Pickup truck snapped in half - photo

[hemmjo]

They do if you put the heavy ingredients closer to the center. Put the light lettuce and stuff in the back.

[Toolmaker51]

They do if you put the heavy ingredients closer to the center. Put the light lettuce and stuff in the back.

No tiedowns visible to keep load between the axles, and/ or sitting near the tail gate possibly because the short forks on the lift truck placing the load.
All kinds of people own pickups; without a clue how they should be used.

[tonyfoale]

Any load carrying vehicle should be happy with any load that you can fit in the space, because the designers know that someone will be pushing the limits.

[sossol]

Any load carrying vehicle should be happy with any load that you can fit in the space, because the designers know that someone will be pushing the limits.

"People are really good at finding new ways to do things badly" - Scott Manley

There was a recent kerfuffle involving a new Ram truck. It was a crew cab 4x4 3500 dually, IIRC. He picked the model because it has a load rating of 7500-ish pounds. He owner installed a slide-in camper that weighed 6500lb fully loaded, then took it on a 25,000 road trip through mountains and "unimproved" roads in Mexico, where the truck frame snapped between the bed and cab. The guy insisted MFR defect. It turned out that the defect was the nut behind the wheel. The load rating he calculated was for the standard cab longbed 2wd. The correct rating for his truck was 5500ish, and 2/3 of the camper's weight was over or behind the rear axle, making it a giant counterweight.
The fact that it lasted as long as it did is either a miracle or a testament to the engineering, depending upon how you roll.

Neil

[hemmjo]

Any load carrying vehicle should be happy with any load that you can fit in the space, because the designers know that someone will be pushing the limits.

I think that is a bit un reasonable. That is making everyone pay extra for something they do not need just to protect a few people from their own stupidity.

My 2005 extended cab Tacoma has a max payload of 1400 pounds. With passengers, fuel, and some tools that brings the "load capacity" down to under 1000, maybe 900 pounds. It has a 6 foot bed, with about 3 1/2 feet between the fender wells. A pallet of used paving bricks is about 24" high, 40" wide, 54" long and weighs about 2500 pounds. It would easily fit in the bed of my truck.

Or if I want to haul a steel stamping die that size it would weigh about 14,700 pounds!

Making a truck strong enough to carry anything someone might want to put in a truck is not feasible.

I do not want to pay for all of that extra capacity, pay for the extra fuel to haul that extra weight around, endure the rough ride when the springs are not flexed at all when I am just hauling tools, a couple of sheets of plywood, some bags of fertilizer, or a few cans of fuel for my tractor.

[nova_robotics]

Any tool can be used incorrectly. Vehicles are no different. Saying a truck bed should take any load that can physically fit is like saying a truck must be able to drive into a wall at any speed it can travel.

[IntheGroove]

This happened to someone I know...

[TrickieDickie]

I saw my dad's 1960 Ford f100 rear axle housing break from hauling a heavy load of firewood we had cut. Welded it back 2 separate times and finally installed a used one from a junk yard. You can exceed manufactures specifications.

[odd one]

That is making everyone pay extra for something they do not need just to protect a few people from their own stupidity.

We all pay extra all the time for just that reason....Think of all the extra Darwin protection devices on half the stuff we own.

[IntheGroove]

"Do not use this hair drier in the shower."...