Fuel leak. Safe to drive?

[Charli]

We were pulling our 5th wheel, driving from Las Cruces, NM to Benson, AZ today. Pulled into a rest stop and noticed smoke coming from under the body of the truck. Slid underneath and noticed fuel coating the underside of the truck, dripping on the DPF, burning off and causing the smoke.
Decided to drive on with a friend following to see if he could see any more smoke. Drove about an hour and pulled over to check again. No smoke this time and no dripping fuel. Drove the rest of the way to Benson to our RV Park.
Let things cool off and I slid underneath and everything around the DPF was slick with diesel fuel. I'm thinking that there is a leak so when the DPF goes into regen and Diesel Fuel gets injected into the filter it's spurting everywhere. I wish these trucks had an indicator to tell me when it's going into Regen. My 2011 did but not this one.
I have an appointment in Tucson which is an hour away. I need to pull our 5er to an RV Park in Tucson, park it and then drive to the Ford Dealer.
Based on my description any ideas what the problem is and is it safe to drive another 60 miles.
It's a 2017 F350 with 15,000 miles.

[Montana Man]

You could call the dealer and explain it to them. Being under warranty they may tow it in and avoid the liability.

[Golfmedik]

Which side of the engine is the fuel coming from? Is it possible that if on the right side, that is just where it is running out of the intake valley? Reason I ask is that the fuel pressure switch on the left side near the upper fuel filter is known to crack and leak quite a bit of fuel...

[mlh]

If I thought fuel was getting on the DPF I don’t think I would drive the truck until I found the problem as the DPF gets extremely hot in regen. The outside shouldn’t get hot enough to ignite the fuel but the tailpipe does.
Lynwood

[BB_TX]

Driving along interstates or other heavily traveled highways, have you ever noticed how many vehicle size burn marks there are on the shoulders of those highways? A lot. Most of the time, if you watch, you will see one every few miles. Over 170,000 vehicle fires every year.

Likely you would be fine. But if it did catch fire, you would likely lose the truck and possibly the trailer and all your "stuff". I would call Ford, explain the situation, and ask they tow you to the Tucson Ford dealer. And tow your trailer to your Tucson RV park. They will tow the truck under warranty. And provide you a courtesy vehicle. Look in your manual for the phone information. Not sure about the trailer though.

[Rondo]

Bruce, I would do as Lynwood suggests and contact the dealer and see if he could tow it or put it on a rollback and transport it to Tucson instead of driving it. If it should catch fire while towing the unit to Tucson it could take truck and Monte with it all at once. I'd keep the Monte in Benson and see if the dealer can come and get it to fix it. Maybe someone could then take you up to Tucson when it is repaired. Better safe than sorry the way I look at it. By the way, which park are you in in Benson?

[BB_TX]

Ford roadside assistance covered by warranty for 5 years or 60,000 miles. And it mentions "even if .... hauling a trailer". Don't know what that covers though.

https://owner.ford.com/service/roadside-assistance.html

[scottz]

In my opinion, driving it is a big risk for nothing other than to save a tow truck a trip. Ford should cover the towing or you might have towing coverage on your insurance. I think my insurance will also transport the 5th wheel. There are also forum members that live in the Tucson area; might be a possibility.

[Carl n Susan]

If your Ford is not driveable (and a fuel leak definitely puts it in that category), then Ford will tow both the truck and the trailer under warranty. Been there, done that.

Now that was based on a breakdown along the road. If there is a Ford dealer in Benson (or somewhere close) they will want to tow you there. You can try to have them tow the RV from it's safe location, but they may push back, especially if they want to use a closer dealer.