Camper/overload springs/and more

[AH64ID]

Based off what I have heard (either here on the other forum, or on Youtube), it appears like the owner heard of the max payload capacity of a Ram truck....which applies to a 2wd DRW with a hemi, and thought it applied across the model line.

I read that quote too.

I am willing to guess he was way over on RAWR, which is not a smart thing to do.

 

[NIsaacs]

Ranchers are notorious for overloading stuff. My brother has a shop in Montana and works on these bale bed equipped trucks all the time across all manufactures. He said if it can break it will break. Most of them carry one on the bed and one on the arms, some have a one ton cake feeder up front, so typically 2-3 ton on some srw's, lol.

 

[Ozymandias]

Well just by the picture it is very obvious that the center of gravity was behind the rear axle, which I suppose is never meant to by the truck manufacturer, right?

 

[NIsaacs]

Well just by the picture it is very obvious that the center of gravity was behind the rear axle, which I suppose is never meant to by the truck manufacturer, right?

Humm, jin poles, bumper pull trailers and bed mounted cranes come to mind....

 

[Cummins12V98]

I read that quote too.

I am willing to guess he was way over on RAWR, which is not a smart thing to do.

you think he had more than 6k applied th the rear axle? I do and I am at RAWR of 9,750#. With a camper a lot of weight also goes to the front axle unlike a 5er like I have.

 

[AH64ID]

you think he had more than 6k applied th the rear axle? I do and I am at RAWR of 9,750#. With a camper a lot of weight also goes to the front axle unlike a 5er like I have.

A lot of weight only goes to the front axle if the camper CG is in front of the rear axle. The effective CG is also shifted by the hitch extension and cargo.

 

[NIsaacs]

I think we can all agree the camper was a handful for the truck. But, I don't think it should have broken the frame. Back in the early '70's I worked for a big rancher that had one of these mounted on a '71 F-250 4x2, it was smashed. Tool boxes full, well pipe on the racks and etc. It is amazing what manufactures of special equipment will load up on pickups.

#ad

 

[AH64ID]

Not it should not have damaged the frame. It's the second 4.5 gen frame I've seen fail like that from a heavy camper, but the other one was a SRW and wasn't nearly as heavy. The SRW one appeared to have failed from improper welding of the forward camper mounts.

There is some speculation on this DRW that the forward mounts were welded.

 

[Turbo Terry]

So 5880 front and 5770 rear 11600 is a pretty balanced load front to rear wet and ready to go with my wife and I in the cab. Sometimes a 200 lbs trailer tongue weight.My problem is the side to side center of gravity is to high. I’m seriously considering a rear sway bar at this point.

 

[Turbo Terry]

With my torque lift front 2 inch hitch and front basket Honda 2000 and 5 gallons of gas I’m right at 12000 lbs and 11 ft and 6 inches high and will clear 12 ft high .

 

[petersonj]

I’m seriously considering a rear sway bar at this point.

In my truck camper days I weighed in at 11,000 lbs. The all-season camper also had a basement, consequently a very high center of gravity. I would have never considered driving it without a rear anti-sway bar. In my opinion it is not about "it seems to drive good without a rear anti-sway bar", it is about "What is going to happen during an emergency maneuver?".

Front shocks set on 5 or 6, rear shocks set on 8..

Front 4,850
Rear 6,150

GW 11,000

Sometimes, safety when loaded overrides comfort when empty.

- John

 

[Turbo Terry]

Yes I think I agree.

 

[Ozymandias]

you think he had more than 6k applied th the rear axle? I do and I am at RAWR of 9,750#. With a camper a lot of weight also goes to the front axle unlike a 5er like I have.

That's apples to pears, it is a crucial difference if you have a oin weight right in the middle of your bed or a huge box swaying around. He broke the frame,not the axle.

 

[Cummins12V98]

That's apples to pears, it is a crucial difference if you have a oin weight right in the middle of your bed or a huge box swaying around. He broke the frame,not the axle.

Not comparing the two just making some comments and asking a question that was not answered. I just don't think his frame broke because of the camper. Big speed bumps or welding frame YES not camper IMHO.

 

[AH64ID]

Not comparing the two just making some comments and asking a question that was not answered. I just don't think his frame broke because of the camper. Big speed bumps or welding frame YES not camper IMHO.

The camper applies forces that a 5th wheel or GN doesn’t to the frame, without the camper that failure is unlikely to occur.

You asked a question didn’t require an answer, because your question was in response to the answer. But to clarify, yes I’d say he put way more than 6K onto that rear axle and easily exceeded 9,750, as mentioned.

 

[Ozymandias]

Dead sure it was the Camper that cracked the frame, it happens all the time to light duty Pickups.

Want some examples?

See how tiny some of these boxes are? But even these can break the frames.

 

[Ozymandias]

Always center of gravity behind the rear axle, it breaks the frame no matter what because it is always bending for and back at every small imperfection of the road surface. It's not the speedbump that breaks it - It's the million load change cycles from positive to negative force and back that come just by going down the road.

That's the reason why I spent so much effort when building my Camper to keep the CG front of the axle even on a short wheel base.

 

[AH64ID]

Even then it’s different than a high tongue weight trailer, since the camper has mounts and tension between the axles.

 

[Ozymandias]

Even then it’s different than a high tongue weight trailer, since the camper has mounts and tension between the axles.

Correct, there the frame has more "space" to flex and bend, with the Camper it boils down to very short length of frame just between the front bed bolt/bracket to the most rearward drivers cabin frame bushing the gets all the stress.

I think "tensile strength" is it what engineers call it?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_tensile_strength

 

[petersonj]

@Ozymandias , if you could have provided a dozen photos I might have believed the camper could have caused the broken frame. But, with only ten photos to look at..., uh, I just don't know.

Nice job with finding those photos!

- John