My husband and I have been reading the forums for awhile now and its great!
I was just wondering if anyone out there had any ideas about a frustrating problem we have with our 2008 F350.
Here's the details on it:
25,000 kms
373 rear axle limited slip, auto, 4x4
crew cab lariat
job1, build date june 07

Our problem:
We tow a 36ft fifth wheel approx 13000 lbs.
We noticed a slight shuddering later on last year, but didn't think too much of it...

This spring the problem has gotten steadily more pronounced....the problem seems to only occur when we are towing the trailer. It seems to be alot worse on hills or rough roads...pavement/gravel doesn't make a difference. We were at a camping spot with a 10% grade hill, and we barely made it out because all the truck would do is shudder.
It doesn't seem to matter if you let off or if you step on it, but more pronounced in lower rpm ranges.

The truck has been into the dealership 3 times. The first time we had the truck reflashed with the latest flash as we had seen on this forum that that was a problem with job 1 trucks. This only made it worse.

The second time, the shop foreman went for a ridealong wile towing. He agreed that there was a problem but had no idea what it could be. Had never experienced that before. So they looked at the driveline and couldn't find anything wrong.

The third time it went in to have the rear end checked b/c we suspected it had an inordinate amount of filings in it. But was told that that was normal, meanwhile the problem gets steadily worse.
We have 2 kids (boys 9mos and 3 yrs) and it is such a violent shudder now that we do not put the kids in and really, cannot go where we want with the trailer.

If anyone has any ideas, please let us know. We find it hard to believe that we are the 1 in a million truck with a problem that no one has EVER had ...lol

Sorry for the length of this post, just thought to give all the info.

 

Interestingly enough there are TSB's for this issue with the previous model years but not the 08 models.

My 06 F-250 had the problem with our fiver if I really accelerated hard from a stop. The 08 F-350 dually we have now shudders somewhat less than the 06 did but still will do it with a full throttle acceleration (like getting on the Interstate with a short ramp).

Your problem as described sounds worse than what I experience as I simply try to use gentler acceleration when possible to avoid the shudder, etc.

My fiver is at 14,000 lbs; of course the pin weight on the truck and how much it compresses your rear suspension (lowers the rear of the truck) is what counts with respect to your problem (IMHO).

Something about the angles with respect to your driveshaft(s) is out of wack with the weight of your fiver on the truck. A good driveline tech should be able to resolve the issue; perhaps you should call and find a dealer that has a tech experienced with dealing with driveshaft angle and alignment, pinion angle, etc. correction. They will need the fifth wheel hooked up to check same.

The problem is that possibly with the angle optimized for the weight of your fiver you may encounter vibration w/o a load.

IIRC some people in the past have added timbrens or air bags to the rear suspension to keep the weight of their fiver from loading the rear of the truck as much; which corrected their shudder problem.

There is also a damper upgraded driveshaft for the older models listed in the TSB's but I wouldn't think this would be an issue with the newer models....

Bob

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/6...le-towing.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...-question.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...it-normal.html

from search on "fifth wheel shudder"

 

stock suspension?

 

I would agree with the air bag solution, when my truck is squatted down in the back it also shutters at low RPM. Let us all know what you figure out.
Leon

 

Our 08 F-350 also does that with a 13K plus 5th wheel in tow but it is not violent and only at the initial pullout for a very short distance.

 

Thanks for the replies It is a stock suspension still.
The shop foreman and also my brother in law is a mechanic, and the both said that they hgihly doubt the problem is a drive line shuddering and that airbags would probably not solve it. We never thought that ourselves because we pulled the same trailer with our 04 1 ton (which we should have kept...lol) and we never had any problems with that one.
I always thought that drive line shuddering was more prone to take off...
It also seems to get worse the more you drive/the hotter the truck is....also, we have noticed our mileage really going to pot since this problem arrived and has escalated.

What gets me is that it appears that no one has ever heard of this problem. We have talked to Ford Service at 3 different dealerships and they all say the same thing, we have no idea what it is. Its quite frustrating LOL.
I don't want to spend the money on airbags, if its not the problem....we have not noticed any excessive squatting when pinned.

 

If they cant fix it. lemon law get a new truck

 

this only happens when loaded or both...if you have 4 wheel drive i would put in 4wd disconnect rear driveshaft and see what happens...maybe the rear diff is bad

 

Welcome to FTE excursionbabe

I moved your original post to SuperDuty for better information. Seem to have a gremlin in the DATA because your original post did not transfer, Sorry about that one.

The shudder is definitely drive line related.

 

Yes, its a 4x4.... and for lemon laws, I am in Canada and would have to do some research, not sure if we have one.

And so far, it only does it under load with the trailer. We had a ton of pellets in the back and it did not do anything. Have also hauled other 5th wheel rvs and the same thing every time.

The place where we purchased our truck, told us if we got rid of it right now we would lose 20,000$ :O But they did say that if we took it there(3 hr drive) and got them to try and fix the problem, if it didn't work they would help us out.

So, definately appreciating the ideas!! Please feel free to post more if anything comes to mind.

The dealership where we have been having it looked at actually charged us for having it looked at b/c they never found anything wrong... that sucked and now we are leery.... seems wrong. We looked at the invoice and its kinda funny b/c we told them it was only under trailer load and they took it for a test dive and found "nothing wrong" LMAO.

 

connect the trailer, look at the driveshaft and see if there isnt any severe angle...if u feel BOLD lay on a creeper on a smooth surface, grab on to something and take a ride under the truck...maybe a u-joint is bad

also i would check your trans and motor mounts...i would have someone have the truck in gear and hold the brake while giving it some juice...the motor and trans should not move much...you could also look at the drivetrain with the same method if u dont feel like riding under the truck

 

My husband suspected that the transfer case mounts were loose, b/c they move 1" by hand... we took to dealer and they said that was "normal".
We already suspect the rear end, the dealer refused to change the oil so he did himself...and it looked like sludge. Sent the sample out and it came back 800ppm metal (iron, titanium etc) and it says that it is not indicative of the lube stated. The dealer then took the truck back, checked the oil and said it was fine, and that if anything happened to the rear end they WOULD NOT warranty it b/c my husband changed it himself and they should have. When we specifically asked them and they said no .. they are retards. so, does that mean that if a person changes their oil themselves then has motor probs that there's no warranty... gah.

Best bet is to take it to shop where we purchased and go from there.

 

Ps. Thanks for the move note....was lost there wondering what I said to get pulled LMAO

 

No problem, I moved your post to the appropriate forum to get you better help and ideas. A few hours later your original post showed back up so the gremlins appear to be friendly....

I would contact another dealer and Ford to see if you can get any resolve on your situation. Changing oil would not void your warranty, also you should have refused to pay a bill that was charged to you for service.

Sometimes you have to take the bull by the horns and get it done. It should never be like that but in reality some dealers have no clue.