I need everyone's help here. I am having problems with my 2008 F-350 pulling a 2007 8x13 Trails West 4-horse. When I hit a bump in the road, the whole truck surges back and forth. Some people call it bucking. The truck engine does not fluctuate, it is purely the truck/trailer combo. Has anyone had this problem with their trailer? Was it Trails West, or another brand?Has anyone had this problem with their F-350?I think it has something to do with weight distribution, but am looking to see what others may have experienced. Oh, and I just installed airbags and that did not help at all.Specs: trailer is 28' floor, dry weight 10,000#, GVWR 16,000#, tongue weight 2,500#Truck is 350 diesel with the 6.4L engine. No aftermarkets except the airbags.
Posted 2010-03-29 4:57 PM (#118164 - in reply to #118162) Subject: RE: Troubleshooting F-350 pulling Trails West LQ
Regular
Posts: 83 Location: Minnesota
I have a 2004 F350 extended cab and just purchased a 27' Trails West living quarters trailer. Mine pulls very smoothly .... no problems at all. Have you pulled other trailers with your truck?
Posted 2010-03-29 4:58 PM (#118165 - in reply to #118162) Subject: RE: Troubleshooting F-350 pulling Trails West LQ
Regular
Posts: 93 Location: Newnan, GA
interesting...I wonder if that is what my truck does too every now and again with no method to the madness. I have been pulling the same truck and horse combination for a year or two and it has "bucked" with me - but just a few times? Most recently a few weeks ago - I thought it was an acceleration problem or? "Bucking" is a good way to describe it. I have an '08 F350 also and a 12'sw C&C 26' box 3h slant...usually only hauling one or 2 horses...
Posted 2010-03-29 5:10 PM (#118169 - in reply to #118162) Subject: RE: Troubleshooting F-350 pulling Trails West LQ
Location: Central Arkansas
My 2008 F450 does it too with less than 5K# . It performs so badly at times that I have never hooked my LQ trailer to it! My theory is , if it can't handle the little trailer, the big one is only gonna mutiply the issue. As I type, Ford has installed a cockpit computer to try to record when it does it. For every 30 miles of pulling a empty 4H, truck stays in regen for at 30 miles! The "buck" is most noticeable as it goes into regen.
Posted 2010-03-29 6:12 PM (#118172 - in reply to #118162) Subject: RE: Troubleshooting F-350 pulling Trails West LQ
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 447 Location: cedar rapids iowa
Is this when hauling horses, empty? Loaded?
The horses need to be in the front stalls. I used to use my front stall for hay and such but it made the trailer bounce when the horses were towards the back.
Posted 2010-03-29 6:23 PM (#118173 - in reply to #118162) Subject: RE: Troubleshooting F-350 pulling Trails West LQ
Veteran
Posts: 231 Location: Illinois
which engine is in the truck ? I have an o4 with the 6.0 engine..it is currently in the shop for the "bucking problem" the diesel mechanic says it is the turbo..the valves are either sticking open or closed...I have no diffinate answers yet as they just stated on it today..I will update when I hear more...
Posted 2010-03-29 6:36 PM (#118174 - in reply to #118162) Subject: RE: Troubleshooting F-350 pulling Trails West LQ
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 420 Location: Florida
With the engine off Unplug your EGR valve. Then try a trip with out it. Generally they last 20k in my truck. Cheap and easy to replace. Ebay is loaded with them.
Posted 2010-03-29 7:56 PM (#118179 - in reply to #118162) Subject: RE: Troubleshooting F-350 pulling Trails West LQ
Regular
Posts: 74
We have a 2009 F350 6.4 and similar size trailer. Occasionally we would experience a vibration when going over an overpass. Wouldn't really call it a "bucking", more of a vibration for a second or two. Ford dealership said they had a notice to put a shim in because weight was changing the angle of the drive shaft (or something like this). Haven't pulled trailer yet this spring so not sure if this fixed problem, but apparently Ford knows that there is an issue and have a fix for it.
Posted 2010-03-29 10:03 PM (#118181 - in reply to #118162) Subject: RE: Troubleshooting F-350 pulling Trails West LQ
Regular
Posts: 50 Location: White Lake, MI
On the 6.0's they had a program to "desensitize" the accelerator to help combat similar situations. The electronic throttle was so sensitive on some of the trucks that a bump in the road would cause a change in throttle position enough to cause a surge which in turn started a nasty back and forth cycle as your foot tried to hold it steady. I'm not sure if they have a similar program for the 6.4. Try running the cruise control (taking the accelerator pedal out of the equation) and see if that makes it any better.
