broken dodge

[SteveCass]

There is a picture of the crack on that frame but I thought I saved it but couldn’t find it…..my brother in law has a ram 3500….he’s going to get the frame box in part and have it welded in…..I had the pic of the GMC 2500 but it went missing, and it only had a dump trailer attached….could have been I northern truck with salt roads corrosion, don’t know

[jeririgged223]

Sadly cargo weight ratings are the one thing that most people, especially a salesman, DON'T understand. They say oh my truck will pull a 20,000 lb 5-er but they don't realize they are over their cargo weight rating based on their truck when they toss in that loaded 5er and it's kingpin weight and that's when they wonder why things aren't going so well.

[SteveCass]

The first thing I looked at was the door sticker for ratings…..pick a fifth wheel with a very good pin weight, it was one of the lowest, then filled up truck, everything I’d put in the trailer as if I was leaving……then drove the scales, still had over 350 pounds usable. Felt very happy with that..and had over 3000 lbs towable left….sometimes 1 + 1 =2…..I have seen overloaded, the person was passing me on I80, definitely was tail low….hit a bump, started bucking an blew out both rear tires….they were traveling with another group and they help them out…still sad

[jeririgged223]

The first thing I looked at was the door sticker for ratings…..pick a fifth wheel with a very good pin weight, it was one of the lowest, then filled up truck, everything I’d put in the trailer as if I was leaving……then drove the scales, still had over 350 pounds usable. Felt very happy with that..and had over 3000 lbs towable left….sometimes 1 + 1 =2…..I have seen overloaded, the person was passing me on I80, definitely was tail low….hit a bump, started bucking an blew out both rear tires….they were traveling with another group and they help them out…still sad

Like you Steve, I crunched numbers until I had a headache. Took the trailer to the scales empty when I brought her home and took her back after I loaded her up. Not always easy to see the problems with a fifth wheel being overweight, but I've seen some bumper pulls that made me want to run for my life. These were just some of the stuff we see these days.

[lorend]

We have all seen things that are hard to believe. Even thinking "what were they thinking" when they did that? The tops of my list are seeing a 17 foot single axle R-Pod and could not see the tow vehicle. Finally got next to them and realized it was being towed by a Ford Focus. I was immediately no longer next to them!!

[Duramax]

I have a Lance slide in with Torklift tie downs. They use existing holes on my application.

Same with our Host Everest.

Something else to consider. A lot of newbies come online ( not talking about here ) and ask questions about weight and get laughed at and told don’t pay attention to the payload numbers. There are “other” ratings to pay more attention to.

[Buckskin]

We were at Grayton Beach State Park in Florida during Christmas and guy 2 sites down from us had similar setup. He had Ram 3500 and same Eagle Cap camper; to be honest not sure if his truck was long bed or short bed. He was also towing about a 20 foot enclosed trailer behind it. Never saw camper on truck; he had it off with 4 camper support legs down and 4 jack stands underneath camper with board running across top of jack stands from side to side. Based on weight of camper he had to be over loaded also and towing enclosed trailer. I don't butt in to someone's elses business unless asked; so I didn't tell him I had seen picture of Ram with broke frame.
But guy across from me asked for advice on how to repack camper wheel bearings and how often to do it. He had Imagine 2150 with melted bearing and damagesd spindle. Not sure how he made it to campground unless he was very close when bearing melted. He was only using the EZ Lube grease zerks on end of axles and he honestly thought he was doing proper maintenance.

Mobile Tech was bringing out complete axle assembly when he got it in; axle, spindle, bearings, races, drums, and brakes. I sure he got a very expensive lesson in proper camper maintenance.

[jleonard]

Something else to consider. A lot of newbies come online ( not talking about here ) and ask questions about weight and get laughed at and told don’t pay attention to the payload numbers. There are “other” ratings to pay more attention to.

I am glad I am "over trucked" for what I am towing. As an engineer I always like to be over built for anything I do or design.

[Redapple63]

We have all seen things that are hard to believe. Even thinking "what were they thinking" when they did that? The tops of my list are seeing a 17 foot single axle R-Pod and could not see the tow vehicle. Finally got next to them and realized it was being towed by a Ford Focus. I was immediately no longer next to them!!

You said it. This last weekend I saw a Reflection 337 getting pulled by an F150. Wasn’t pretty.

Bill

[jleonard]

There is a picture of the crack on that frame but I thought I saved it but couldn’t find it…..my brother in law has a ram 3500….he’s going to get the frame box in part and have it welded in…..I had the pic of the GMC 2500 but it went missing, and it only had a dump trailer attached….could have been I northern truck with salt roads corrosion, don’t know

I remember seeing the crack in the frame as well. And if it was a truck spent some time in the rust belt, all bets are off. I witnessed a demonstration once comparing two identical frames, one from Texas and one from Minnesota. they were supported by 4 jack stands each. The results were eye opening for sure.
The one from Texas barely moved when it was "wiggled" by hand from one corner. The one from Minnesota looked like it was made of rubber in the same "test".
(they were Chevy S-10 frames that were under those small Postal service trucks)