08 Break Down!

[Strut61]

Ok OK , I know.....I too hate the he said, she said BS but. On this one I was actually speaking to the owner so, Here goes. Tonight on my way home from work, about 5:45pm. Heading down Rt 11 toward Danville Pa I notice a big 5th wheel trailer, Truck and a Tow Truck! On my way past this, I looked to see and sure enough it was an 08.....So, I spun around to be nosey and to see if I could help. Well, the Gentleman was Hotshot hauler out of Vermont and was heading from Indiana to Conneticut with a Landmark 5th wheel approx 36' in lenght. He told me the truck, an 08 F350 6.4, had 5,000 miles on it and this was the 2nd time the truck has let him set. The 1st being a frozen up air Filter due to sucking snow into the intake and clogging the available air form the motor. Now this, he stated.....I asked what was up and he told me that all of a sudden he lost steering and upon trying to slow to a stop, noticed he had no brakes? He had to use the emergency brake to stop the vehicle in a safe manner. He then called Ford Roadside and they called Enterprise and got a tow truck to take the truck to Jack Metzer Ford located in Danville, Pa. The 5th Wheel was un-hitched and left set with a pin lock applied. Anyway, I hauled this fine gentleman to the Dealership as the Tow vehicle was lagging behind, and sat there with him (as it is freezing out) till the Rental Car showed up. I doubt I'll ever hear what caused the issue...........It's wierd that two seperate systems failed at the same time. Anyone else hear of such a thing.

[1968gtcs]

Originally Posted by Strut61

Ok OK , I know.....I too hate the he said, she said BS but. On this one I was actually speaking to the owner so, Here goes.

Tonight on my way home from work, about 5:45pm. Heading down Rt 11 toward Danville Pa I notice a big 5th wheel trailer, Truck and a Tow Truck!

On my way past this, I looked to see and sure enough it was an 08.....So, I spun around to be nosey and to see if I could help.

Well, the Gentleman was Hotshot hauler out of Vermont and was heading from Indiana to Conneticut with a Landmark 5th wheel approx 36' in lenght.

He told me the truck, an 08 F350 6.4, had 5,000 miles on it and this was the 2nd time the truck has let him set. The 1st being a frozen up air Filter due to sucking snow into the intake and clogging the available air form the motor. Now this, he stated.....I asked what was up and he told me that all of a sudden he lost steering and upon trying to slow to a stop, noticed he had no brakes? He had to use the emergency brake to stop the vehicle in a safe manner. He then called Ford Roadside and they called Enterprise and got a tow truck to take the truck to Jack Metzer Ford located in Danville, Pa. The 5th Wheel was un-hitched and left set with a pin lock applied.

Anyway, I hauled this fine gentleman to the Dealership as the Tow vehicle was lagging behind, and sat there with him (as it is freezing out) till the Rental Car showed up.

I doubt I'll ever hear what caused the issue...........It's wierd that two seperate systems failed at the same time.

Anyone else hear of such a thing.

Well after having to replace a power steering pump on my 02 Excursition, I found that the power steering pump is also used for the power brakes. They are on the same system. My guess is he blew one of the hoses (Intake or return line) which caused the loss of breaks and steering. If the Pump just went out he would have at least had the breaks, just not power assisted brakes. This would be my guess.

[Dustin1690]

Whatever caused it all i know thats scary stuff especially pullling a 5er

[Sayonara]

Wow what a mess. never heard of that but good thing everyone was safe! Pretty scary stuff to think about as i use my SD for hauling our TT with the family.

[barry1me]

The brakes...almost every diesel truck made is Hydroboost. most work in conjunction with your powersteering. Some diesels have a vacuum pump and then you can use a standard duplex like a gasser. (I was an intern at TRW when I was in college, so I have some brake knowledge) Since diesels do not make vaccum they can not use a typical booster like a gas engine to help with braking.

[Bowie]

JOb 3 trucks here are the brakes:

Power 4- wheel disc/4-wheel anti-lock brakes with vacuum
boost are now standard on SRW with all engines. Power 4-
wheel disc/4-wheel anti-lock brakes with hydro-boost are now
standard on DRW with all engines, included on SRW with the
Dual Alternators, and optional on SRW diesel for fleet only.

