2005 Ford F-250

THIS INVESTIGATION WAS OPENED BASED ON 78 CONSUMER COMPLAINTS OF SEVERE SUSPENSION AND STEERING WHEEL OSCILLATIONS AFTER THE SUBJECT VEHICLES TRAVELED OVER AN UNEVEN SURFACE.ODI WAS CONCERNED ABOUT THESE COMPLAINTS BECAUSE MANY OF THEM ALLEGED LOSS OF CONTROL AND THE LOSS OF CONTROL OCCURREDAT SPEEDS ABOVE 50 MILES PER HOUR.AT THE TIME THESE COMPLAINTS WERE RECEIVED, ODI WAS ALSO AWARE OF THE TSB 07-10-10 AND EARLY WARNING FIELD REPORTS THAT DISCUSSED THE SHIMMY CONDITION ON THE SUBJECT VEHICLES.SINCE OPENING THIS INVESTIGATION, ODI HAS CONFIRMED, BASED ON CONSUMER COMPLAINTS, WARRANTY DATA, TESTING CONDUCTED BY VRTC, AND ODI INSPECTION OF COMPLAINT VEHICLES, THAT THE OWNERS OF THE SUBJECT VEHICLES ARE EXPERIENCING SHIMMY EVENTS ON THEIR VEHICLES.HOWEVER, ODI HAS ALSO CONFIRMED THAT OWNERS TYPICALLY DO NOT MAINTAIN THEIR TIRES AT THE PRESSURES RECOMMENDED BY FORD ON THE TIRE LABEL.FURTHER, ODI HAS FOUND THAT IN ORDER FOR SHIMMY TO OCCUR, TIRE PRESSURES MUST BE SUBSTANTIALLY BELOW (AT LEAST 20%) THOSE SPECIFIED ON THE VEHICLE TIRE LABEL.ODI CONSIDERS THESE UNSAFE TIRE CONDITIONS TO BE THE RESULT OF ONE OF THREE TYPICAL SITUATIONS.THE TIRES ARE BEING IMPROPERLY MAINTAINED, THE OWNERS ARE INTENTIONALLY SETTING THE TIRE PRESSURES LOW TO ENHANCE RIDE QUALITY, OR AFTERMARKET TIRES (NOT DESIGNED FOR USE ON THE VEHICLE) ARE INSTALLED TO CHANGE THE APPEARANCE OR FUNCTION OF THE VEHICLE.THE SUBJECT VEHICLES ARE INTENDED AND DESIGNED TO BE USED AS HEAVY DUTY VEHICLES AND AS SUCH REQUIRE THAT THE TIRES BE CAPABLE OF HANDLING THE LOADS FOR WHICH THE VEHICLE IS DESIGNED AND MARKETED.IN ORDER FOR THE TIRES TO BE CAPABLE OF HANDLING THESE LOADS, THE PROPER TIRE PRESSURE MUST BE MAINTAINED.IN LIGHT OF THE INFORMATION GATHERED IN THIS INVESTIGATION AND FORD'S AGREEMENT TO NOTIFY SUBJECT VEHICLE OWNERS (NOW AND EVERY TWO YEARS UNTIL THE VEHICLES REACH TEN YEARS FROM THEIR PRODUCTION DATE) ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF MAINTAINING PROPER TIRE PRESSURES ON THEIR VEHICLES, FURTHER USE OF AGENCY RESOURCES DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE WARRANTED.THE CLOSING OF THIS INVESTIGATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FINDING BY NHTSA THAT NO SAFETY-RELATED DEFECT EXISTS.THE AGENCY RESERVES THE RIGHT TO TAKE FURTHER ACTION IF WARRANTED BY THE CIRCUMSTANCES.FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, SEE THE ATTACHED CLOSING REPORT.

ODI HAS RECEIVED 78 CONSUMER COMPLAINTS OF SEVERE SUSPENSION AND STEERING WHEEL SHIMMY AND OSCILLATIONS COMMENCING AFTER THE SUBJECT VEHICLES TRAVELED OVER AN UNEVEN ROAD SURFACE. THE MAJORITY OF THESE INCIDENTS OCCURRED AT SPEEDS OF 50 MPH OR GREATER.THIRTEEN OF THE COMPLAINTS RECEIVED BY ODI ALLEGE LOSS OF STEERING CONTROL AND THAT THE VEHICLE CHANGED DRIVING LANES UNCONTROLLABLY.FOUR OF THE COMPLAINTS RECEIVED BY ODI ALLEGE THAT THE VEHICLE LEFT THE ROAD SURFACE AS A RESULT OF THE VIOLENT SUSPENSION AND STEERING WHEEL OSCILLATIONS.IN ONE CASE THE CONSUMER ALLEGES THAT AFTER THE VEHICLE LEFT THE ROAD SURFACE, IT CRASHED INTO A WOODED AREA.ADDITIONALFACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE OPENING OF THIS EA WERE EARLY WARNING FIELD REPORTS,SUBMITTED BY FORD, DESCRIBING SUSPENSION SHIMMY / OSCILLATIONSAND A FORD TSB (07-10-10) DESCRIBING THE SUSPENSION SHIMMY ISSUE AND HOW TO REPAIR THE PROBLEM.FORD HAS DESCRIBED SHIMMY AS SELF-EXCITED OSCILLATION OF THE STEERING WHEELS WITH ACCOMPANYING WHEEL TRAMP.THIS PE HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS (EA) TO DETERMINE IF THE SHIMMY CONDITION THAT OCCURS ON THE SUBJECT VEHICLES CREATES A CONDITION WHERE THE VEHICLE BECOMES DIFFICULT TO CONTROL OR STARTLES THE DRIVER, THUS PRESENTING A SAFETY RISK.

