Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 09-18-2014, 07:14 AM   #11
Senior Member
 
deminimis's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Baja Whenever Possible
Posts: 1,012
Re: My Gawd....

Quote:
Originally Posted by AndrewST
Quote:
Originally Posted by deminimis
If AndrewST leaves his home brew Sporty here much longer, I think I'll earn a possessory interest in it.
Sorry will be gone this winter... no reason to keep it sleeping there
Don't be silly. It's happy here. Baja for Spring beak, so plan on that instead of a Winter arrival time. Two weeks at Larry's place. Make it so.

__________________
It takes a village to raise an idiot.
deminimis is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-18-2014, 11:01 AM   #12
Senior Member
 
deminimis's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Baja Whenever Possible
Posts: 1,012
Re: My Gawd....

carringb, why must you cause me so much stress? Okay, did a little research into this. Ford jokes aside, this was the result of the trailer setup, more than anything. The added camper weight aft of the rear axle didn't help, but that wasn't the cause (in my most humble of opinions). First, the freakishly long extension added to the trailer was the number one cause of this (again, my opin). The trailer was loaded with a race car, and all the associated items that do with that (reportedly a big block, front engine and that weight, along with tool box, etc, was, presumably, forward of the trailer axles). Was using a drop hitch (well, the opposite of drop as it raised the ball approx 4" above the receiver tube) added to the effect. All this created a massive amount of force well aft of the Ford's rear wheels. Going over a bump in the road would would increase that force by X and, I suspect, caused the frame to fail. Of interesting note is the front camper tie down placement. If done correctly, the mounts (if frame mounted), should be more forward. In fact, this guy's setup looks like it's just a bar below the frame. Probably some home brew deal that was not well thought out. You can almost make out the COG sticker on the side of the camper. Even after the carnage, the COG is just past the rear axle (not even past the trailing edge of the tires). In a nutshell, this ended up being a teeter totter with a giant fat kid on one end and a string bean on the other. Having an additional fat kid sitting in the middle of the teeter totter (Camper) would have little effect either way. I had similar concerns when shopping for this beast. The previous owner towed his boat that, reportedly, weighed more than out boat. Still, it gives me pause, even though I have a Super Hitch and Super Truss. Never an issue with our former Bigfoot and boat. This sucka weighs approx 1k more. I wonder if I could recreate this experiment? You know I'm going to try.
__________________
It takes a village to raise an idiot.
deminimis is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-18-2014, 12:27 PM   #13
Site Team
 
BroncoHauler's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Southern New Mexico
Posts: 10,176
Re: My Gawd....

I say blame the frame failure on the 6.0L
__________________
SMB-less as of 02/04/2012. Our savings account is richer, but our adventures are poorer.
BroncoHauler is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-18-2014, 12:54 PM   #14
Site Team
 
daveb's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Turlock Ca
Posts: 10,407
Garage
Re: My Gawd....

Quote:
Originally Posted by BroncoHauler
I say blame the frame failure on the 6.0L
Yeah baby
If it was a 7.3 it would have never happened.
__________________
2006 Ford 6.0PSD EB-50/E-PH SMB 4X4 Rock Crawler Trailer

Sportsmobile 4X4 Adventures..........On and off road adventures
daveb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-18-2014, 01:55 PM   #15
Senior Member
 
LenS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,220
Re: My Gawd....

Quote:
Originally Posted by deminimis
Quote:
Originally Posted by carringb
Hey I've seen that camper before!

Silly Ford.

Now, I'm going to have nightmares tonight. I just know it (update: I did). Is there a thread associated with that pic somewhere? Looks like the greatly reduced tongue weight cap, due to that overly long extension, plus that huge/heavy race trailer that needs an electric jack, was the culprit. The cog of these campers is not too far aft of the rear axle.
Anyone have a link for this pic? And maybe the story behind it?
__________________
Len & Joanne

The Green TARDIS
LenS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-18-2014, 02:24 PM   #16
Senior Member
 
deminimis's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Baja Whenever Possible
Posts: 1,012
Re: My Gawd....

