Weird and scary problem while towing
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New User
Joined: Aug 2006
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Weird and scary problem while towing
I've got an 06 F-350 King Ranch. I was towing a 4 horse trailer on Sunday night, had two horses on, going about 70 on the highway. I had the tow/haul mode turned on.
Out of no where, the speedo starts bouncing from 70 down to 40 and back. The ABS light came on, and it felt like the trailer brake controller disconnected. I still had trailer lights, and could manually engage the trailer brakes using the paddle on the controller, but when pressing the brake pedal it felt like nothing was there. The trans also felt like I only had the high gears, it wouldn't downshift.
Scared the bejeepers out of me. I ended up pulling off the highway, getting out the not so helpful owner's manual and tried to find something, ANYTHING that could tell me what was going on.
At this point it's about midnight, I'm 150 miles from home, and in an area where a guy in a pickup & horse trailer really stick out & really don't belong. So having no real choice, I decided to limp home. Start back up, the ABS light is still on. Try to engage the tow/haul mode, & it came on, the ABS light instantly went out. Brakes still don't feel right, but I made it home.
Has anyone had a similar experience, or heard of anyone who has? I'm going to take it in (OBVIOUSLY!) but wondered if it's something that is a known issue.
Out of no where, the speedo starts bouncing from 70 down to 40 and back. The ABS light came on, and it felt like the trailer brake controller disconnected. I still had trailer lights, and could manually engage the trailer brakes using the paddle on the controller, but when pressing the brake pedal it felt like nothing was there. The trans also felt like I only had the high gears, it wouldn't downshift.
Scared the bejeepers out of me. I ended up pulling off the highway, getting out the not so helpful owner's manual and tried to find something, ANYTHING that could tell me what was going on.
At this point it's about midnight, I'm 150 miles from home, and in an area where a guy in a pickup & horse trailer really stick out & really don't belong. So having no real choice, I decided to limp home. Start back up, the ABS light is still on. Try to engage the tow/haul mode, & it came on, the ABS light instantly went out. Brakes still don't feel right, but I made it home.
Has anyone had a similar experience, or heard of anyone who has? I'm going to take it in (OBVIOUSLY!) but wondered if it's something that is a known issue.
Thread Starter
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New User
Joined: Aug 2006
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Thanks all....it was the VSS. It's been replaced. I have to say, I'm really glad I wasn't hauling in the mountains when this happened, because slowing the trailer down was NOT easy short of manually engaging the brakes.
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Joined: Jun 2008
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I am still fighting ford on this issue... I pull a 16000# 5th wheel in the mountains... when the abs light comes on after about 300 miles of driving you lose tow haul, cruise, and trailer brakes... NTSB here i come.....
