Look what my camper did to my ute!

[albyback1]

this is what to many kilometers of towing does to a supposed capable ute. The pictures show my utes chassis about 800 from the rear.... snapped through both rails

Tow ball weight is 180kg, trailer weight is around 980kg and the ute was almost empty bar a tool box, my fridge and some tires.

yep, it was a roughish road - for those in the know, Germein George rd - bitumen but lots of rough sections!

AAMI are screwing me around - trying to calim its "wear and tear"

Now if they agree to fix it, they are going to "cash settle" so as not to have to honour any warranty

Mmmmmmm, not happy Jan!

Time will tell if I get a win out of the insurance company... but Ill be annoyed if towing a trailer and snapping a chassis can be classed as "wear and tear"

[D4D]

Ouch, good luck, you'd think towing within spec would be ok. This is happeneing to a lot of dual cab utes.

[LC]

Ouch - that looks expensive!

[Bird]

This is happeneing to a lot of dual cab utes.

modern utes... striving to make them lighter, they make them weaker... so much for quality these days

[Matto]

Yikes!

Good luck with your insurance - that's quite a break.
Matto

[Bushman]

MMMHHHH thought it was going to be a Triton, they have problems like that.

Hope it works out for you.

[albyback1]

Ouch - that looks expensive!

yep. around $3,000 to fix.... Thankfully they are considering fixing it. Id be devistated if they wanted to write it off

[D4D]

Would be interesting to hear what a chassis engineer has to say about it

[Heiny]

MMMHHHH thought it was going to be a Triton, they have problems like that.

Hope it works out for you.

So do Patrol's

Maybe the chassis was made in China

But someone did once say "you get what you pay for"

[albyback1]

So do Patrol's

Maybe the chassis was made in China

But someone did once say "you get what you pay for"

that irony wasnt lost on me.. I was having a chuckle as I was waiting for a mate to drive down to Port Augusta to pick me up that my camper was chinese and it wouldnt last - always buy aussie they say - and its the aussie bit that broke!

wait for it - here comes the ford versus holden barrage!!!! lol

[JethroT]

I saw a rodeo up the Cape with a similar problem, and he was only towing a CT well within the maximum weight.

Regards

[Garry H]

1st one tonner ute Iv'e heard about that is "bent"
are both rails bent =, or is one bent more than the other? 

[albyback1]

1st one tonner ute Iv'e heard about that is "bent"
are both rails bent =, or is one bent more than the other?  

both rails bent and broken mate... heard the first one break, stopped and couldnt for the life of me work out what had happened... walked around the rig looking for anything out of place, drove some more and the other one went as well. thick as I am, still couldnt spot what had happened!!!! drove to Port Augusta and when filling up worked out something was amiss as the fuel nozzel was difficult to put in and remove!!!!

then the realization sank in!!!!

Bugga

[tinkera]

HI albyback1 they look like compression cracks the bulging side ways means the rail is bending up and down so the rail can only compress.I don,t know that I would go with a rail fix the trouble these days is car makers go for thinner steel to keep weight down by raising the tensile strength but makes it more prone to cracking.The flexing work hardens the steel causing hard spots then cracks then failure.Best of luck with that one. Tinkera.

[speewa158]

Really ruff stuff can cause damage in the strangest of places but ,,, Geeees its a work tray for goodness sake . Best part is you walked away no damage to yourself  .

[Dingo Pete]

Long time lurker, first time poster...
Does your ute have an airbag suspension upgrade?

[morgue]

 Get it fixed...then flog it.

[BradandPeta]

I am guessing it had tickford suspension which is a whole lot stiffer than standard making it a ridged ute over ruff stuff! Don't think you would get a brand vs brand debate as nasty things like this happen to every badge good luck with the insurance and fix up

[Bird]

Get it fixed...then flog it.

yea I'd more than likely do that too.. but if they brace it well enough, it might be ok... or it will then bend at the end of the bracing... who knows.

[Black Diamond]

Those pics are staggering mate. Good luck with it all and keep us posted.

Cheer BD

[Burnsy]

Wow, not what I expected, I also thought it would be a one of the four cyliner 4x4 utes.  I have seen a few of these on various forums and they all had air bags fitted which creates a point load that the chassis is not built for.

[Hal Harvey]

Oh my god I can't stand this any longer....

a supposed capable ute

... I don't get it, I'm only seeing pictures of a Ford??!! There, got that out of the way.

Your camper did to your ute? or do you have airbags... we're keen to know.

[albyback1]

the damage was done with the springs flattened out to the bump stops as I towed the camper to SA from Sydney. I put air bags under the car in SA and the chassis then collapsed in SA on my way north

[Hal Harvey]

I'm really not getting this... You had at the most 500kg of weight on the back and the axle's on the bump stops? Surely not... And you say that's when the damage was done, but THEN you fitted airbags?

[albyback1]

Ill clarify, Im guessing the stress was done when the bump stops were hit on the trip from NSW to SA and then enhancements were made to the suspension. Then, some 14,000kms later (most with the trailer attached) the chassis buckled..... as a result of huge bumps in road.... its definately accident damage... as specifications have not been overloaded with towball weight, GVM etc

plenty of kms and time (some 5 weeks of travel) before the chassis broke.

I chose to install airbags as the springs struggled to carry the basic weight of the tray, a standard holiday type load and the tow ball weight along with the gas tank.