[firehawk198]

[quote=Strut61]Ok OK , I know.....I too hate the he said, she said BS but. On this one I was actually speaking to the owner so, Here goes.


Anyway, I hauled this fine gentleman to the Dealership as the Tow vehicle was lagging behind, and sat there with him (as it is freezing out) till the Rental Car showed up.

Nice guy, hope if I ever breakdown it is near this fine gentleman home. Great post Strut, this will help us all to learn alot. Did not realize they were on the same system.

[Strut61]

Thanks, I did what any one of us would have done in the same instance. Thanks again!

I did not realize they were on the same system either, but as described earlier in the post I guess they are. Sort of disturbing, to think that if you loose steering you also loose your braking ability!

This fella told me he also had an F550 with a cummins and in excess of 1 million miles that he intended to get out of moth balls. He was really pleased with the truck as a whole but very disenfranchised by being left sit twice inside of 5,ooo miles.

I don't think this repair is a bank breaker, but, a retired fella, just making ends meet sure does not need this additional headache. None of us do.

Oh by the way, Fords answer to the frozen air filter was, buy a grill cover! Imagine the nerve, spend in excess of 50k on a truck and Ford won't spring for a $20 cover....Thanks Ford!

[Dustin1690]

Oh man i hate to say it but thats bs alright you spend how much on a superduty and they tell you to get a grille cover for it

[fordtruckman]

You would think that there would be a fail safe so that if something did brake with the system you wouldn't just be left out in the dark so to speak to save yourself. I mean what the heck would he do if he was in the mountains or something. Whoa I'd be freaked out by that.

[duramaximizer]

My friend got an 08 PSD for a company vehicle. He's a big shot at Syngenta, anyway he said he had to put the grill cover on to keep snow out of the air intake. Otherwise he said the truck had been trouble free.

[diesel_dan]

Originally Posted by Bowie

JOb 3 trucks here are the brakes:

Power 4- wheel disc/4-wheel anti-lock brakes with vacuum
boost are now standard on SRW with all engines. Power 4-
wheel disc/4-wheel anti-lock brakes with hydro-boost are now
standard on DRW with all engines, included on SRW with the
Dual Alternators, and optional on SRW diesel for fleet only.

That's interesting -- my friend just picked up their Job 3 build truck a week ago Friday and it is an F250 4x4 and it specifically states hydroboost on the sticker... Nothing they asked for and it's a Lariat, so not a fleet truck...

[Sayonara]

Originally Posted by Strut61

Oh by the way, Fords answer to the frozen air filter was, buy a grill cover! Imagine the nerve, spend in excess of 50k on a truck and Ford won't spring for a $20 cover....Thanks Ford!

I mentioned this TSB to my deaker and they ordered the parts for me. no charge.

[fulmar]

First time posting on the forum. Thanks for any help you can provide.

The same thing happened to me tonight...got in my truck to leave work, turned the steering wheel a small amount, heard a "pop" from under the hood, and then lost all power steering and 90% of brakes.

Truck is an '09 250 6.4 Lariat with under 2k miles. I looked in the owner's manual, couldn't find a fuse or relay which would control both the steering and brakes and then i searched this forum and found the exact same thing happened to another unlucky guy. Looks like it needs to be towed to the dealer. Good thing I wasn't on the highway or going down a hill.

[Brandon D]

Thanks for the heads up, hope it never happens to me but nice to know what it is if it ever does happen. Just wanted to comment that they provide us all with factory grille covers up here in Canada. Or at least they did to me and a friend, I would think they should extend the courtesy to those down south that live in the snowy states. I have already had my air box plugged off once by snow but it never killed the motor, just told me to check the air box on the instrument panel. Lucky too cause it was brutally cold that day. The grille cover probably would have helped but I tore out my factory grille a month after I bought the truck so the cover doesn't fit anymore. Not real practical when it snows but MAN does it look good, haha.