Fully loaded 1/2T Ram?

[GordonThree]

Spotted this half ton Ram carrying a sizable truck camper in Zion



Didn't manage to see it without the supports deployed, or meet the occupants. I wanted to ask if any mods were made on the rear end to bolster load support. I know the coil spring suspension on my Ram squats quite a bit with only 500-600 lbs on it.

[BenK]

On 'springs'...agree the axles won't know the difference from a weight carry point

The difference is how their weight carry (weight vs travel) curve looks like

Coil springs as the longest stroke or travel. Then leaf springs and the torsion
bars on our vehicles the shortest...though a coil spring is a torsion bar spring...

Air bladders normally has the shortest of them all. Some has steel rings to
form an accordion or bellows side to increase their stroke. Some even fold
over on themselves (involuted). There is a lever with folded/involuted air springs
that both helps it lift...but then limits their stroke

In designing...their stroke (travel/etc) vs poundage is the key component

[RoyJ]

Powerdude wrote:
On the 4 corner coil suspension technically there is no load bearing axle, just the spring in the coil is the load bearing part, and the frame of the vehicle with the control arms.

So, if you put an airbag to support the coil and the weight, your only limit is the tires and the strength of the suspension arm/bushings.

I'm sure he will have wearing and maintenance problems with that setup at some point. Hopefully no catastrophic failures at speed.

Coils or leafs the axle itself wouldn't be able to tell - as far as it's concerned the same forces are acting on its spring pad. Even bearings aside, the axle tube would feel additional bending moment regardless of spring type.

Think about it this way - semis use air springs not much different than coils. If the coil sprung axles are not load bearing then we should be able to put 1/2 ton axles on a heavy spec Kenworth!

[RobertRyan]

blt2ski wrote:
Robert,

ALL of the major industrial area's have ways of moving freight at one will call the most efficient means. Oz probably does not have too many track trains. As here in the NA, they criss cross all over and are the choice for moving 100's if not 1000's of tons at a time. In OZ, it seems the best way to cross the continent is by truck train of 3-5 trailers. I doubt you will ever see such a creature here. Nor do I believe you see those types in Europe. Maybe Asia in Russia or China. Not too many other places.

Actually, while typing, A few states around Nevada, Oregon etc, allow triples, IIRC the max length is 120'. So you will not see three typical 60' trailers hooked to the same tractor. But you could see three 30-40' trailers, or 2 60' trailers attached to ea other in those area's. I see two smaller trailers frequently around my area. With the railroads, no need for larger double ro triple trailer setups for the most part.

ALL of these area's have to build roads to meet the lbs per inch width/sq etc put on the roads. I'd have to do some figuring to see if those trucks posted would truly meet our regs. With that in mind, I have seen pics of upwards of 500 ton setups being moved on our roads. Again as I said above, one needs lots of permits etc.

Best to realize, EVERY corner of the world has different specs and needs to traveling etc.

Altho, some of the smaller RV setups in OZ would be nice to see in this part of the world.

marty

Marty, we have Track Trains, that move 1000 of tons of Iron ore. As well as Heavy Moves, that require several Trucks and let us say a power generator weighing several hundred tons.
Where we do differ from the US is having a vast desert, so very heavy trucks can use graded dirt roads, to move very heavy loads, to regional parts of Australia.
Shipping also moves vast amount of freight as well
Many of the unique RV's used in Australia stem from the need to go Off Road. Motorhomes, Caravans, and Camper Trailers have evolved along those lines.
Our RV industry which produces 80% of RV's has influences, from the US, Europe, Asia
and of course Australia.
Europe is heavy " Truck Land" and as result their Truck manufacturers dominate Globally. European Truck makers are in Africa, Middle East, South America,, Russia and Asia. They own Truck manufacturers in Japan.(UD, Mitsubishi ) and in the US, (Freightliner, Western Star, Mack and Volvo)
Agree, every country presents unique challenges, so what works in one, may or may not work in others

[blt2ski]

Robert,

ALL of the major industrial area's have ways of moving freight at one will call the most efficient means. Oz probably does not have too many track trains. As here in the NA, they criss cross all over and are the choice for moving 100's if not 1000's of tons at a time. In OZ, it seems the best way to cross the continent is by truck train of 3-5 trailers. I doubt you will ever see such a creature here. Nor do I believe you see those types in Europe. Maybe Asia in Russia or China. Not too many other places.

Actually, while typing, A few states around Nevada, Oregon etc, allow triples, IIRC the max length is 120'. So you will not see three typical 60' trailers hooked to the same tractor. But you could see three 30-40' trailers, or 2 60' trailers attached to ea other in those area's. I see two smaller trailers frequently around my area. With the railroads, no need for larger double ro triple trailer setups for the most part.