I couldn't locate the orig post (on a racing site, I believe). The "I heard from a friend, whose neighbor once dog sat their cousins' yellow lab in the 80's, said..." kinda sorta deal provided the info on the contents of the race trailer. Looking at the pic (and without pics of the front end or rear of the trailer), puts the problem the the trailer situation (weight, hitch setup, ridiculous extended tongue). That said, the driver could have hit something and/or was rear ended, which could/possibly cause a similar failure, but I think the stinger would have snapped or at least bent forward, had that happened, and the hitch looks unaffected in the small pic. The extended tongue on that trailer is almost as long as my previous run-on sentence.
__________________
It takes a village to raise an idiot.
deminimis is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-18-2014, 02:26 PM   #17
Senior Member
 
deminimis's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Baja Whenever Possible
Posts: 1,012
Re: My Gawd....

Quote:
Originally Posted by BroncoHauler
Repeat after me, 'my name is deminimis, and I have a problem'


Herb
...and there is no cure.
__________________
It takes a village to raise an idiot.
deminimis is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-18-2014, 08:12 PM   #18
Senior Member
 
carringb's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Corvallis, OR
Posts: 5,300
Re: My Gawd....

Sorry for creating any undue anxiety. Here's my take on it....


That camper is probably in F450 territory. While the COG is not far back, its still aft of the axle. Frame failure don't happen often, but they do. Axle failures are far more common. Either way GVWRs exist for a reason. Of course, most folks don't have problems but ratings are set for the worst of days, not the best of days. It usually takes a combination of overloading and adverse conditions for a problem to occur.

Him pulling the trailer did not help things out, but I'm not sure I'd blame the trailer alone. He extended the tongue on the trailer, instead of using a hitch extension, so he had less tongue weight on the truck than if he used an extended hitch. That trailer isn't that long. I'd be surprised if his tongue weight was over 2500 pounds. I've towed 10s of thousands of miles with tongue weights over 3,000 pounds with no ill effects other than a few broken and bent wheels, and one busted diff carrier when I jumped the whole thing over a water bar going about 50 MPH (it wasn't there the prior years).

The problem with truck campers is the rear-bias COG, combined with a very high COG causes extreme weight transfer, which causes resonant loads that don't exist with other heavy loads. This happens with big trucks too, so that's why some body configuration require fully sleeved frames.

Here's another recent frame failure:
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fu...pging/1/page/1

To be honest though, since you aren't towing I'd be more concerned about stopping ability. I'm not a fan of the GMT-800 brakes. They leave lots to be desired, even when not hauling a camper.
__________________
2000 E450 dually V10 wagon
carringb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-18-2014, 08:33 PM   #19
Senior Member
 
deminimis's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Baja Whenever Possible
Posts: 1,012
Re: My Gawd....

Current f450s with factory beds are just 350s with some heavier bolt-ons. I still say it was the trailer more than anything. Doesn't look like we'll ever know unfortunately. I think the wife should let me get a F550 just to be safe as I'm right at cap (camper dry).

Zero issues stopping the Chev, when towing or just heavy cargo. Of course, I'm chipped with a sweet heavy tow switch that allows turbo braking which certainly helps, but zero issues with braking power.

Trailer brakes weren't working for this load.

__________________
It takes a village to raise an idiot.
deminimis is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-19-2014, 09:14 AM   #20
Senior Member
 
deminimis's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Baja Whenever Possible
Posts: 1,012
Re: My Gawd....

Perplexing follow up: Showed the pic to the wife and told her we had two options: Sell the camper (I just want an old Bigfoot for now and that's all I've wanted for some time now) or get a F550. She said to get a F550. Damn. I've been enjoying car/truck payment-free living for years now and I had somewhat hoped to continue that lifestyle. Oh well.

Thing is, a month back, we were camping in the camper for a week (all four of us). That was the first time she did not constantly complain about something to do with our chosen camping platform. Guess I could have predicted her response when I gave her the choice above.
__________________
It takes a village to raise an idiot.
deminimis is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sportsmobile SIP or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:46 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.