FORD F-250 · model year

2005 FORD F-250

207 NHTSA complaints, 4 crash reports, and 1 active recall for this specific cohort.

NHTSA overall rating

Not crash-tested

New Car Assessment Program

The 2005FORDF-250 carries 207 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 4 crashes, 4 fires, 1 injury, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.

Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 2005 F-250 is steering with 38 filings, followed by suspension (29) and engine (26). Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability. This model year has 1 active recall campaign, which means the manufacturer is obligated to remedy the covered defect at no charge for the life of the vehicle — the full NHTSA campaign numbers are listed below.

NHTSA currently has 177 investigation files overlapping the 2005 F-250, and 8 remain open. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.

207
Complaints
4
Crashes
4
Fires
1
Injuries
0
Deaths

Total Complaints

207 filings

Crashes Reported

4 reports

Source

NHTSA ODI

Federal complaints database

Complaints vs. fleet median (215)

At or below the fleet median complaint volume.

Complaints by Component

ComponentCount
STEERING38
SUSPENSION29
ENGINE26
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING12
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM11
POWER TRAIN9
UNKNOWN OR OTHER9
SUSPENSION:FRONT7
SERVICE BRAKES7
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM7
WHEELS6
TIRES5
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION4
FUEL SYSTEM, DIESEL4
STRUCTURE:BODY4

Recalls (1)

06E08700017/10/2006

SERVICE BRAKES, AIR

CERTAIN HARSCO WHEEL MODIFICATION GROUPS CONTAINING ACCURIDE STEEL RIMS, P/NOS. 203237 AND 203738; ACCURIDE ALUMINUM RIMS, P/N 203712; AND GKN STEEL RIMS, P/N 203688, SOLD AS MODIFICATION EQUIPMENT FOR CERTAIN 2005-2007 FORD F-250/F-350 4X4 PICKUP TRUCKS TO MODIFY TRACK WIDTH OF FRONT AND REAR AXLES

Recent Complaints

20251009ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:INSTRUMENT PANEL:SPEEDOMETER/ODOMETER

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.

Mileage: 303,000

20250406ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

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

20250406POWER TRAIN

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

20250406ENGINE

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

20250115STEERING

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. The

20250115SUSPENSION

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. The

20241015ENGINE

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.

Mileage: 246,808

20240805ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

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

20240805STEERING

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

20240805POWER TRAIN

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

20240410STRUCTURE:BODY

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

20240410ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

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

20240410STEERING

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

20230909TIRES

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.

20221002SUSPENSION

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.

20221002STEERING

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.

20221002WHEELS

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.

20220927SUSPENSION

towing a trailer, traveling at 70 mph, I hit a pothole and vehicle violently shook. The episode lasted for approx 30 seconds. It was very Difficult to maintain control and I almost ran off the road. It happened several times before I took it for repairs. The stabilizer bar was replaced, however the violent shaking has still continued.

20220927STEERING

towing a trailer, traveling at 70 mph, I hit a pothole and vehicle violently shook. The episode lasted for approx 30 seconds. It was very Difficult to maintain control and I almost ran off the road. It happened several times before I took it for repairs. The stabilizer bar was replaced, however the violent shaking has still continued.

20220827SUSPENSION

Front end suspension shimmy> My granddaughter and I were driving at 60mpa and hit a bump and could not control shaking of truck until pulling over to stop. This happened without warning. Had to drive back roads to get home.

Compare 2005FORDF-250 to Similar Vehicles

NHTSA Investigations 8 Open

View all investigations

Frequently Asked Questions

How many complaints does the 2005 FORD F-250 have?
The 2005 FORD F-250 has 207 NHTSA complaints, 4 crashes, 4 fires, 1 injuries, and 0 deaths reported.
Are there any recalls for the 2005 FORD F-250?
Yes, the 2005 FORD F-250 has 1 recall(s). The most common affected component is SERVICE BRAKES, AIR. Recalls are issued by NHTSA and manufacturers must provide a free remedy.
What are the most common problems with the 2005 FORD F-250?
The most-complained component for the 2005 FORD F-250 is STEERING with 38 complaints. Other frequently reported areas include SUSPENSION and ENGINE.
Is the 2005 FORD F-250 safe to buy?
Review the complaint history, crash and fire reports, safety ratings, and recall status on this page to make an informed decision. No NHTSA crash test rating is available for this model year. Compare with other model years using the links above.
Where does this data come from?
All complaint, recall, and safety rating data is sourced from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Complaints are filed by vehicle owners through NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation.

Vehicle Safety Guides

Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.