Broken Frame on a RAM 3500

[deltabravo]

You may have seen pics of this truck and camper floating around the interwbez for the last few weeks.

Here's an article about it that was published earlier today.

Broken Frame on a RAM 3500

[rjstractor]

otrfun wrote:
If this guy had taken the time to visit a scale, odds are he would have quickly discovered he was grossly overloaded. But, more to my point, he would have discovered his front axle was being off-loaded many, many hundreds of pounds indicating a COG that was way behind the rear axle.

Pretty much this. The truck owner read somewhere that the max payload for a Ram 3500 DRW truck was 7800 lbs., and it didn't occur to him that this doesn't apply for all models, just the 2WD regular cab gas version.

[3_tons]

JIMNLIN wrote:
Lots of assumptions as usual. Did the frame actually break or collapse at the point where the drilled holes were.
Was their actually drilled holes ?
Also was the drilling done per Rams Body guidelines.

Yep, lots of brainstorming here, yet it’s a fact that Torklift makes a drill-thru AND a no-drill thru clamp on version…Though we have no way to know which mount was used, this fact ought not be so readily dismissed, and it’s entirely possible the installer was unaware of this difference - you might be curious how I know, as it happened to me on my previous RAM…The camper dealer didn’t follow my instructions and used the drill-thru mount…Fortunately (possibly due to smaller camper with more forward CG…) I didn't have a catastrophic failure…Either way, the clamp on unit negates any drilling or welding…

3 tons

[notsobigjoe]

The comments under the article "On the article page that was posted by the op" are very close to the discussion we are having here... In my very limited knowledge of metal there are two things that could do this and they are weight and rust. If a bridge over a stream rusts it falls apart over a very long period of time. Another point is with my unloading of every single possible pound of weight I got the weight of my 1181 down to 4300 lbs from well over 5000 lbs and it still feels like the front end is driving up in the air. JM2C Great discussion though and you are all correct about your points.

[otrfun]

wnjj wrote:
. . . after 25k miles it broke after driving 55 on roads that according to the owner were “kind of back and forth, and there's dips and stuff”. A cracked frame is likely due to oscillation of the whole load, working the frame until the crack formed . . . A bunch of weight sitting over the rear axle does not stress the frame where it broke unless there’s an unholy motion . . .

Good point. Totally agree.

Oscillation and the location of the load's Center-of-Gravity over the rear axle is a key point. An oscillating, downward force (i.e., COG) directly over or in front of the rear axle should not have pushed the frame upward as shown in the pic. IMO, a failure (with a proper COG) would have resulted in the frame being pushed downward.

If this guy had taken the time to visit a scale, odds are he would have quickly discovered he was grossly overloaded. But, more to my point, he would have discovered his front axle was being off-loaded many, many hundreds of pounds indicating a COG that was way behind the rear axle.

[JIMNLIN]

Lots of assumptions as usual. Did the frame actually break or collapse at the point where the drilled holes were.
Was their actually drilled holes ?
Also was the drilling done per Rams Body guidelines ??

Behind the cab/front of the bed bent/broken frame rails happen especially with wood haulers trucks (all brands and frame rail designs) due to overloading after lots of duty cycles and abuse.

[wnjj]

3 tons wrote:
“ Dodge/Rams Body Builder guide allows drilling/welding the main frame rails on '03 and up Dodge/Ram hydroformed frame rails.”

Maybe so (I donno??), but how might this factoid be associated with installation of a Torklift ‘drill thru the frame’ tie-down mount?

3 tons

I suspect you’re on to something here.

Also consider that after 25k miles it broke after driving 55 on roads that according to the owner were “kind of back and forth, and there's dips and stuff”. A cracked frame is likely due to oscillation of the whole load, working the frame until the crack formed. It’s most likely to form at a place like a drilled mount. A bunch of weight sitting over the rear axle does not stress the frame where it broke unless there’s an unholy motion.

My guess is that it could have eventually happened even with a lighter camper on board though you can’t blame Mopar for denying the warranty with an overload truck as I’m sure it contributed.

[3_tons]

“ Dodge/Rams Body Builder guide allows drilling/welding the main frame rails on '03 and up Dodge/Ram hydroformed frame rails.”

Maybe so (I donno??), but how might this factoid be associated with installation of a Torklift ‘drill thru the frame’ tie-down mount?

3 tons

[JIMNLIN]

Dodge/Rams Body Builder guide allows drilling/welding the main frame rails on '03 and up Dodge/Ram hydroformed frame rails.
Drilling/welding the top or bottom of the tube rails can void the frame warranty.\
We also don't know the truck work history.

My 2500 '03 5th wheel/GN hitch brkets were welded per Dodge Body Builder guide in '03 and no issues with frame problems in 380+k miles carrying up to 3600-3800 lb hitch loads on my GN ball.

Using a gvwr based payload in the bed shows the fallacy of using the gvwr payload sticker as a in the bed payload which of course overloads a LDT rawr in most cases.

It'll be interesting to see the truck owners decision on how to go forward on the trucks problem.

[3_tons]

I would only add to this, his mounts are made by Torklift, but (me having the same truck…) Torklift offers two different types of mounts - a clamp-on no drill version, and a drill thru the frame version…Ram uses a hydro-formed, high tensile steel box frame (14k GVWR) and drilling thru the frame voids the warranty (thus, the clamp-on version is used)…Yes the camper is uber heavy (I’ve seen a number of the same rig on the road and in CG’s…), but my guess from afar is that the unaware installer likely used the drill-thru mount and weakened the frame…JMO,

3 tons

[HioSSilver]

Not very smart putting a tc that size on a pick up. Really it's not very smart having a tc that size at all. Just defeats the purpose of a tc.

[Grit_dog]

rdhetrick wrote:

Grit dog wrote:


17,000 whats? What are you even talking about?

Did you read the article or just look at the pictures? 17,000 was the invoiced amount of the repair.

Yup 10-4. But thanks for asking.
I discovers these cool little symbols like $ and # (not hash tag but lbs). Everyone wuz all talkin aboot weight, including the remainder of your post.
Hence my cornfusion. Apologies.

[rdhetrick]

Grit dog wrote:


17,000 whats? What are you even talking about?

Did you read the article or just look at the pictures? 17,000 was the invoiced amount of the repair.

[Grit_dog]

And I thought this stupid thread just got closed….
But it was worth bringing up again?
Probably posted by a Chevy Owner! Lol
(We all know the Fjords snap too….but noone has captured a Like a Rock truck getting a case of the bends! Or the owners are slightly more intelligent and know better than to post “Look at my stupid human trick” stuff!).
Hahahaha

[Grit_dog]

2003silverado wrote:
17,000 actually seems like a very reasonable figure to me.

If that weight was all in the bed or on a fifth wheel/goose neck hitch that never would have happened. Theres a HUGE amount of leverage factor with that sticking so far off the rear end.

17,000 whats? What are you even talking about?

[Grit_dog]

towpro wrote:
a while ago it was a picture of an F350 broke just like this one, but everyone said that was photo shop?

Correction. 2 of em. Same camper and trailer different trucks.