vintageracer
To Infinity and Beyond!
Frame issue solved!
Redistribute the load.
Redistribute the load.
Frame Strength, Who to Believe! The RV Sales Guy or the New Truck Dealer? Maybe Neither?
- Thread starter AbleGuy
- Start date
pappawheely
Autonomous4X4
I must have missed a turn. Can someone share the link to this youtube documockery?
dstefan
Well-known member
Page 9, post 131 of this thread has the two videos being referenced above.
It appears his insurance covered his truck.
Insurance Covers $17k Repair to Pavel's Broken Ram 3500 Frame | Truck Camper Adventure
BREAKING NEWS: Insurance Covers Repair to Michael Pavel's Overloaded and Broken Ram 3500 DRW Frame.
www.truckcamperadventure.com
pappawheely
Autonomous4X4
Wow, he was out of control.
gatorgrizz27
Well-known member
I generally lean towards “operator error and personal responsibility“, this one is more an example of “when idiots collide.”
Truck manufacturer advertises unrealistically high payload numbers to brag that they are the highest and sell more trucks…
Camper manufacturer builds something so large/luxurious it’s too heavy for 99% of the trucks on the road. (If a modern DRW pickup can’t haul it, they should at least ask what vehicle it’s going on, doesn’t mean they are liable for or should refuse to sell it to him)…
Owner buys a truck and camper with the intention of driving it all over N. America without doing his homework, this thing didn’t break in half traveling 250 miles down the blacktop to a KOA…
All the time I try to explain to people that payloads and tow ratings aren’t absolute. There’s a huge difference between putting around FL at 55 mph and driving in the mountains through snow at 12,000’, or crossing the prairie states with 40-50 mph winds. I use the example of “how heavy of a backpack can you carry?” The answer is, it depends.
I’m not convinced the same thing wouldn’t have happened in a regular cab 2wd truck with a “payload rating” high enough for the camper + gear. A longer frame may be weaker, but the decreased rating is largely to prevent overloading the brakes, transmission, etc. Anyone with two bits of sense knows the longer, heavier truck will haul a load/pull a trailer better than a shorter, lighter one (except for possibly stopping without trailer brakes). If the truck rated for the weight didn’t break it would basically have the front end bouncing off the ground.
Truck manufacturer advertises unrealistically high payload numbers to brag that they are the highest and sell more trucks…
Camper manufacturer builds something so large/luxurious it’s too heavy for 99% of the trucks on the road. (If a modern DRW pickup can’t haul it, they should at least ask what vehicle it’s going on, doesn’t mean they are liable for or should refuse to sell it to him)…
Owner buys a truck and camper with the intention of driving it all over N. America without doing his homework, this thing didn’t break in half traveling 250 miles down the blacktop to a KOA…
All the time I try to explain to people that payloads and tow ratings aren’t absolute. There’s a huge difference between putting around FL at 55 mph and driving in the mountains through snow at 12,000’, or crossing the prairie states with 40-50 mph winds. I use the example of “how heavy of a backpack can you carry?” The answer is, it depends.
I’m not convinced the same thing wouldn’t have happened in a regular cab 2wd truck with a “payload rating” high enough for the camper + gear. A longer frame may be weaker, but the decreased rating is largely to prevent overloading the brakes, transmission, etc. Anyone with two bits of sense knows the longer, heavier truck will haul a load/pull a trailer better than a shorter, lighter one (except for possibly stopping without trailer brakes). If the truck rated for the weight didn’t break it would basically have the front end bouncing off the ground.
pappawheely
Autonomous4X4
I agree and would like to add that all bets are off when you bottom the suspension out. It doesn't matter what the ratings are when you are slamming the frame into the dirt.
rruff
Explorer
This is the important point.
Manufacturers surely do detailed modeling of stresses in different situations, but you know what the biggest and most important design criteria is? Warranty claims. How many crazy fringe situations some owners are prone to putting their vehicles through, and how many broken parts result.
In this case... I wish we knew more about exactly where he took this rig. If he did some offroad exploring, then crossed-up and bottoming out at the same time while trying to climb a grade is likely... nothing too serious right?... but while way over GVWR and a load well behind the axle... that's fringe. Do that a few or a hundred times, and eventually the weak spot will cry uncle.
pappawheely
Autonomous4X4
What I saw was someone going too fast and flying across a washout; hitting the far bank. I've seen it many times in off road racing. If it will take out a trophy truck, a stock vehicle is doomed. It doesn't matter the suspension when the frame is making contact with the ground at high speed.
rruff
Explorer
Oh! I was talking about the original subject... the F350 with a way too big camper. We don't have video evidence of what he did...
pappawheely
Autonomous4X4
I was commenting on the drift.
nickw
Adventurer
Words to live by....
All I am going to say is that I am just astonished that someone can have enough money to buy this dudes setup and have no clue what they are doing. If I was buying a ~$100k Ram 3500 I would know exactly what I was getting. Not some BS marketing payload capacity.
And just based on my time spent shopping for a travel trailer, I would not put my or my families safety in the hands of anyone I met at a RV dealer. I am sure there are some good folks out there, but the ones I met at 3-4 different dealers were questionable at best.
I guess what I am saying is that I have an extremely hard time feeling bad for this guy, or anyone who shows up on any truck forum thinking their F150 had 3000 lbs of payload only to be severely disappoited to realize it was actually 1400 lbs. 5 minutes of research on the googles can get you 99% the way to the answer, or to the tools to figure the answer out, before unloading $250k.
That said, I do find it weird that they would make a camper as heavy as this is. There are only a handful of 1 ton configurations that can handle this thing, most are gas and dont have 4 doors. Reality is, you probably need a 4500 or 5500 to safely carry this thing with a crew cab 4x4 diesel configuration. something with more than a 14000 lb GVWR.
And just based on my time spent shopping for a travel trailer, I would not put my or my families safety in the hands of anyone I met at a RV dealer. I am sure there are some good folks out there, but the ones I met at 3-4 different dealers were questionable at best.
I guess what I am saying is that I have an extremely hard time feeling bad for this guy, or anyone who shows up on any truck forum thinking their F150 had 3000 lbs of payload only to be severely disappoited to realize it was actually 1400 lbs. 5 minutes of research on the googles can get you 99% the way to the answer, or to the tools to figure the answer out, before unloading $250k.
That said, I do find it weird that they would make a camper as heavy as this is. There are only a handful of 1 ton configurations that can handle this thing, most are gas and dont have 4 doors. Reality is, you probably need a 4500 or 5500 to safely carry this thing with a crew cab 4x4 diesel configuration. something with more than a 14000 lb GVWR.
Last edited:
Nah....he was just hoping you were there to get his picture. ?