truck swerved with hard braking
Ok, here is the story. I was driving on the interstate it must have been approaching an uphill. Truck in the right lane moving slow. Another truck moving up on me in the left lane. So I hit the gas to...
Forum Discussion
I am the OP. Thank you for all the comments. The truck is going in for service today and I am asking for the brakes to be checked. When I first posted I thought the answer might be that extreme braking with the truck camper loaded it is expected that you can drift.
There were comments asking about what happened. It was on the interstate. I was in the right lane and I am sure driving 65 mph or less because that is fastest I drive with the camper loaded (unless I am in heavy traffic and causing a traffic jam with people trying to get around me I might speed up because it becomes a trade off of which is more dangerous speeding up or every car in a traffic jam passing you, as well as it being rude to block traffic).
I was approaching an 18 wheeler that turned out to be moving very slowly climbing the hill. It was the choice of brake down from 65 to 25 mph or pass. There was traffic approaching me in the left lane so I actually accelerated a little to change lanes ahead of traffic and BANG there was another slow moving truck in the left lane which had been hidden by the 18 wheeler in the right lane. So I had to slam on the brakes. I was probably still changing lanes moving to the left when I saw the second truck.
The lesson learned is to not assume that the left lane is clear when passing an 18 wheeler because there is a blind area. I suppose you have to assume there could be a vehicle moving as slow as the truck in the right lane so you need to keep speed and stopping distance the same as if you were to remain in the right lane.
It was an unusual situation because usually when you change lanes to pass a truck any vehicle in the blind area will also be passing at speed, not also moving 25 mph.
I have not had any other braking problems other than this incident. I don't think there is any pulling to the side when braking other than in this extreme incident. We will see what the mechanic says with the brake check. It could be that it was the bad alignment I had at the time which caused the drift when extreme braking. The RAM 3500 truck has been great no mechanical problems except for it turns out that it seemed it came out of the factory with bad alignment. From the start it took constant adjustment to keep in the lane. It took me 4 years when my tires wore unevenly to discover this. This is my first big truck. I asked many people in campgrounds about the lane drift and the answer was that is how a truck drives. One guy in a campground had the same truck and had the same problem. He said he read in truck forums that 3500 4x4 is known for this lane drift and there is no alignment adjustment on the 4x4. Turned out incorrect there is an alignment adjustment. If others in truck forums were having the problem it could be trucks were being shipped with bad alignment. With the new tires (good quality Michelin tires versus the original factory tires) and alignment the drift problem disappeared.
There were comments asking about what happened. It was on the interstate. I was in the right lane and I am sure driving 65 mph or less because that is fastest I drive with the camper loaded (unless I am in heavy traffic and causing a traffic jam with people trying to get around me I might speed up because it becomes a trade off of which is more dangerous speeding up or every car in a traffic jam passing you, as well as it being rude to block traffic).
I was approaching an 18 wheeler that turned out to be moving very slowly climbing the hill. It was the choice of brake down from 65 to 25 mph or pass. There was traffic approaching me in the left lane so I actually accelerated a little to change lanes ahead of traffic and BANG there was another slow moving truck in the left lane which had been hidden by the 18 wheeler in the right lane. So I had to slam on the brakes. I was probably still changing lanes moving to the left when I saw the second truck.
The lesson learned is to not assume that the left lane is clear when passing an 18 wheeler because there is a blind area. I suppose you have to assume there could be a vehicle moving as slow as the truck in the right lane so you need to keep speed and stopping distance the same as if you were to remain in the right lane.
It was an unusual situation because usually when you change lanes to pass a truck any vehicle in the blind area will also be passing at speed, not also moving 25 mph.
I have not had any other braking problems other than this incident. I don't think there is any pulling to the side when braking other than in this extreme incident. We will see what the mechanic says with the brake check. It could be that it was the bad alignment I had at the time which caused the drift when extreme braking. The RAM 3500 truck has been great no mechanical problems except for it turns out that it seemed it came out of the factory with bad alignment. From the start it took constant adjustment to keep in the lane. It took me 4 years when my tires wore unevenly to discover this. This is my first big truck. I asked many people in campgrounds about the lane drift and the answer was that is how a truck drives. One guy in a campground had the same truck and had the same problem. He said he read in truck forums that 3500 4x4 is known for this lane drift and there is no alignment adjustment on the 4x4. Turned out incorrect there is an alignment adjustment. If others in truck forums were having the problem it could be trucks were being shipped with bad alignment. With the new tires (good quality Michelin tires versus the original factory tires) and alignment the drift problem disappeared.
