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Siletzspey
Explorer
Jul 31, 2019

Curious question, effective weight over bumps

So if someone has a 1-ton pickup with a camper that weighs a grand total of 11,000-lbs, and one goes over a speed bump or pot-hole at say 20 mph, whats the effective spike weight on the tires, axles, etc?

There seems to be a lot of commentary about carrying limits based on well-behaved road and load conditions, but I don't see much factoring in of speed bumps, pot holes, rutted logging roads and so on.

Just curious.

--SiletzSpey

6 Replies

  • There is such a thing as "impact rupture" in the sidewall of a tire, due to hitting a object such as you describe. However, if all other conditions are "normal", e.g., driving at legal speed, not overloaded for PSI in the tires, etc., you should never experience a impact rupture.
    Tires and other suspension components are engineered with a high safety factor to withstand just what you are talking about.
    Don't let it be a major concern!
  • Normal roads including rough, potholed roads aren't really a concern.

    However, I know my father hit a rough railroad track at 60 mph and blew a tire, bent the rim along with making a known weak spot in the camper bulge out. Not sure if it was the crossing, the speed, or possibly he may have even drifted to the side and hit the tracks themselves, but it was an unusual extreme situation.

    To give you an idea of how you can overload a tire without damaging, we once moved a log barn that we estimated weighed 20 tons on a trailer with two 3 ton axles. Our max speed was at a slow walking pace for about 1,200 feet across a dirt field.
  • Can’t say for pickups and rv’s but in heavy duty trucks tires inflated to the correct pressure for the load are an active suspension component protecting the vehicle, occupants and cargo from road “ imperfections”.
  • Siletzspey wrote:
    So if someone has a 1-ton pickup with a camper that weighs a grand total of 11,000-lbs, and one goes over a speed bump or pot-hole at say 20 mph, whats the effective spike weight on the tires, axles, etc?

    There seems to be a lot of commentary about carrying limits based on well-behaved road and load conditions, but I don't see much factoring in of speed bumps, pot holes, rutted logging roads and so on.

    Just curious.

    --SiletzSpey


    The design limits assume dynamic loading (aka hitting bumps and potholes at speed).

    Static loading (nothing is moving), you can typically safely support several times the rated load with no fear of failure or long term damage.
  • Don’t know, but mostly, you should be ok. I’ve hit random hard to see bumps etc at higher speeds in both SRW and DRW.
  • Tires can carry spikes, or low speed load in the range of 4-5 times their high speed rating.
    How many times have you seen triple axle trailer with 2 axles in the air?