Ford F 250 Super Crew
Problems & Worst Years

Death wobble — the term owners themselves use in their filings — runs through both years of the Ford F-250 Super Crew's record here: 2015 with 282 reported occurrences and 2016 with 246. In 2015, death wobble reports at highway speed and in general total 75, with suspension-related uncontrollable shaking and steering wheel shake adding roughly another 60. That year's file is also unusually scattered, with 25 distinct problems and four rated at safety severity. The 2016 record is more concentrated: 125 combined reports of death wobble, plus 11 reports naming steering damper failure outright — a specific component callout that gives an inspecting mechanic somewhere to start.

2016 adds a drivetrain wrinkle the earlier year lacks: 45 reports of random gear changes with loss of control, along with 26 check-engine-light complaints. So while the steering and suspension story is common to both years, a 2016 test drive should also pay attention to shift behavior — unexpected gear changes under way are worth walking away from until explained.

Practically, the two years are close enough in volume that neither is the obvious pick. Either way, the buying process should look the same: a highway-speed drive over broken pavement to provoke any front-end oscillation, an underside inspection of steering and suspension components including the damper, and a scan for stored codes given the check-engine reports.

These totals reflect complaints owners filed with NHTSA rather than measured failure rates, and newer model years generally have had less time on the road to accumulate reports — so they're a map of what to check, not a verdict on every truck. Service records showing front-end work already done can be a point in a truck's favor, and a pre-purchase inspection will always tell you more than the year on the registration.