I purchased a 2008 F-350 diesel as an upgrade to my 250 in order to haul my horse trailer. I already owned the trailer and was assured by the dealer that this was the truck to do the job. The more I pull the trailer, the more of a problem I have. The truck is bucking and surging while I'm pulling. I have checked the truck specs (I am not an expert) and it seems that my trailer fits within the limits of weight in the box. The dealer got the regional engineer to look at the truck but we recently got a letter saying that although Ford realizes that we do not agree, they do not see there is any problem that they need to respond to. Now, I don't know about you but I can't run around all day spending $50k on a truck until I find one that works. I thought Ford was supposed to be "THE" truck to haul with. The bucking is getting worse and I'm at my wits end. The latest is that the dealer said I would see a BIG difference if I installed air bags. Well, not on this truck. So, do I trade my 350 in for a bigger Ford? Is this one a lemon? Do I trade for a Chevy or GMC? Maybe I need to buy a Freightliner. Have others had this issue and what have they done to resolve it?

 

im not a 6.4 guru but in the surfing for a particular post that i did today i saw a few threads regarding bucking with the 6.4. some of the things can be tuned out by a aftermarket tuner as well as mpg restored thru tuning. im am a skeptic on gaining mpgs from a tuner though. take a look twards the bottom of the page there is a specific spot for the 6.4 which is the diesel you have. i would also look into the spartan tuner. i can shoot you to a few different sites if you want just send me a pm

 

Sorry, but how do I send a pm?

 

Click on the name of the person you want to PM, then select View Public Profile from the pop up menu. You'll see a message box on the page you go to.

 

My dad has the 6.4 in his '08 F450 and has had no problems with bucking, even under the load of his 15k lb fifth wheel, or his 4500 lb truck camper. I would suggest looking into a tuner or perhaps making sure any recalls have been done on the truck. Aside from that, it could be a problem with the trailer (maybe a wheel bearing going bad and causing a tire to randomly lock for a moment?), or you could be getting a bucking feel from the trailer when it hits a bump. These are all just possibilities, I am not saying that any of them are your fix. It is possible you simply got a bad truck. They do exist, and while they meet Ford's specs, they are bad vehicles.

 

What kind of horse trailer is it?

 

My trailer is a Living Quarter, Trails West, 4-horse with a slide-out. The dry weight is 10,000# and loaded about 16,000#, with a tongue weight of 2500#. I checked with the trailer dealer and he said he see's this often with Ford, more so than with any other truck.

I sure would like to know what the dynamics are that cause the bucking. I tend to think that it's the truck, because it also does it with lighter trailers, just to a lessor extent.

 

In mentioning that someone with a 450 has no problem with pulling their trailer or driving with their cabover, I wonder if that isn't comparing apples to oranges. Isn't the suspension on the 450 different than the 350?

 

how heavy is your trailer? do you know somebody that might let you barrow another truck (doesn't mare the make)...so you can determine whether the problem lies with the truck or trailer? Otherwise, just take the trailer to dealer and have the tech go on a ride with you, and maybe see if they have a similar truck that you can also take out as a benchmark....

 

I am sorry, but I have no ideas.

 

I like the idea of borrowing another truck to haul the trailer. I also thought about asking a friend if I could haul their trailer with my truck. Sounds like possible comparisons.

If it ends up being consistently the truck, any suggestions on how to deal with Ford?

 

I haul a similar trailer regularly with my 99 F350 and even heavier load on a flatbed gooseneck. If the bucking that you are talking baout is what I think it is then yes, a tuner will help. BUt just the same, it shouldn't be that bad even without. I put the tuner in mine just for the "play" factor. But I found it smoothed out the towing side of the truck as well.
But before going out and spending $400 or more on a tuner, I would have the truck checked by another dealer or shop seperate from the one you bought the truck from.

 

Thanks for the idea of a tuner. I am not familiar with these. Can you give a brief description of what they do?