Odometer Fraud. The contact owns a 2005 Ford F-250. The contact purchased the vehicle from a private seller on social media. The contact stated that the sellers advertisement indicated the odometer mileage was 96,000. The contact later purchased a new vehicle and decided to sell the existing vehicle. The existing vehicle was posted on social media for sale. A potential buyer noticed the vehicle and obtained a Carfax report. The potential buyer then sent a copy of the Carfax report to the contact. The Carfax report indicated that the odometer was reported at 303,000 in 2023. The contact then contacted the seller and informed the seller of the discrepancy. The contact was informed that the odometer had been swapped prior to the sale. The contact stated that seller then deleted the advertisement from social media and rejected all further communications with the contact.

NHTSA ID

11692282

Incident

Jan 29, 2025

Mileage

303,000 mi

Electrical system fails every day. It affects the engine, transmission, radio, windows, gauges. Wiring issue causes the radio to just go out, windows stop working, all gauges stops working, the transmission doesn't shift right, engine doesn't run right. Yes vehicle is available for inspecting. Engine cuts off and won't start back, leaves you stranded side the road. Truck stalls in front of other vehicles. Windows won't roll down when it's 100 degrees inside truck. Fuel gauge doesn't let you know when there's no fuel again leaving you stranded beside the road. Other gauge don't work could cause more damage. Yes it has been inspected my mechanic and he said there are wiring issues. No warning lamps or anything now but the wrench light has came on allot. There is a wiring recall on this year truck but said mine doesn't fall under that recall and I don't know why because I'm having this issue

NHTSA ID

11653078

Incident

Mar 25, 2025

While driving at 65 Mph, towing a fifth wheel camper, encountered a mildly rough section of highway when entire front end began to wobble and shake violently. Slowed the vehicle, maintaining control. When going back up to speed, the same shaking occured again. Also noted a less violent shaking at 45 mph. Took vehicle to have new tires rebalanced but did not change condition much. Inspected front end components. Currently replacing steering damper and shocks in hopes of correcting issue. All other components new or nearly new (3 years) with no issues. Vehicle and components can be inspected, and all replaced parts will be kept for inspection if required. Safety of my vehicle and others on busy highway could have been compromised had I not slowed and maintained control. The problem is being dealt with by me, as I do most maintenance on vehicle. The vehicle has not been seen or inspected by others except by tire mechanic who noted no obvious issues but did re-balance all tires. There was NO advance warning of a failure or compromise.

NHTSA ID

11636147

Incident

Sep 27, 2024

The contact owns a 2005 Ford F-250. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact heard a loud rumbling noise that sounded like rocks in the engine. In addition, the contact stated that when the vehicle was parked and the engine was turned off, the vehicle was started, however, the vehicle did not start. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The contact stated that her husband was an independent mechanic and had recently replaced several unknown parts, however the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 246,808.

NHTSA ID

11619962

Incident

Aug 15, 2024

Mileage

246,808 mi

Wrench light comes on, but truck goes into limp loses power very dangerous don't know if it's going to cause me to be rear-ended, steering goes back and forth right to left can't hardly hold it in road

NHTSA ID

11606568

Incident

Aug 3, 2024

The back bed rails rot/rust very quickly and trying to buy new beds run 4500$ along with o2 sensors ir intake sensors go out of blue no reasoning let alone the power steering lines rusting very very quickly

NHTSA ID

11582251

Incident

Apr 10, 2024

The tire is a Cooper (Discoverer/Rigged Trek) 35x12.50R20LT. The tire is unreadable as it ripped off the bead. While driving, a sudden pop suddenly occurred and smoke began to appear. I pulled over and realized the entire tire popped/blew up. No accident, it was at 35mph approximately. The vehicle has not been inspected yet as I am typing this while waiting for a tow truck.

NHTSA ID

11543599

Incident

Sep 9, 2023

In 2014, I got the “Ford death wobble” in the right front. VERY scary and dangerous. Trying to quickly slow down to stop it in traffic is almost as dangerous as the wobble itself. You have very little to no control with the steering when it happens. I had to repair the problem out of pocket because Ford won’t do anything about it. Now, two weeks ago, I had the same death wobble happen at 70 mph on the left front. So frightening. My passengers thought we had a blowout and we’re about to crash. I successfully slowed it down but this problem is a road hazard to me and everyone else on the road. So now, once again, it’s on me to shell out to fix a problem that should have been a recall a long time ago but Ford won’t step up and do the right thing. Please give us some relief here.

NHTSA ID

11487504

Incident

Sep 16, 2022

In monitoring our technical service inquiries and technical service bulletins from Ford, there is the potential for moderate to severe steering wheel oscillation (wobble) to occur. After extensive testing and outside feedback, the following details have been established to correct or prevent steering wheel oscillation occurrences in lifted 05-16 Ford Super Duty 4wd pickups.

FORD: 2005-2011 F250/F350. THE FUEL FILL NOZZLE MAY AUTOMATICALLY SHUT OFF TOO EARLY. *RM

SLOW FUEL FILL--MIL ON WITH DTC P0191. *NJ

BRAKE LINE MODIFICATION NEEDED DUE TO FRONT WHEELS COMING INTO CONTACT WITH THE BRAKE LINES. *KB

SLOW FUEL FILL. *KB

VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH A 5.4L 3V OR 6.8L 3V ENGINE BUILT ON OR BEFORE 09/08/06 MAY EXHIBIT AN EXHAUST SYSTEM NOISE OFTEN DESCRIBED AS A SNAP/POP/TICK/PING NOISE. *NJ