VAMike
Well-Known Member
I think people just get used to getting away with overloading their vehicles because there is so much safety factor built in, but eventually you reach the point that your luck runs out. The truck in question is a ZR2 Colorado, which only has 1100 pounds payload. Let's say you're right and it's a properly loaded 2100lb trailer. That means 210lb tongue weight and 890lb left for passengers + anything in the bed. What are the odds the bed is empty and there are no passengers? But wait--the pictures show at least 3 jerry cans strapped onto the front of the trailer (that's 120lbs right there) plus either a generator or storage box, and then something else in front of that. Regardless of what else is in the trailer, that's probably over 200lb just of stuff sitting on the front of that trailer and it's probably significantly unbalanced forward. Max tow rating for a Colorado ZR2 is 5000lb trailer/500lb tongue, and at 500lb on the tongue you'd only have 600lb for passengers and stuff in the bed. And how likely is it that someone would tow a trailer around with a pickup that has a cap and an empty bed? Wait! I forgot to even think of the weight of the cap...that's another couple hundred pounds right there! I think it's more likely than not that he was over both the trailer rating and the payload rating. Add in joyriding off-road or at least off pavement at immoderate speeds and the dynamic load was probably huge. So yeah, someone can probably get away with overloading their truck, or with not configuring their trailer properly, or with going too fast for load & conditions, etc., but if they do all of those things there's a good chance it might bite them in the behind. I guess you can say it's just one of those things, but a more conservative approach would have probably prevented the problem. Whether buying a new truck is worth the fun of not being more careful is a decision everybody has to make for themselves.I guess my point was that since this failure has happened so infrequently, and that we both agree that overloading happens more frequently, then something else besides just overloading is the cause. Simply overloading it wouldn't result in this type of failure, unless you went crazy beyond the limits which is extremely unlikely to happen with a little 2100lb trailer in normally designed for conditions. I'm also not saying the engineers missed something or screwed up the loading either. Frame bending is pretty basic and one of the first things considered, so I don't doubt the analysis is correct there. I was just saying you can't engineer for everything.
And I think you said exactly what I'm saying, it can't be proven. But my take on that is that we shouldn't be outright blaming the driver as the default. Things happen, and sometimes there's no one to blame and that's all there is to it.
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