Unfortunately, I have dealt with two different dealers, had the regional engineer out, and then put the air bags on. I just bought a lighter trailer yesterday, hooked up and pulls like a dream. So, it's either the heavier trailer itself, or how it's configured. Talked to the salesman of the new trailer, who rodeo's, has pulled lots of trailers and he was not surprised by the problem. Said I would not have that problem if I upgrade to a 450, or a bigger truck like a Freightliner.

The decision we have to make is whether to blame our Ford dealer for saying this truck would pull this trailer. Do we trade the 350 in on a 450? Sell the trailer? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......

Just really pisses me off that you spend $51k on a truck to pull a friggen horse trailer and it pops you all over the place. I feel like a bobble-head driving down the highway.

So, guys, what would you do if this was your truck?

 

If you have the means to do so...just skip the steps and go for a new F650! WOOT!!!

**sorry...got a little carried away**

It all depends on you. If using a tuner works and you dont want to mess with it anymore, then go for it. If you want to keep it stock and have it pull everything...then maybe you do need to upgrade. I myself cannot see spending $50k+ on a truck so I got my stock 350 and stuck a tuner in it. Works great.

A tuner plugs into your main computer and it changes how much fuel, how long the fuel shot is, TPS setting etc. There are alot of tuners out there that claim they are the best. And the discussions here about tuners can get heated really fast as there are those who like DP Tuners, Tony Wildman's, etc. It all depends on what you want and how much you are willing to spend.

With my truck, it is all stock other then the tuner. I have 2 settings on it other than NO START and OEM;
80 tow does great when I pull my trailers. 80 more horses and shifts are quick and firm and it is much easier to get up to speed when pulling a load. It is also smoother shifting so my horses aren't jerked around alot... even in traffic.
Then I have my 80 Economy. 80 more horses again but...if I can behave, (yea right!), I get about 20 to 22mpg depending on the roads, (City or hgwy).
I plan on changing out my intake and exhaust to allow for more air flow, set a gauges to watch the temps and then maybe add the 120 race tune to my truck. But that is no priority since it is just a "play" setting.

There are alot of tunes you can get. Some with the monitor that you can adjust and play all day with but then you don't get to relax when you drive. Constantly futzing with it. (Just my thoughts). The DP Tuner, and I beleive Tony Wildmans, are set in the chip that plugs into your computer. Then all you have is a little display with numbers on it. You push a button for the setting you want and go. And they are switch on the fly too so no stopping, turning off the iginition and on again 2 times while pressing the brake and holding your tounge to the right..... bah. You just let off the gas like you are coasting, switch settings, and a little indicator goes off letting you know it is ready. About 2 seconds.

So...now I have done my sales pitch.... It is up to you. What do you want out of it?

As for the blame. I would point at the salesman. Yes the truck can pull it but they dont drive em...pull trailers like us so they don't have the real road experience. They would be better off just saying it drives nice but I haven't used one to pull with.

 

Shift on the fly tuners work really well with the 7.3. I strongly discourage their use with the 6.0 and later trucks.

It is statistically far better to have one that custom tunes to your truck then to have an off the shelf tuner. However, I'm also skeptical about mpg gain claims from tuners, too much variation between truck/driver to the next.

By far the tuner with the best praise for tuning on the 6.4 is the Spartan one, even people that advocate SCT for the 6.0s, say Spartan hands down for the 6.4.

To the OP: I would suggest you do a lot of research on the subject of tuners if you are considering getting one and post your questions in the 6.4 specific thread. Getting the wrong tuner(like getting the wrong wife, thankfully I'm not speaking from personal experience, just know people that can attest to that) can play hell with everything. Research it(not just ad research either) and then make sure you have zero questions left unanswered before you make your decision. Going with a tuner can affect a lot of things related to the truck other then ECM/PCM/(maybe)FICM tuning. Repair work needing to be done and rather or not you have a warranty to cover that work also play a big part in rather or not it's worth it in your mind to get a tuner.



I haul ~16k worth of horse flesh too and I don't have the problems that you are having, however, I do have a 6.0, not a 6.4. Given though that it cleared up with a lighter trailer, something must having been going on with that trailer or a combination of that trailer and truck, I dunno.