Posted 2010-03-29 10:07 PM (#118182 - in reply to #118162) Subject: RE: Troubleshooting F-350 pulling Trails West LQ
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 500 Location: West TN
I owned two 06 Ford F-250s and had the same experience with each of them at some point in time. I was pulling a C&C 3H 10ft LQ. I currently own a 08 Ford F-350 and pull a Hart 3 horse with a 13ft shortwall. I have had this experience almost every time I pull the trailer. It will happen with or without the regen cycle taking place. Normally you can tap the brakes and slow down for a few seconds and it will get out of it. I have also been able to accelerate and push it through it as well. I took one of my F250s in and they replaced the shims on the driveshaft and it helped from what I can remember. I have not really worried about it on this last truck.
Posted 2010-03-29 10:25 PM (#118184 - in reply to #118162) Subject: RE: Troubleshooting F-350 pulling Trails West LQ
Member
Posts: 16
Location: Whitehall, MT
The truck does go through periods where it runs the Clean Engine all the time. Is that what you mean by regen? To answer your questions:Which stall do I haul my horses? If there is only one horse, that horse goes in the middle, or back.Which engine? The 6.4L.Is it the turbo? I guess I would have hoped that the shop would've caught that. I'll be interested in hearing the outcome of that one.I can try the EGR valve. I'll have to check the mileage as I'm not sure we're at 20k. Not sure this is the problem.
Posted 2010-04-01 11:34 AM (#118330 - in reply to #118162) Subject: RE: Troubleshooting F-350 pulling Trails West LQ
Regular
Posts: 92 Location: Harrisburg, PA
I certainly agree with the possibility of throttle and the jarring making things worse. I haven't heard of this specifically but it can't hurt to ask Ford about it.
Does different airbag pressure affect this in any way?
Are your tire pressures good all around?
Regen = a cleaning cycle for the diesel particulate filter (DPF). DPFs are part of the exhaust system on all Ford and Chevy diesels 2008-up and exist to make the trucks pass 2008+ emissions requirements. It collects diesel soot and the truck ECU is programmed to burn the soot off when it builds up, usually about once per tank if it's allowed to complete the cycle. Trouble is that this cleaning is done by injecting fuel into the exhaust stroke that burns down in the DPF, and aside from the wasted fuel this can cause other issues. People have reported great improvements in fuel economy (and probably reliability too) after installing a DPF delete pipe and aftermarket ECU tune.
Important: if you remove the DPF, you have effectively voided your drivetrain warranty with Ford and are also in violation of EPA laws. Me personally I'm waiting at least until my 36k warranty is up before installing it.
Posted 2010-04-01 11:57 AM (#118334 - in reply to #118331) Subject: RE: Troubleshooting F-350 pulling Trails West LQ
Regular
Posts: 92 Location: Harrisburg, PA
Originally written by wyndancer on 2010-04-01 12:46 PM
Just recall the Ford powertrain (engine) warranty, and emissions warranty, is 100k miles, or 5 years?
DPF is not covered by that warranty since the DPF is considered a wearing item. So when they finally clog up and need replacement (I've heard 100k-150k miles) Ford will charge you $1300 to replace it.
That said, the difference in cost between 16mpg vs. 12mpg is $3125 every 50k miles. That pays for the DPF removal and still leaves a chunk for repair work that is less likely to happen in the first place without all that fuel washing down the cylinders. It could also be argued that warranty work on diesel engines isn't ideal because the repair procedures don't always fix the problem, they just replace the broken part (leaving a minor time bomb for you after warranty is up). When you fix it on your own coin you can take full advantage of specialist knowledge to not just fix it but make it better.
Posted 2010-04-01 4:56 PM (#118345 - in reply to #118162) Subject: RE: Troubleshooting F-350 pulling Trails West LQ
Member
Posts: 16
Location: Whitehall, MT
This problem is not in the engine, and not part of the regen. Just as one other member said about their truck as well, when the bucking starts you can either take your foot off the accelerator, or power through it and it will calm down.I hooked up to a friends Hart trailer yesterday. The Hart is GVWR 18,500#, and my truck did not buck at all. So, to me that says that the problem is with the weight distribution of the trailer. Not sure that there is a solution to that. The easiest might be to sell this trailer and find one that doesn't effect the hauling.
Posted 2010-04-01 5:53 PM (#118347 - in reply to #118162) Subject: RE: Troubleshooting F-350 pulling Trails West LQ
Expert
Posts: 3802 Location: Rocky Mount N.C.
May also have something to do with the "inertia" brake controller, that is, if that's the type of controller that you use. Once it starts, it starts the rocking/bucking and the inertia brake controller starts to activate, on, off, on, off, etc....
Did the Hart trailer have electric over hydraulic brakes, or straight electric?
What kind/type of brakes does your Trails west have?
Does the truck have the factory Ford brake controller?
Ya'll got me wondering, cause I pull some of everything with my 3500 Chevrolet and have never experienced the problem your talking about. I got no air bags, Timbrens, extra overload spring and I run stock size tires......
Troubleshooting F-350 pulling Trails West LQ