ALL of these area's have to build roads to meet the lbs per inch width/sq etc put on the roads. I'd have to do some figuring to see if those trucks posted would truly meet our regs. With that in mind, I have seen pics of upwards of 500 ton setups being moved on our roads. Again as I said above, one needs lots of permits etc.

Best to realize, EVERY corner of the world has different specs and needs to traveling etc.

Altho, some of the smaller RV setups in OZ would be nice to see in this part of the world.

marty

[RobertRyan]

06Fargo wrote:
The rv.net weight police calculators would display a great big E :h trying to figger some Aussie trucks:

A Roadtrains, comes to roughly 200 Tonnes(440,000lb). Tractor Truck about 650-730hp
A , B Triple can weigh roughly 120 tonnes(260,000lb) and can come to the outskirts of major cities

Many places have heavier Trucks than what you have in the US. To reduce the staggering number of heavy trucks on their roads( Ever wonder why all of the biggest Truck Makers come from Europe? Need to visit) Europeans have introduced HGV's which are general highway trucks of 62tonnes(136,000lb)

[blt2ski]

06Fargo wrote:
The rv.net weight police calculators would display a great big E :h trying to figger some Aussie trucks:

Seems to me these are around .5 million lbs or there abouts........

Legal here to , with LOTS of permits.....

marty

[noteven]

The rv.net weight police calculators would display a great big E :h trying to figger some Aussie trucks:

[RobertRyan]

Slownsy wrote:
I did not say all but many and picked your picture of the landcruser as eksample.Very ekspensiv modification, and lazy axle makes 4 wheel drive useless, rather have my F350 with about11500GVM and 3500lb payload.
Frank.

I would suspect that 4x4 on those Landcruisers would be a 2 Tonne payload (4,400lb)and the GVM would be higher than the converted SUV version. Using an IVECO or similar would give you a 4000-5000lb payload and very capable to extremely capable Off Road performance and be cheaper.

[brulaz]

Powerdude wrote:

...
Not saying it's a wise idea to overload that much, but if one accelerates inspection and maintenance schedules, it could be done.

The problem is doing it and sticking to it. Which of course, we know is unlikely to happen with most people. Kind of like new years resolutions about losing weight. It can happen, it likely won't.

Another problem is just ignorance. And perhaps salesmen taking advantage of that. As in my case when much younger ...

Still can't believe how lucky I was that the axle with the busted bearing didn't pull out at highway speeds.

[Powerdude]

Heh. Forgot about the bearings. Yes, everything in there will be subject to additional stresses.

Not saying it's a wise idea to overload that much, but if one accelerates inspection and maintenance schedules, it could be done.

The problem is doing it and sticking to it. Which of course, we know is unlikely to happen with most people. Kind of like new years resolutions about losing weight. It can happen, it likely won't.

[brulaz]

Powerdude wrote:
On the 4 corner coil suspension technically there is no load bearing axle, just the spring in the coil is the load bearing part, and the frame of the vehicle with the control arms.

So, if you put an airbag to support the coil and the weight, your only limit is the tires and the strength of the suspension arm/bushings.

I'm sure he will have wearing and maintenance problems with that setup at some point. Hopefully no catastrophic failures at speed.

You are saying the axle bearings do not bear the weight when using coil springs? And so are not a limiting factor?

I'm no Mech. Engineer but that just doesn't make sense.

[Slownsy]

I did not say all but many and picked your picture of the landcruser as eksample.Very ekspensiv modification, and lazy axle makes 4 wheel drive useless, rather have my F350 with about11500GVM and 3500lb payload.
Frank.

[RobertRyan]

Slownsy wrote:
Landcruser GVW 3300kg less Kerbe veight 2065kg= max payload 1235kg or2723lb
Camper wet 2155lb stelltray 500lb tool boxes 100lb tools 100lb bulbar 100lb tow hitch 50lbs ball load 200lb 2 peaple 300lb food clothes 100lb. Total = 3650lb. I think I have bean conservative butt about 1000lb overloaded as is most 4WDS in Australia.
Frank.

No, not all are. For a heavy TC, you need a Cab Chassis Euro Van, like the IVECO, or add a lazy axle and have an engineer certified increase in GVM. Easier to get a Euro Cab Chassis For an Asian sourced Ute, payload increased to 1.5 tonnes, 3,300lb as in the Lance DualCab example below. 6x6 conversion popular with Utlity vehicles, GVM goes to 9,000lb for the Landcruiser

[Powerdude]

On the 4 corner coil suspension technically there is no load bearing axle, just the spring in the coil is the load bearing part, and the frame of the vehicle with the control arms.

So, if you put an airbag to support the coil and the weight, your only limit is the tires and the strength of the suspension arm/bushings.

I'm sure he will have wearing and maintenance problems with that setup at some point. Hopefully no catastrophic failures at speed.