2018 Ford F-250 CREW CAB - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

"we bought our truck brand new in 2018 and within two months i started experiencing violent shaking and an inability to control the vehicle when hitting even uneven payment. i reported this to ford and they told me everything checked out fine. this happened again 2 more times and at that point was being told that my warranty was expired and there was nothing they could do. the 4th time i nearly crashed into another car then a concrete wall, i was scared for my life driving that vehicle at that point. i decided to try a different ford dealership 1 town over and thankfully they agreed it was the dreaded death wobble that ford knew about the problem and they replaced i believe my steering linkage damper and said this would solve the issue. a few weeks after replacement death wobble was back just not as violent as before, i was able to have greater control of the truck when it happened but it was still scary and continued up to present day which seemed to start getting worse a few months ago again. today my husband and i leave our home to run down to the grocery doing about 10-15 miles an hour when we hear a loud pop, suddenly there was no steering at all, we ended up in the middle of a strangers front yard because we didn’t even have enough steering to make it off the road in a normal fashion. after inspecting the truck we see the drag link has completely popped off the sleeve by the passenger tire. right before all this happened we had just driven down the interstate doing 70mph, if this had happened while doing those speeds i don’t believe i’d be alive right now to write this complaint. there is a real safety issue going on with these trucks steering components. i’m scared i’m going to die in my truck because of these issues and i have 3 kids, not to mention the amount of money i paid for this truck and the fact that this has been a reported issue from day 1. everything said here was verified by a licensed mechanic. calling ford tomorrow with prob no fix. please help!"

"driving truck and pulling horse trailer at 70-75 mph and crossed a bridge on interstate highway which caused a bump and then front end of truck began to shake very hard and the truck pulled hard to the left. managed to get it under control and moved to side of road and called dealership...who advised to continue trip and keep speed under 55. no further problems on that trip while staying under 55 mph. dealer put a new steering dampener on jan. 2, 2023. no further issues until mar. 31, 2023 - while pulling a trailer and utv - again hit a bump on interstate at about 75-80 mph and the severe wobble happened again. truck pulled left but i braked immediately and was able to pull over and it stopped around 30 mph so i resumed trip. 20 minutes later, while driving closer to 65 mph, i went over a bridge on the interstate and the wobble started again suddenly as we exited the bridge. this time the shaking was so violent it took all of my strength to control it as it as the truck surged left and almost hit another car. the vehicles around me all braked hard to avoid me while i was braking hard to keep from hitting the car to my left. it was by far the most violent of the three incidents. i did not tow the trailer home from this trip and instead drove along at 55-63 mph. twice i got the truck up to around 70 and you could feel vibration in both the steering wheel and the body floorboard - especially the right side. as long as i stayed below 55 it seemed to operate ok. this truck is primarily a tow vehicle for my wife and her horse trailer. i can say with certainty that if she were driving and the 'death wobble' happened to her, there is no way she could have held that truck straight. this is a serious problem!!! now that i have looked and read online i cannot believe it hasn't been formally addressed yet by ford. its back at the dealer and we'll see what bandaid they come up with next. this is a really serious problem that needs attention!!"

"i have experienced the death rattle with my 2018 f250-sd on 3 occasions: first was in late summer of '22, the second time was in november of '22 and the third time was on feb. 5, 2023. in all 3 instances the weather was clear, no rain or snow on the road and i was traveling at 65 mph. the first & second time i thought it was due to a rough patch of road surface on the highway. on sunday i was hauling my 14' gn trailer with one horse in it and drove over a minimal rough patch on the 2 lane county highway when it froze up. in the first example i was in city traffic and drifted over to the left shoulder. in the 2ed & 3ed examples there were no other passenger vehicle beside me so i was able to drift over to the closest shoulder to reset the truck. all 3 instances happened with no warning and no warning light appeared on the dash- just clatter and a freeze up. i have an appointment on 2/15/2023 with the ford dealership where we purchased the truck."

