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

[SoonDockin]

I know my Arctic Fox 1140 center of gravity mark was just a couple of inches in front of my F450 axle. If that guy has put a 2x6 across the front for the bump stops to hit, it could possibly be real close.

I bet all things being equal, he just lost the frame quality lottery.

[srschang]

Just went out and popped the hood on my truck (I have the same truck). The motor mounts look to be at or slightly behind the centerline of the front wheels, so the engine is balanced over the front wheels.

I'm surprised the broken truck ended up in an inverted V. It's like there was a huge weight in front of the front wheels and behind the rear wheels. I would have thought the the weight of the Crew Cab, transmission, and transfer case would have pulled the center of the truck down in a normal V.

I went out and looked at the engine again. The motor mounts are ~12" from the flyhousing, and ~18" from the front of the engine. So some of the engine weight would have been pulling down on the truck ahead of the front wheels, but still..

[Camper_Jeff___K]

Bedlam wrote:
It is not a motorcycle rack or motorcycle off the rear. The owner had two e-bikes which weigh 60-80 lbs each. Verify your information before posting or I will delete posts or lock this thread. This failure was on a 2020 Ram 3500 DRW crew cab long bed.

What makes me scratch my head is, the center of gravity is supposed to be within a few inches of center over the rear wheels. Is it known whether the cabover was loaded down with heavy items? I carry a few hundred pounds of cameras, computers, clothes up there myself. I've also hit some pretty hard air worthy dips in the road with no consequence coming down out of the mountains.

[Grit_dog]

Bedlam wrote:
It is not a motorcycle rack or motorcycle off the rear. The owner had two e-bikes which weigh 60-80 lbs each. Verify your information before posting or I will delete posts or lock this thread. This failure was on a 2020 Ram 3500 DRW crew cab long bed.

I heard it was really a Ram 1500 with dual wheels! Lol jk

Please don’t lock this. It’s entertaining. Hope y’all had a happy healthy Holidays up there!

My only question is how did he get it unloaded down there with the front jacks removed?

[Bedlam]

It is not a motorcycle rack or motorcycle off the rear. The owner had two e-bikes which weigh 60-80 lbs each. Verify your information before posting or I will delete posts or lock this thread. This failure was on a 2020 Ram 3500 DRW crew cab long bed.

[srschang]

covered wagon wrote:
I found out that it's a short bed truck with a camper for a long bed. Radically changing the dynamics. Then compound that with the extended hitch and motorbike. Wow what a risk!

Ram only made one configuration with a shortbed and dual wheels in 2020, and it's a Mega Cab. The broken truck is not a Mega Cab.

[Grit_dog]

covered wagon wrote:
I found out that it's a short bed truck with a camper for a long bed. Radically changing the dynamics. Then compound that with the extended hitch and motorbike. Wow what a risk!

Lol. Loss of words for this one….

[valhalla360]

jimh406 wrote:
I'd like to know what else was in the camper at the rear of it. I don't think the balance point should be that far back on a normal TC. In other words, even if the frame broke it should sit nearly level. The other wild card is the leverage of the bike on the hitch.

It also almost looks like it's short bed, but that could an optical illusion.

One more thought is I wonder where the holding tanks are and if they were in the rear behind the axle, were they full or nearly full?

While the COG might not be too far behind the axle, it most likely is a few feet above the axle. On bumpy roads 6000lb rocking back and forth on a 3ft lever arm, is a lot of force. Add in a small motorcycle 7-8ft behind the axle...

Yeah, it held up for 25k miles but eventually fatigue loading took it's toll. Just because it didn't fail in the first mile doesn't mean it wasn't taking damage the whole time.

[3_tons]

covered wagon wrote:
I found out that it's a short bed truck with a camper for a long bed.

Not so, better check your source…

3 tons

[Oregun]

Was there a generator on the rear of the camper too?

[covered_wagon]

I found out that it's a short bed truck with a camper for a long bed. Radically changing the dynamics. Then compound that with the extended hitch and motorbike. Wow what a risk!

[3_tons]

“ I'd like to know what else was in the camper at the rear of it. I don't think the balance point should be that far back on a normal TC.”

Well, the basement alone on the 1165 could easily hold several people and nowadays who knows, after all this all happened south of the border - lol :B

3 tons

[Grit_dog]

The torklift application for that truck is ZERO drilling required. As are the vast majority of torklift apps. No speculation needed there. Unless the owner had some custom tie down mounts made, the truck frame wasn’t drilled.

[jimh406]

I'd like to know what else was in the camper at the rear of it. I don't think the balance point should be that far back on a normal TC. In other words, even if the frame broke it should sit nearly level. The other wild card is the leverage of the bike on the hitch.

It also almost looks like it's short bed, but that could an optical illusion.

One more thought is I wonder where the holding tanks are and if they were in the rear behind the axle, were they full or nearly full?

[d3500ram]

I read the article as sent to me this morning from another news source. I have not been around for quite some time since selling the TC… but, I knew that this would be a topic here, hence me dropping back in to at least say hi. Good to see some of the regular good folks with sage comments still around here…

Yes, we are all respectfully speculating on this mishap and the comments seem quite logical. I will add this:

He could have been under the max payload number, but if that load (force)is hanging X distance behind the rear axle it could have resulted in a broken frame- nothing too complex to understand, it is the basic physics of levers. If placed far enough away then the uplift force (right at the front tie- downs) and the weight of the diesel up front will react at the weakest point. All of those forces working together will find that weakest point.

3 tons wrote:
~…The camper dealer didn’t follow my instructions and used the drill-thru mount… ~3 tons

WOW! I would have been rip-feces PO'd in a big way if a dealer did that even within acceptable location range!:M

~…the clamp on unit negates any drilling or welding…~

Yep, that is why I went with the bolt-in TL's on mine. Kind of a PIA to install within the HF frame. I have mine still in place... not sure if I can get inside to remove the hardware in order to take them off.

Anyway- hope y'all had a Merry Christmas... and Happy New Year to everyone.