot-on, and a stiffer steering damper and shocks seemed to cure the problem.

The '17 RAM Dually has never exhibited 'Death Wobble'. It is much heavier than the '95 was, and tows far more weight.
 
The old Ford "Twin I-beam" independent front suspension wasn't great, but the 4wd versions didn't have death wobble. Maybe Ford needs to go back to the future. A solid front axle on a 2021 pickup? Really?
because the solid front works and it works well. there’s a reason you don’t see duramax duallys on the road
 
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My 2015 Super Duty with a solid front axle feels a little unsteady doing over a bridge expansion joint. I went to Bilstein shocks and steering dampener. Helps a little. Make sure all front suspension including track bar is in good shape, not worn. Having alignment spot-on helps. Going 65 MPH or under helps.

Possibly subjective but stock rims with the proper offset is best also.
 
Dodges/Rams 4X4s do it too, it seems to be a solid front axle issue. My old F-450 has it to some extent, my steering box is getting bad, although my steering components & kingpins are still OK, it’s getting an add-on steering stabilizer.
I was going to say, I’ve heard of it on old Dodge trucks too.

But I’ve not experienced it.

What I have found is that the steering boxes have a lot of play. At least on the dodge it seems to be the same type setup as my Mercedes Diesels. But add a solid front axle, a track bar with some play, etc, and I can see how a bunch of parts may be trying to fight each other.

If just vertical, I’d suspect more of an undamped spring response where the periodicity of the bumps, and the time response of the undamped spring create a “perfect storm”.
 
Had this problem on a 95 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 when it accumulated around 40,000 miles. New tires didn't solve it; fresh alignment didn't either, nor did replacing every component in the front steering linkage, tie rod ends, etc., including ball joints, and shocks with Bilstein units. What did solve it was replacing the upper and lower track bars with extremely stiff aftermarket track bars along with greaseable poly bushings. Once this was done, problem completely gone.
 
The old Ford "Twin I-beam" independent front suspension wasn't great, but the 4wd versions didn't have death wobble. Maybe Ford needs to go back to the future. A solid front axle on a 2021 pickup? Really?
For what it was, I actually think the Ford Twin I Beam/Twin Traction Beam was really pretty good. I have owned three Twin Traction Beam trucks, two with over 200k miles, and never experienced anything like death wobble. Even the reg cab short bed Ranger had absolutely no trouble with expansion joints and uneven pavement.

I will admit my torsion bar IFS Explorer handles better than my TTB Explorer, but the TTB one can turn much tighter and I don't think it's just because it's a 2 door.
 
The Twin I-Beam and Twin Traction Beam designs were essentially very heavy swing-arm suspensions, with the pivots nearly all the way on the opposite side. The overall weight was the problem, in addition to some alignment shops claiming they couldn't properly align them. But they worked and they were rugged. Even the first ~15 years of Ranger production used a smaller version.

It just floors me that death wobble became a problem on any newer pickup by any manufacturer and this wasn't eliminated in production as soon as it appeared. Eventually the feds will force a fix by recall if accidents or injuries from it can be proven.
 
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