Shudders When Towing

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Mar 28, 2008 | 07:52 PM

banditsdaddy

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Shudders When Towing

My 2006 F350 4X4 PSD shudders when starting from a dead stop when pulling my 5th wheel. This started when pulling the trailer to South Texas in December. Took it to a Ford dealer and they rebuilt the rear differential because the clutches were bad. The truck had 43000 miles on it then. Yesterday we started heading North and the shudder is still there. Anyone else encounter this problem. It feels like cluch chatter on a stick shift but my truck has the 5 speed auto tranny?

Bill

Mar 28, 2008 | 07:59 PM

cartmanea

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Joined: Jun 2007

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From: Corvallis, OR

Did it always do it? Sounds like axle wrap to me, but I wouldn't think that would appear all of a sudden unless your u-bolts are getting loose.

Mar 28, 2008 | 08:22 PM

superduty4x4

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Joined: Jul 2003

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From: Newport, WA

I've noticed mine doing the same thing only unloaded, I was thinking it was my torque converter or the rear end. Either way it sounds expensive

Mar 28, 2008 | 08:39 PM

FortyFords

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Joined: Jan 2002

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From: USA

I'm assuming you have a limited slip diff,They have either got the wrong amount of friction modifier in your rear diff or you have a driveline angle problem when your 5th wheel is hooked up.
Take it back to a dealer with the 5th wheel attached and show them.
Rich

Mar 28, 2008 | 09:58 PM

bneafus

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From: Aurora,CO

I ran in to the same problem. The dealer said it was the driveline angle. They can shim, but said if it only happens when under the 5th, probably wasn't worth it. Claimed it wouldn't cause any damage, just annoying.

Mar 29, 2008 | 02:44 AM

banditsdaddy

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Probably right about the drive line angle. I noticed it since I changed the rear blocks from the 4" to 2" to get the 5th wheel level. I do not feel any shudder without the 5th wheel attached.

Mar 29, 2008 | 04:59 AM

glsurratt

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Joined: Jul 2006

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There are three of us with F-350's on the Nuwa Owners forum who have had the same problem. I installed Firestone RideRite Airbags (model 2400) from Summit Racing and cured the problem. One of the other guys kept going to Ford and complaining. They put two different sets of shims in and tried some other stuff and still couldn't cure the problem. He's now got airbags and the shudder is gone.

It is a driveline problem under load. With the trailer hooked up, the back end squats down, changing the driveline angle enough to cause the shudder only on take off.