"my truck has done what is known as the death wobble, which is easily searchable.the infamous death wobble that many ford truck drivers have experienced is a violent shaking of the front end of the truck and the steering wheel. this issue typically occurs at highway speeds or after hitting a bump in the road. but it can also occur under any typical driving conditions. ford truck drivers who have experienced this violent shaking on the road describe it as a terrifying experience because many struggle to steer and keep control of the vehicle. naturally, this temporary loss of control and difficulty steering can lead to an increased risk of accident, injury, or death. this first occurred in 2018 and the dealer serviced it replacing the steering column. it has happened a few more times since then but very minor. yesterday, 1/9/2023, it occurred with every single minor bump on the interstate at speeds over 65mph. it was very violent to the point where my coffee cup bounced out of the cup holder during the wobble. to get it to stop, you must slow down to 30mph very quickly and can not steer during this time (must go straight). a few occurrences were very dangerous. one where i almost went through a curve and into a semi, and another where i was almost rear ended to slow down and get out of the wobble before the next corner. i took it to my dealer this morning. they said, "ford has identified what they believe to be the problem, but does not have parts designed yet. you can either pay $280 for an aftermarket steering damper, deal with it or trade it in...up to you." 1) they didn't diagnose the problem. 2) ford knows it's a know issue and is doing nothing about it. i have been a life long ford customer, but no more after this!!! this truck is a death trap / disaster waiting to happen for me and any other drivers around me!"

"traveling on us highway 77 at about 60mph and hit a small bump and the truck starting shaking and the steering vibrating and was almost thrown off the highway in the opposite lane of traffic. had to decrease speed quickly and almost lost total control of the vehicle. if a car had been in the oncoming lane we would have had an head on collision"

"when driving at speeds in excess of 45 mph, if the front wheels strike a pothole or some other significant bump in the road, occasionally - but with increasing frequency - it will cause the wheels to start violently bouncing up and down (alternating each wheel so one is up and the other is down) and the steering wheel shimmies violently back and forth. this will continue until the vehicle is slowed to under 10 mph. during these events, there is no controlling the steering and the vehicle does not slow quickly since the front wheels are not in constant contact with the pavement. research on the internet has shown that this is not an isolated problem and it has been labeled the “death wobble” by many. (google “ford f250 death wobble”). the result of this event - and thus the safety hazard - is that one must immediately stop the vehicle to make the malfunction stop. i have had to stop in the middle of the commuter lane on the highway on several occasions, causing many people to slam on their brakes and swerve to avoid hitting me. it is completely terrifying as it puts me, my passengers, and any other vehicles around me at risk. i am appalled that so many apparently know about this issue and nothing has been done to get ford to take ownership. when i described the problem to my service center, they knew exactly the problem that i was speaking of. unfortunately, there is no definitive fix other than to try this or that which will become costly."

"after hitting a small bump in the interstate on i65 north, my f250 began shaking uncontrollably. only by emergency breaking, was i able to regain control on my truck. this has happened 4 times. it is not safe to have to do this on the expressway, at any speed."

"at highway speeds my 2018 ford f250 4wd will start shaking severely. the steering wheel shakes violently back and forth and the entire truck shakes like it's coming apart. the truck feels like it could swerve out of control at any moment. i was in great fear for my well being because i thought the truck was going to cause an accident. to get the shaking to stop i had to pull off the road and reduce my speed to less than 30mph. this has happened multiple times. having to pull off the interstate and reduce speed to such a great extent is a safety hazard in itself. i took the truck to the dealer and they replaced the steering dampener under a recall. this caused the problem to go away for approximately 6 weeks. the problem has now returned. there were no warning lights or any indication that this was going to happen or when it did happen."

"i have experienced at least 6 incidents with my truck in which it starts violently shaking at highway speeds. in order to stop the shaking, i have had to either slow way down or pull over and stop completely to get the truck to stop shaking. in the most recent incident, there was a semi truck directly behind me and i was barely able to get to the side of the road to avoid being struck from behind and i nearly went into the ditch. after the first incident, i took my truck to the local ford dealership and they told me there wasn't a problem when they drove it even though i provided them information about the "death wobble" from sources on the internet. the problem continued, so i took it back and they put "stabilizers" on it. i had no problem for almost a year until it happened twice yesterday. the first incident occurred on 12-25-18."

"when driving above 50mph we experience a problem that our ford service department originally called the death wobble, it is now called high speed oscillation. the steering wheel and entire front end of the truck shakes violently and i have to slow to almost a complete stop in order to regain control of the vehicle. we have have the steering damper replaced twice (the tech today said about every 20,000 miles) and the truck is in the dealer for the third time addressing this issue. this third time the work that is also being done involves a large nut that requires 450#'s of torque to adjust. we had to replace tires that wore out prematurely. this last time the impact of the violent shaking caused the other vehicles on the road to move away from us because they could see something was wrong as well. i don't scare easily, but these events are terrifying. the problem has been confirmed by a ford service department multiple times. this has not had third party inspections, but i will ask for the worn out part when i pick up my vehicle from the current servicing. there were not any warning lights or messages that gave alerts to the incidents. the incidents would occur on macadam, concrete, going downhill and uphill, on transitions between road surfaces and on roads that have rough surfaces from heavy use."