Started a new thread about this issue... Working on my 5th radiator in 2 1/2 years. Bought my 2008 F250 in Oct of 11, in July of 12 I towed my 23' boat, radiator went out, 40 days later towed the boat again, blew my radiator, 11 months later towed my boat blew my radiator, 4 months later drove up the mountain to go snowboarding, blew my radiator, 12 1/2 months later drove up the mountain, blew my radiator. I'm seeing a pattern here.
The radiator has been replaced with OEM parts per the Ford TSB's.
To quote Einstein, " The definition of insanity is, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result." Is it crazy of me to expect Ford to do something about this? According to Ford, yes, yes it is.
Mark this thread, I am looking to find a lawyer to file a Class Action lawsuit.

 

There are hundreds of post about this and the subject is nothing new.

To be honest the issue is the mounts and how it is supported in my opinion , the longer the wheel base the worst the issues. The more situations where you cause the frame to twist the sooner your gonna have the problem. The torsional twist ruins the seal of the tanks. Im sure running low on coolant plays its roll but it by itself its not the sole cause. Ither way, I think the only difference in failure rates is how the truck is used and how often it sees this type of flex.

Did you replace the rubber isolates each time, also did you have the cab isolators inspected they all can contribute to this issue of twist. When any of those items start to fail the issue or twisting compounds. I have seen the new fancy aluminum radiators fail as well, they will take a lot more abuse then the stock plastic radiator but like any other metal, aluminum fatigues with flex.


Here s good video points the potential issue out a little. It has been posted before .



My guess is suing them would result in them saying the truck was abused or used outside is design limits however they weasel out of these type of issues.

 

I got to disagree with this in regards to how we use it. 3 of the 5 times we towed our 3500lb boat to the lake. No massive hills or dirt roads, and the other 2 we simply drove up the mountain to go snowboarding. I just don't understand how a work truck can't take the work. Why have a truck that can't perform basic tows or even hills?
All the work done was per the TSB's put out by Ford.

 

I agree, while the video shows it at an extreme twist, this movement is still happening on a small scale.

The aluminum radiators do hold up much better, but don't be surprised if a warranty is rejected on a expensive aftermarket aluminum radiator if they find twisting force on the radiator has caused damage. There lifetime warranties are for manufacture defects not design problems with the mounts, or cooling system issues.

Again this issue is not new its been known for awhile and is un fortunate i feel your pain just like many others. Personally I'm on my third radiator, with a fourth in the horizon

 

Ok, so what is the recommended fix? Change the bracket cushions everytime I change the radiator? I feel bad for my mechanics that keep replacing the thing. They get a credit for the radiator but are putting it in for free everytime. I will have to pay full price this time because I am 3 weeks over the year warranty.

 

Check cab bushings, replace with an Airadco aluminum unit and do new t stats if they haven't been changed.

 

Id be lying if I told u there a was a fix. It's a known issue but there's still a lot of people who have had no issue. There are things you can do to improve your chance of not having the issue again. Most of these would be suggestions that you need to research to make a educated decision.

A quality aluminum radiator with a welded tank not an epoxyed tank.

Inspect cab and radiator isolators

Inspect thermostats and housing cover

Inspect upper radiator hose for leaks, also check to see if it is updated to the two oring style

 

How about a "X" brace on the front of the truck, just behind the radiator, there is lots of room there.
It would be a matter of making 4 mounts, and use threaded rod, and tighten it up on flat ground with tires straight, that should take a lot of the flex away from the radiator.
Just melt holes through the plastic shroud with a soldering iron, or drill them, to insert the rods.
I've seen that setup on a few bigger vehicles, right in front of the radiator.

It must be frame flex, and not vibration or impact, that wrecks them, as mine is fine, and I drive down terrible roads all the time, the kind of roads with pot holes and rutts and washboard and all kinds of fun stuff.

 

That's either some huge *** frame flex to do it every time...or some huge *** bad luck with multiple faulty rads from the factory...Or....Could it possibly be a blown head gasket or a faulty egr cooler say over pressurizing the cooling system? Any evidence of puking on your degas bottle? Just throwing out some ideas here.

 

Would there be less flex with the short bed version?

 

One would initially think so, but apparently the frame is reinforced with more, or thicker layers of metal around it, like a double frame, so you would think that they enforce it to provide the same strength for all models.

Mine is a long box crew cab, and it gets it's fair share of road shocks, like I said, real crappy roads here, bottom out axle lots on the front (before lift recently) , and no problems.

I don't offroad, where I have one wheel in the air though, maybe that is what does it.

 

I'm back. Just wanted to give an update on my radiator issue. Back in January we replaced our radiator for the 5th time in 3 years. This time we put in a Moshimoto all aluminum radiator. Radiator is all good, but we towed our boat again and had to replace our water pump and thermostat. I was about to drive the thing over the dam if it was the radiator again. Don't know if it was a coincidence or a failure of those 2 parts due to the towing. So far the Moshimoto is holding strong.

 

My hunch is that since they were in there swapping out the water pump they just went ahead and replaced the thermostats too. Cheap and the new thermostats have been improved over originals. And if you don't know if you have the originals then sure ... good idea. Towing is probably less important than hours.

 

Interesting thread.

Now that I think about it my radiator leak came shortly after I did my EGR delete which is on drivers side of truck. My radiator leak which was at the top of the radiator is on the drivers side as well right at the top corner of radiator.

I was lazy so I jacked up the front drivers side only to take the wheel well cover off and to access the steering rod disconnect.

 

Old thread but on topic for anyone that runs into it in the future.

Anyone able to tell me how go get the front body/radiator isolators out of a 2008 6.4 F250? The lower section of the mount is gone and I just had a new radiator installed. it looked like a simple, pull the bolt and separate the upper and lower bushing. After much skin loss and not going as planned I figured Id ask.

This should have been addressed during the install since the cab was off for an oil cooler change. I noticed it because I now have a nice crease in my hood from the top of the radiator making contact with the underside of the hood when it flexed.