— A Ford class action lawsuit that has been in court for more than six years has been put on hold while the judge awaits the results of an appeal filed by Ford.
The problem, called the ‘death wobble’, is actually a ‘shimmy’, said to be caused by suspension and steering failures.
The thirteen plaintiffs complain that the trucks vibrate and that the steering wheels vibrate.
Ford’s “deadly wobble” is believed to be caused by the bushing becoming loose from the tie rod, abnormal bushing wear and problems with the ball joints, steering dampers, control arms, shock absorbers and struts.
The affected trucks include 2005-2007 and 2017-2019 Ford F-250 and F-350 vehicles. When the class action was first filed in 2019, the class action included additional model years, and the lawsuit included customers across the country.
But in 2024, the judge approved the class action for only eight states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, New Mexico, South Carolina and Texas.
Ford ‘Death Wobble’ lawsuit suspended
Two implied warranty claims survived for clients in Maine and South Carolina, but the judge ruled that the client representing Maine did not meet the requirements for a class action lawsuit. The plaintiffs then requested that the Maine class action representative be replaced with a South Carolina client.
Although Judge Anthony J. Battaglia told the plaintiffs they could appoint another Maine representative to the class, he did not mean from another state. Ford challenged that logic and the judge agreed with Ford.
“Under Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit precedent, ‘a class representative must be part of the class,’ for Maine.” — Judge Battaglia
In addition, in January, Ford filed a petition for leave to appeal the court’s ruling on general issues regarding implied warranty claims involving both Maine and South Carolina. According to Ford, the judge was wrong when he found common issues prevailing over the implied warranty claims for those two states.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has granted Ford permission to appeal, and oral arguments will begin on December 8.
All deadlines and hearing dates for the Ford ‘death wobble’ lawsuit have been suspended and no further action will be taken until the appeals court announces its decision.
The Ford ‘death wobble’ class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California: Lessin, et al., v. Ford Motor Company, et al.
The plaintiff is represented by McCune Law Group and Sohn & Associates.
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