No pictures but our friends were in Alaska for a couple months and heading back to their home in Maine, they stopped by for a few days.We were talking about TC's in Alaska and they mentioned right off, how many appeared grossly overloaded.They said that there were a few big dual rear tired pickup trucks that were literally dragging their rear bumpers, loaded up with the kitchen sink...canoe's on the roof, storage containers on the roofs, just loaded for 'bear'.I'd hate to have them approaching me at night, with their headlights pointing skyward.I'm amazed (on Alaskan twisty, curvy roads, that there aren't more accidents and equipment failures from overloading.Amazing to me that people, in general, have no conception of what overloading does to drivetrain components, let alone handling.Glad I'm not piloting those 'magic busses'.....lol

I'm not sure why your friends only mentioned TCs. Most vehicles of all types on trips are overloaded. All you have to do is look. BTW, level doesn't mean not overloaded.

jimh425 wrote:I'm not sure why your friends only mentioned TCs. Most vehicles of all types on trips are overloaded. All you have to do is look. BTW, level doesn't mean not overloaded.Jim...Probably because they also have a TC and prior to leaving for Alaska, they weighed their outfit (and were seriously overloaded) and went on a serious weight reduction regimen. I tend not to observe anything other than TC's myself, having one makes you more aware.You are correct, level don't mean not overloaded. You can add suspension mods or jack your air bags up and make any rig level. However, the tires will always give that fact away.....squatting...

I too generally look only at TC's unless there is another type of RV that is seriously out of whack. Last week I saw an F-150 towing a rather large double-axle 5th wheel. It was seriously sagging the back of the truck as it was SO obvious. I do not understand how people think that their "trucks" can handle these weights.I am going to coin a new term: "TINO" which means "Truck In Name Only." "GGWAB" which means "Grocery Getter with a Bed" could be another term.

d3500ram wrote:I too generally look only at TC's unless there is another type of RV that is seriously out of whack. Last week I saw an F-150 towing a rather large double-axle 5th wheel. It was seriously sagging the back of the truck as it was SO obvious. I do not understand how people think that their "trucks" can handle these weights.I am going to coin a new term: "TINO" which means "Truck In Name Only." "GGWAB" which means "Grocery Getter with a Bed" could be another term.My opinion is two fold...First off, sales people tell customers that their 'Grocery Getter' light duty truck or SUV can haul that camper no issue, when, in fact, it cannot 'safely and competently' do it. No one wants to buy an RV and then go buy a new tow vehicle at the same time....Secondly, buyers never practice due diligence. Most RV buyers (the exception is TC buyers) haven't a clue about where tow ratings are listed in their owners manuals, heck, most people never even look at an owners manual, it stays hidden in the glove box, who needs that anyway and I bet very few pull behind or 5er buyers even know where the required door pillar sticker is, that states payload capacity.I put the bulk of the blame squarely on the dealers and their sales people, wanting to make a sale no matter what and gullible buyers second.Like I said, the exception is TC buyers but even that don't always hold true. It's the 'I want it and I can modify the truck to carry it', if in fact, it's safe or not is irevelant.I owned a 'tank' camper, a Lance. I sold it and went with a much lighter unit. My one tom hauled the Lance just fine. I hauls the lighter TC much better....

Seriously overloaded | Good Sam Community

joerg68
Nomad III
Jul 27, 2017
I believe you. Still I can't understand the downslope of the cabover vs. all other lines. But I guess there is an explanation for everything. A lot of other details in that picture are strange, too, as many here have said. Actually I am just curious to know what this is...
JTLance
Explorer
Jul 27, 2017
OMG---I swear on my mother, wife and daughter, this is a 100% real pic from Winchester bay.

I can barely hook up a wifi cam, let alone use photoshop. Ha

Guys, there really are stupid people that overload their trucks.

When I took the photo, I was laughing and was surprised that the guy driving the rig had not suffered any failures just getting here. The freeway from I5 to the coast is windy (as in winding road) as heck.
JimK-NY
Explorer II
Jul 24, 2017
Towards the bottom of the truck doors there is a designed flare. The line across those panels is relatively flat compared with the line formed by the top or bottom of the slide.
d3500ram
Explorer III
Jul 24, 2017
Hmmm... was looking closer st his and decided to run some parallel lines to visualize some of the comment observations. The cabover portion does not appear to be at the same level plane irrespective of whether or not it is overloaded. All the red lines are parallel:
joerg68
Nomad III
Jul 24, 2017
On that TC picture, the roofline and the horizontal edges of the slide run parallell as they should. The floorline of the cabover runs at an angle (I have actually copied the pic to a powerpoint slide and drew some lines to check). Since the sidewalls of the camper appear "normal" where the cabover protrudes, there is no reasonable explanation how a camper could actually exist like that...

Automatic Photo Stitch as part of a panoramic photo?

I have seen overloaded rigs like that in the wild, though... Small euro pickups with short pickup beds and long rear overhangs make this easy.
Reddog1
Explorer II
Jul 24, 2017
I do not see the underside of the cabover being parallel or perpendicular to any other edge of the TC. The bottom of the slide out does not appear parallel to the bottom of the TC overhang. I would have to see more photos before I would believe this photo was not modified.

Wayne
Reddog1
Explorer II
Jul 24, 2017
JTLance wrote:
I took that photo! Its not doctored, its in Winchester Bay Oregon! 2 years ago.
Do you have any other photos?
SidecarFlip
Explorer III
Jul 24, 2017
Maybe they have a compressor fridge.....
JimK-NY
Explorer II
Jul 24, 2017
towpro wrote:
why does the parallel line of the over hang over cab not on the same plain as the parallel line of the camper edge on bed of truck?

I see this. Something is wrong beside just weight. The front of the camper sits on the truck much higher than the back of the camper. Relative to the truck, the camper is pointing up in the front and down in the rear. It seems that there was insufficient clearance between the camper and the roof of the truck so the front was propped up. I wonder how they can ever level the refrigerator or floor of the camper.
Reddog1
Explorer II
Jul 24, 2017
towpro wrote:
why does the parallel line of the over hang over cab not on the same plain as the parallel line of the camper edge on bed of truck?
Look at the body line right above the running board. It is about 6 inches higher than the same line on the bed.

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