My new truck won't handle the load

85Hokie

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Looking in this story - it seems it is not a once in a lifetime event for these trucks

Ram truck
 

jimh406

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Junky steel for the frame rails. Scrap collectors regularly overload their old trucks and if it would happen to anyone, this would be the group.
Maybe, but I've never seen one of them riding on rough roads in Mexico either.

All kidding aside, some people do push the limits of the designs. That's fine, but sometimes they go past the limit! I think that's just what the Ram owner did.

Oh, and I'm a heavy TC owner. I was the second owner of my F450. It road very rough at times hitting bumps until I replaced the worn shocks with Bilsteins. That smoothed out the jarring.

Like tractors, I think most of the breakage happens by a small percentage of the people. That doesn't mean they are doing something "wrong", but someone has to be the people who stretch the limits. Most of us aren't in that category, and we'll never see that type of failure.
 
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RCW

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I occasionally overload my Silverado hauling wood pellets. Carry a ton at a time about 5x per year. Done it for 17 years with several trucks.

Overloading is inexcusable, and I'm about 600 pounds overloaded.

I am very careful with distance and the roads I traverse.

If indeed those folks were running "hot" on rough road with a load like that - - can foresee a problem.
 
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NorthwoodsLife

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Ah, ya know a truck is a truck. They get over loaded sometimes. It used to be that they over-built these trucks to handle it. Not so much anymore. You get only what you pay for. And sometimes not.
Although I love my Ford Super Duties, since Ford went political with rainbows, I'll buy another brand next time.
I've always loved a good Dodge Hemi, and own a Scat Pack Challenger right now. But for trucks, Ford used to be the bad-as$ of the American 3 brands. I still believe that. But once they go leftist, I'm done.
So where do we go?
Ford tough but went woke.
Dodge Ram quality is questionable.
Chevy and GMC

Toyota?
Toyota always over-built tough trucks.

Nissan?
 
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GreensvilleJay

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Only know of one Dodge that you couldn't 'bend'. Old(60's) power wagon, 4WD, ex tow truck. Had 3/8" plate steel added to the outside of the frame rails. tons of power,TONS with the LITTLE slant six in it...

as to makes..models...
just WHO makes a regular cab, short box, small V8 anymore ?
 

jyoutz

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Only know of one Dodge that you couldn't 'bend'. Old(60's) power wagon, 4WD, ex tow truck. Had 3/8" plate steel added to the outside of the frame rails. tons of power,TONS with the LITTLE slant six in it...

as to makes..models...
just WHO makes a regular cab, short box, small V8 anymore ?
The primary market for standard cab trucks is businesses, used for service trucks. They order them special, but most are ordered with long beds.
 

mikester

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Like tractors, I think most of the breakage happens by a small percentage of the people. That doesn't mean they are doing something "wrong", but someone has to be the people who stretch the limits.
I think that's the very definition of "doing something wrong" and falls under the term "abuse".
 

GreensvilleJay

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but, but , several people told him it was OK .......
sure be interesting to see what it actually weighed...
 

lugbolt

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slide-in campers are HARD on frames. Always have been. When I lived in the rust belt I have seen several frames fail in similar fashion.
 

NorthwoodsLife

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When I lived in the rust belt I have seen several frames fail in similar fashion.
Gov regulations regarding crush and crumple zones weaken truck frames. Not just rust.

Pickup trucks rarely bent in half 30 years ago. Look online and you'll find quite a few late model - bent in half pickup trucks.
 

will721

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I've seen several trucks from all manufacturers do it. It's not necessarily poor quality frames. Its changes in design. In older trucks, the frame was designed to bend and twist. Thats why there was always such a large gap between cab and bed. Fords test track became famous for a time when they started letting media companies use it to test newer trucks and it shook them apart. I distinctly remember a Toyota completely totalling itself from the bed smashing into the cab over and over as their trucks with fully boxed frames were not designed to flex.

It was for ride quality. It meant that you could take harsher bumps and what the suspension didn't absorb the chassis would. They also had plusher seats back then and the trucks themselves were lighter. A prime example, I have a neighbors old f350 in my drive next to my newer ram. The ram is an 05 "extended cab" 05 3/4 ton. The ford is a 93? crew cab long bed dually. It rides much better and is lighter despite being considerably bigger.

New trucks however are heavy. The frames are designed to be completely rigid, and they compensate using automotive style suspension. Likely due a combination of crash testing standards and people insisting their trucks be swollen cars in both handling and features. Not to mention epa regulation loopholes due to size but thats a seperate topic.

The problem with making the steel stiff is its prone to cracking instead. You can't have something that long and heavy not give a little, its too much force. I've seen examples with all manufacturers having the same issue, although ram is getting the most press recently. We had several gms fold in half on the lift when I worked in the industry still. Toyota had the least issues with cracking but they to this day still have issues with the frame rotting instead.

For those who were considering Nissan, they had frame rot too. The "hard bodies" name became a joke amoungst its fan base due to the body being the only thing left hard on the truck. Nissan also just announced that despite being the worst in its class in every category for years they are finally letting the Titan die. It really didn't need more bad press and likely the failure of their attempt at an HD truck drove the final nail to the coffin.

But to everyone blaming the companies or the engineers just remember to thank your government. Because epa regulations require it to burn clean and less efficient. Fuel economy regulations require that it to be light and efficient. Crash testing regulations require it to be heavy and full of bloat. All with a little DOT regulation to make sure it stays a little ugly. Oh and don't forget the other countries governments that have different regulations that they also need to abide by. Which all adds up to mean unreliable over priced cars and no new manufacturers can afford to get off the ground. Except tesla who got all that sweet government backing when it first kicked off.