general problems of the 2008 Ford F-250

I was backing up in the parking area of my house in my 2008 f250 (diesel), and applied the brakes to stop and change direction. As I started braking, the engine started accelerating, even though I was applying the brakes. The vehicle kept moving backward, and I had to stand on the brakes and shift into neutral to get it to stop moving backward. After a few seconds the problem stopped. I then continued on my way. The vehicle had 37,060 miles.

While towing a 10,000 pound 5th wheel trailer I needed to speed up to merge into the left lane. The truck was on cruise control set at 50 mph. I stepped down and entered passing gear. After the merge I let off the throttle but the truck continued to accelerate in passing gear. I stepped on the brakes but the cruise control would not release and the truck continued to accelerate. I tried repeatedly to disengage the cruise using the brakes. I then pressed the cruise control "off" button repeatedly to no avail. At this point I pressed and held the brake pedal as hard as I could while the diesel engine continued to race at max power. I was able to slow to about 30 mph before the engine started to overcome the fading brakes. At this point I turned the key off and coasted to a stop. I tried to restart the engine twice and it immediately started at max throttle and I immediately turned the key off. I called Ford for a tow. After about 20 minutes I tried to restart the engine and it started normally so I cancelled the tow. The truck seems to be working normally and cruise also works normally. I haven't tried to enter passing gear while in cruise and won't as this incident almost cause me to have a catastrophic accident. I plan to take the truck to the dealer to be analyzed. This was a major safety problem and could easily have caused a fatal accident.

The steering wheel started to get some play while driving down the interstate. The steering eventually went completely out. The steering wheel would spin freely without the wheels moving whatsoever.