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

[Grit_dog]

The most amazing part of this is the owner is as much of an attention ***** as he is stupid….

Articles, FB posts, guy so dumb he doesn’t even realize he’s also publicly announcing his ignorance.
You know, those old pics of the 2 different super doodys with the same camper and trailer?
Bout the right timeline that this dipchit could actually have just scored the first broken truck hat trick!
Same guy? I wanna start that rumor!

[towpro]

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

[2003silverado]

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.

[Tom_Barb]

Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:
Those really big truck campers should be on the bigger 550-5500 trucks.

amen..

[srschang]

So to continue beating the dead horse, I have a 2022 Ram 3500 Laramie crew cab long bed diesel dually. Here are the specs.
GVWR - 14,000#
GAWR Front - 6000#
GAWR Rear - 9750#
From the door sticker "The combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed 5569#"
From the truck camper document "Cargo weight rating (pounds) 4738"

So this guy said the weight of the camper loaded was 6500#. No matter which cargo number you use from my truck, which is very similar to his truck, the guy was at least 1000# overweight, and close to 2000# overweight from the truck camper document. Not sure how his argument could ever stand up.

[bighatnohorse]

1)The owner has a Facebook page and made a comment about selling the truck camper and that he also owns a 5th wheel.
This raises the unanswered question about how the truck was outfitted and used. Does the owner own two trucks? Does the truck also have a 5th wheel connection?

2) If you've driven in Mexico then you know that the topes (speed bumps) are everywhere. The shadow of a tree can hide a tope. If one were to hit a tope with a big camper on it could damage the frame and more.
Again, it's an unanswered question (though comprehensive insurance should cover such an event).

[Geo_Boy]

Are we still beating this dead horse?:S

[rhagfo]

JimK-NY wrote:
In spite of the owner's claims, it seems very likely that the truck was grossly overloaded. Most Ram 3500 diesel crew cab pickups are going to have a CCC roughly in the 4000# range. The camper itself has a dry weight of 4500#. Loaded and carrying a motorcycle it is likely to be well over 6000#.

There is another warning here for all of us. The CCC is based on that weight in the bed of the truck. Hanging a lot of weight well behind the rear axle is beyond what the truck was designed for.

Where do people get these numbers???

CCC of 4,000# is average for long bed SRW 350/3500, DRW will be over 5,000# based on trim, we are talking diesel engines.

[towpro]

joerg68 wrote:
How far is that motorbike behind the rear axle and how much does it weigh...?

Its an 12' camper, on an 8' bed so its not the Curt 34" extension that I used on my Arctic Fox 990 so maybe a super truss. That looks like an electric bike, so maybe 60 lbs?

I had that same truck but 2 yard older, and I was at my max GVWR with just an Arctic Fox 990 loaded for a long trip. (and the 990 is around 1500 lbs lighter than that camper according to literature)

we have all seen this type truck with this type load on it before. I bet something else caused this failure.
Previous accident?
I could not see what camper mounts are used.
That frame is a "no drill" frame.

[JimK-NY]

In spite of the owner's claims, it seems very likely that the truck was grossly overloaded. Most Ram 3500 diesel crew cab pickups are going to have a CCC roughly in the 4000# range. The camper itself has a dry weight of 4500#. Loaded and carrying a motorcycle it is likely to be well over 6000#.

There is another warning here for all of us. The CCC is based on that weight in the bed of the truck. Hanging a lot of weight well behind the rear axle is beyond what the truck was designed for.

[towpro]

ROBERTSUNRUS wrote:
🙂 Hi, why is the owner guessing? All he has to do is open the driver's door and read the label.

Even that one is hard to figure out, but if you look at that piece of paper in the glove box that shows the slide-in weight and COG for THAT truck its easy, but you still have to go to a scale.

[joerg68]

How far is that motorbike behind the rear axle and how much does it weigh...?

[Camper_Jeff___K]

Those really big truck campers should be on the bigger 550-5500 trucks. Bigger brakes too that way. I know my F250 is probably a little overloaded but not severely. I have the higher rated 3400 pound each load range E tires, heavy sway bars front and rear, Larger 5500-pound leaf springs in the rear and soon, 3 leaf heavier springs in the front, Firestone airbags which provide a third center support point to the frame directly above the axle and halfway between the front and rear shackles. No signs of frame stress at the usual break point between the bed and cab. I would really hate to have it do something to me when I'm on one of those middle of nowhere back roads like at Alamo Reservoir, AZ last year, (Alamo Rd.) when I sank into the deep road gravel. there were several bouncy parts to that road for which I'm glad nothing happened.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

🙂 Hi, why is the owner guessing? All he has to do is open the driver's door and read the label.