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Earl Williams
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• Central, CO, USA |
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• Registered on 1/23/2003 |
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• 3 posts |
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 Posted:1/24/2003 16:19 |
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I have a 1999 F250 SD 4x4 with a 4spd Auto, Powerstroke.
It was hooked to my horse trailer, backed up my driveway (dirt), in park, 4x4 high, not started and with no keys in it. This was January 1, 2003 in Central City, Co. 9000' elevation, about 30 degrees, and about 1" of fresh snow on the ground with packed snow under that. It was parked in my driveway in front of my house. Where it was sitting the front tires were just on the decline of the driveway (maybe at 1-2% decline). I have parked it this way for over three years off & on without any problems.
As my wife, kids, and I were working in our barn I had my back turned to the truck & trailer when my wife said "who's in your truck, where's Tiffany?" (our 15yo daughter). I turned to look and saw the truck rolling (this will be important later) down the driveway and start picking up speed going down my driveway as I was trying to run and catch up to it to possibly jump in and stop it. As I was running towards it I thought I may have left my keys in it and left it in drive after I backed it up the driveway. Well all of a sudden the truck makes about a 45-90 degree turn to the left and runs into some large pine trees before coming to a stop (due to the trees). I say 45-90 because it started at a 45 and ended at about a 90 degree angle from my drive.
When my wife and I got to the truck she asked if I left it in gear, and that's when I realized my keys were on my belt loop. As I said no, I opened up the drivers door and we both saw that the truck was in fact in park, 4x4H with no keys in the ignition.
At this point we were thinking that maybe it was being pushed down the snow packed driveway by my horse trailer, until I realized what I had seen. I saw the tires rolling (not sliding) as if somebody just put it in neutral. My wife also saw them rolling, and we both mentioned this at the same time.
Since this happened I can only speculate that the transfer case (fully electronic) somehow went into neutral, and the slight decline was enough to get the rig moving. But why was it able to make almost a 90 degree turn without the steering wheel locking?
I have tried to get ford to investigate, but they decline (more like refuse) saying that since there's no recalls, and your truck has over 80,000 miles and is out of warranty then this is a matter for your insurance.
I totally disagree and expressed that recalls have to start somewhere, but they still refuse. What I would like is to find some similar cases if anybody knows of any like this, or if there are any attorneys that would like to pursue this matter. I'm no body man, but I believe it did about $7500-$9000 damage since it basically took out the whole drivers side, not to mention the trauma my wife and I occured seeing our 15yo daughter jump out of the horse trailer.
If anybody has any thoughts or input about this please contact me at [email protected]
Thanks.
PS...I have a digital video of the tire tracks as well as where the truck went into the trees. You can tell the truck was rolling not sliding because you can clearly see the tread marks. I showed this to my insurance agent (Progressive) and he agrees there is a problem, but they would just as soon pay the claim than fight Ford when there are no recalls. I haven't got the estimate back from progressive yet so the above $ amounts are my guess. |
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E. Long
 
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• Subscriber since 1/1/2001 |
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• Atlanta, GA, USA |
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• Registered on 1/23/2001 |
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• 2,228 posts |
• 10 Vehicles
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 Posted:1/25/2003 11:29 |
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I've heard of no such thing with other owners. Do you have pictures of where your vehicle took off from? I'm trying to picture your driveway...it must be really long because it sounds like this fiasco happened over the course of several hundred feet. I can't picture my Excursion running away from me like this and having there be enough room for it to make a 45-90 degree turn and run into a tree causing nearly $10K worth of damage to itself.
-Eric
'67 Galaxie 500 - 390 FE, .030" over, FE to AOD adapter, disc brake conversion. The Daily Driver.
'00 Excursion - 7.3L PSD, LANDYOT Gen-II Radius Rods, Factory Tech Valve Body, 200K+ miles and going |
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Earl Williams
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• Central, CO, USA |
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• Registered on 1/23/2003 |
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• 3 posts |
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 Posted:1/28/2003 14:46 |
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I have a video of it. The truck went about 50-75 feet before it turned into the trees. I haven't taken actual measurements yet, but that's pretty close. As I said, it was sitting pretty much on level ground with the front tires just at the point where my driveway starts a decline.
Ford refuses to at least inspect the drivetrain/electronic 4x4, so I have put off making a claim with Progressive (they say I have 3 years to make a claim). The last option I have which I just recently thought of is to go through my extended warranty company. I have a 6yr 100,000 mile ext warr. that covers everything. So, I figure if I can get them to look for a problem in the electonics of the transfer case they would be also liable to fix the damage, and quite possibly they would be willing to talk to Ford.
The 1st estimate on damage is $5950.26 (trailer included) Progressive said it will probably be a little more on the final est. |
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WD40
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• Helena, MT, USA |
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• Registered on 12/16/2002 |
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• 25 posts |
• 5 Vehicles
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Posted:1/29/2003 14:20 |
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I don't quite remember where I read this  , but....
It explicity stated for my '85 Bronco, NOT to leave the t-case in 4X4 when parked.
Doing so, could cause the vehicle to roll forwards or backwards depending on the conditions.
If I ever find where I read that again, I'll post it.
I realize, we're talking manual hubs/t-case vs your automatic set up, but maybe there's something to it. 
WD-40 Reverend GripShift |
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Earl Williams
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• Central, CO, USA |
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• Registered on 1/23/2003 |
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• 3 posts |
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Posted:2/17/2003 14:33 |
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WD-40
please let me know if you find this and where it was. Manual from Ford, magazine, or wherever. Thanks, Earl |
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Pony-boy
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• Roy, WA, USA |
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• Registered on 3/9/2003 |
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• 147 posts |
• 7 Vehicles
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Posted:3/15/2003 01:04 |
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In about 1980 my father had his Jeep Cherokee Chief do the same thing with a Camper trailer. My dad didn't have a new rig so he took it apart, He haden't set the parking brake. The weight of the trailer and the incline broke a tooth out of the tranny in the park position. He heard his rig ticking, almost like a ratcheting sound, that was the tranny tearing up the parking gear as the rig rolled forward. I don't know about the wheel not locking. Maybe it turned the wheels and then locked. if at all. Anyway I hope this helps. I feel for ya man
Thats not dented, It's customized |
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Shawn Clemons
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• Raleigh, NC, USA |
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• Registered on 9/24/2001 |
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• 14 posts |
• 1 Vehicle
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Posted:4/7/2003 16:13 |
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Yep. Broken park pawl was my first guess as well. FWIW, my 98 Explorer will sometimes roll as much as a foot before the park pawl catches. With enough weight behind it, it could easily gain enough momentum to prevent the pawl from engaging at all. |
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Pony-boy
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• Roy, WA, USA |
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• Registered on 3/9/2003 |
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• 147 posts |
• 7 Vehicles
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Posted:4/7/2003 20:16 |
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So Earl, what have you found out about the truck,
Was it mech failure or what.
Thats not dented, It's customized |
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