Broken Frame on a RAM 3500

It seems whenever there is a discussion of camper weights on this forum, there are lots of derogatory comments about the "weight police". This might be an extreme example but it shows the importance of matching the actual camper weight. As pointed out in the video it is impossible to know the exact CCC for this truck. Based on the tables from Ram, it seems that the CCC was likely about 6000#. The weight of the camper can only be estimated but certainly was much higher than the CCC. The base camper is 4900#. With water and propane that jumps to 5500#. The base camper weight does not include accessories which are highly likely such as an A/C unit, extra battery, awnings, generator, and the solar panels which we can see. Best guess is the basic camper weight was in the 6000# range. Unfortunately that does not include personal items which would include that heavy rack and one or two electric bikes, all the food and drink, kitchen plates, pans, etc, bedding, towels, tools, air compressor, BBQ grill, other hobby and personal items and the weight of the passengers. Based on my experience those items can easily add up to 1500# or more plus the weight of the rack and bikes. I think it is likely that the CCC was exceeded by a couple thousand pounds. In addition there was clearly an issue with the center of gravity and way too much weight behind the rear wheels.

Bedlam wrote:
It is not a motorcycle rack or motorcycle off the rear. The owner had two e-bikes which weigh 60-80 lbs each. Verify your information before posting or I will delete posts or lock this thread. This failure was on a 2020 Ram 3500 DRW crew cab long bed.

OK, so 2 x 80lb bikes plus 60-80lb for the rack...or around 250lb several feet back from the rear axle bouncing down the road acting as a big lever while the 6500lb (loaded) camper rocks back and forth. If they get into sync, it could easily tear the frame apart. Plus fatigue damage from the 25k miles, it might have done OK initially but eventually, that will weaken the metal.

The simple fact it bent upwards in the middle suggests it was too much weight at the back as the front of the truck doesn't appear to have any modifications adding weight to the front. If it had bent down, that would have suggested too much weight between the axles.

I'm still waiting on pictures of the frame itself. If the frame was modified and then grossly overloaded on a rough road...nothing surprising that it eventually gave out.

TFL is not versed on truck campers, so they did not touch on possible additional option weight of the camper nor on the attachment to the truck. I am glad they pointed out that truck capacities vary greatly within a model and advertising only shows best case scenarios in limited configurations. There is more planning than just looking at camper weight if you plan to hang weight off the rear for additional cargo or trailer hitch...

FishOnOne wrote:
Here's some more intel on this Ram 3500 frame failure.

Link

It seems to be a lot of basic information. What you did you feel was intel?

Here's some more intel on this Ram 3500 frame failure

Link

This truck empty will be 9-10k lbs, add the camper to this and what ever you think you will carry (people, animals, water, gear, supplies) and you see this was close to 16k lbs GVW. The AAM axle is rated for around 11k lbs before it is derated for this Ram, so you know it was close to maximum too even if within tire and rim limits. The fact the owner only used brochure weights and had no actual weighings to know real-world travel weight leaves us guessing and leaves him with the bill to correct this.

The question still remains whether the truck frame was modified with welding or drilling prior to failure. We know it was welded post failure to get back to the US which most likely compromised it even more from the emergency repair in Mexico. There have been questions about getting the frame repaired rather than replaced, so this may be the reason.

My Host, like the Eagle Cap, have the fresh water tank forward of the axle to help CG. My camper is actually tail heavy without water due to the dual 30# LPG tanks, stairs and generator in the wings while also supporting a rear slide out section.

The question has come up many times why people choose such large truck campers rather than a motor home. The answers have been repeated multiple times in this forum section, so there is no need to get sideways on this failure thread.

I hear you all. My source said it was a short bed. So looked at it and thought it was a short also. The rear axle appears to be too close to the back end for some reason all the weight and mass of the camper seems to be too far to the rear of the axle.

covered wagon wrote:
I found out that it's a short bed truck with a camper for a long bed. Radically changing the dynamics. Then compound that with the extended hitch and motorbike. Wow what a risk!

The only short bed dually RAM is the Mega cab and this a crew cab.

When I seen this on Facebook I immediately went and looked up that TC. 3 slides and a dry weight of 4500lbs! Now add in all of their stuff, clothes, food/cooking, water and 2 Ebikes and rack hanging 6-8ft behind the rear axle and this as bound to happen! At the size of that TC why not just get a 4X4 class C?

I know my Arctic Fox 1140 center of gravity mark was just a couple of inches in front of my F450 axle. If that guy has put a 2x6 across the front for the bump stops to hit, it could possibly be real close.

I bet all things being equal, he just lost the frame quality lottery.