Ford Class Action Alleges ‘Death Wobble’ Truck Defect

A recent Ford class action lawsuit claims that the company knowingly sold F-250 and F-350 trucks with a dangerous “death wobble” defect.

Plaintiff William Lessin claims that Ford has known about the defect in their trucks’ suspension and steering systems for 14 years but failed to recall the vehicles or warn their customers about the potentially dangerous problem.

The problem, referred to as a “death wobble,” allegedly stems from a defect in the trucks’ steering linkage and suspension systems.

According to the Ford class action, the defect leads to difficult steering and intense shaking even when drivers are driving in normal conditions.

“The Death Wobble is typically triggered when the class vehicles are traveling at speeds above 50 miles per hour and one of the tires hits a groove or bump in the road,” Lessin argues in his Ford truck class action. “This causes a violent shaking of the vehicle, which can only be controlled by a sudden reduction of speed.”

The Ford defect may present itself in abnormal wearing of several vehicle components, according to Lessin’s Ford class action. He claims that unusual wear or loosening of the track bar bushing, damper bracket, ball joint, control arms, shock absorbers, and/or struts can lead to the defect.

“The violent shaking of the vehicle can cause loss of control of the vehicle and difficulty steering while the class vehicles are in operation at any time and under typical driving conditions or speed,” the Ford class action lawsuit claims.

“This exposes the driver and the occupants of the class vehicles, as well as others who share the road with them, to an increased risk of accident, injury or death.”

Lessin reportedly purchased a 2011 Ford F-250 in 2010, believing that his truck was free of defects. However, Lessin allegedly experienced the “death wobble” and took his truck in for repairs multiple times over the span of three months.

Despite being diligent with his repairs, the Ford dealership allegedly refused to acknowledge the problem and honor the truck’s warranty for repairs. Due to his issues with the dealership, Lessin says he needed to spend more than $1,600 on repairs to fix the issue and he claims that his truck’s value has decreased.

Lessin’s experience reportedly represents that of numerous Ford truck owners. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) allegedly received 1,265 reports of the “death wobble” defect between March 2005 and February 2019. Some of these reports describe accidents and injuries due to the dangerous defect, the plaintiff states.

The Ford class action lawsuit claims that the automaker should have warned consumers about the defect as soon as they started to receive reports of the issue. Lessin also says that the company should pay for repairs on all affected vehicles.

Lessin seeks to represent a Class of current and former owners and lessees of model year 2005 to 2019 Ford F-250 and F-350 trucks.

Lessin and the proposed Class are represented by Richard D. McCune, David C. Wright and Mark I. Richards of McCune Wright Arevalo LLP; and Douglas C. Sohn of Sohn & Associates.

The Ford Truck Wobble Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Lessin v. Ford Motor Company, et al., Case No. 3:19-­cv­01082, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

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