[67drake]

Originally Posted by OG68

If you look at the Facebook photos they'll show excessive loading on the rear bumper of the trailer and judging by the amount of debris at the bottom of the canyon that fell out of the bed, I'd say the truck was overloaded as well. Not a good combination if you have to hit the brakes suddenly or a gust of wind pushes the trailer a bit.
Be interesting to see the trooper report.

Tell that to my neighbor. He has a Ford 1/2 ton that he pulls his 33’ camper with AND pulls his boat behind the camper. “AW, it’s fine, I don’t even know the trailer is there!” Yeah, uh huh.
Truck has some smaller displacement turbo engine. We’ll see how long it lasts. Then he gives me a hard time because I spent extra money on a 2500 Duramax to pull my camper.

[Lightfoot]

Originally Posted by Baron Von Zeppelin;

Permanent jaw drop

Permanent nightmares for the people in the truck.

I've always thought that about the occupants of this Buick Skylark in the Sunshine Skyway bridge collapse. By the angled position of the car, you can tell it was a sliding panic stop.

[77 TRASHCAN]

Looking at the picture in post 20, looks like the rear diff had a leaking pinion seal, for quite a while. A leaking pinion seal in a serious tow rig, like this pickup was used for, has me wondering about maintenance..........

[Lightfoot]

I'm curious how the people where rescued; before or after the P/U was retreived from the dangling situation.
It would seem the green flatbed truck was not a rescue vehicle, rather the first one to happen onto the scene. He wisely used his rig to block oncoming traffic from causing even worse calamity.

[Elarson]

What leaves me scratching my head is folks who have 4000 lb chains on the trailer and attach them to the truck with 250 lb S-hooks.
Clearly the people in that truck had good hooks on their chains.

Eric

[Elarson]

Originally Posted by Lightfoot

I'm curious how the people where rescued; before or after the P/U was retreived from the dangling situation.
It would seem the green flatbed truck was not a rescue vehicle, rather the first one to happen onto the scene. He wisely used his rig to block oncoming traffic from causing even worse calamity.

One of the TV news segments said they suspended rescuers from a helicopter to pull the people out of the dangling truck. Knowing that the news is usually only 50% accurate, they might have been suspended from a crane of some sort. The story only showed the rescuers on the end of cable suspended from something above the picture.
They said extra chains were attached to another truck before attempting the rescue....perhaps the green truck??

Eric

[Mr Anonymous]

if I was the guy in the truck, you could have attached the chains to my sphincter.

[Old Goat Racer]

Originally Posted by 77 TRASHCAN

Looking at the picture in post 20, looks like the rear diff had a leaking pinion seal, for quite a while. A leaking pinion seal in a serious tow rig, like this pickup was used for, has me wondering about maintenance..........

A leaking rear end mite cause the rear to lock up without grease. Causing ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
"hold my beer"

[OG68]

A further update lays the fault to excessive speed for the conditions (estimated to be 80 mph and the speed limit on that particular stretch) and an overloaded trailer. They began to lose control on the curve leading up to the bridge. The Semi in question was right behind them when it happen as was a State Trooper who arrived just after the accident. Weight distribution bars appear to not have been applied. A lot of people don't believe they're necessary with a 1 ton pickup.
Only one safety chain was hooked up.

[Region Warrior]

The more I look at pic's, the more I cant believe it held.
The R/F spring shackle broke. And L/R spring twisted on the axle.
Amazing.
Must of been like show motion going over guard rail.

[Chief of the 60's]

Originally Posted by Region Warrior

The more I look at pic's, the more I cant believe it held.
The R/F spring shackle broke. And L/R spring twisted on the axle.
Amazing.
Must of been like show motion going over guard rail.

[68lemans462]

Originally Posted by OG68

A further update lays the fault to excessive speed for the conditions (estimated to be 80 mph and the speed limit on that particular stretch) and an overloaded trailer. They began to lose control on the curve leading up to the bridge. The Semi in question was right behind them when it happen as was a State Trooper who arrived just after the accident. Weight distribution bars appear to not have been applied. A lot of people don't believe they're necessary with a 1 ton pickup.
Only one safety chain was hooked up.

Weight dist hitch is a REQUIRED item for travel trailers IMHO. I dont care how "big" your truck is. My father in law goes with us on the same camping trip every year. We tow my 5-6k# 24' (rockwood roo 233s) travel trailer with his 2500 Diesel RAM every time. We tried both ways after he thought we didnt "need" it and it does better under any/all conditions with the bars. Towing with my half ton truck the remainder of the year the difference is night and day! It doesnt leave the driveway without the equalizer hitch. With the equalizer hitch (properly installed/adjusted) the thing doesnt sag and tows great, no sway. A setup with no weight distribution hitch + an overloaded trailer + speeding is a recipe for, well... "Skid marks" LOL

Time to go check the chains on the trailer! I seem to remember they have a little plate attached to the chain with the weight rating. Wonder if it fell off yet?!

[68lemans462]

Originally Posted by 67drake

Tell that to my neighbor. He has a Ford 1/2 ton that he pulls his 33’ camper with AND pulls his boat behind the camper. “AW, it’s fine, I don’t even know the trailer is there!” Yeah, uh huh.
Truck has some smaller displacement turbo engine. We’ll see how long it lasts. Then he gives me a hard time because I spent extra money on a 2500 Duramax to pull my camper.

I havent seen anyone double pull with a 1/2 ton truck.. Pulling a 33' camper with a 1/2 ton and without a boat is something I would never do! Around here you would likely get stopped and fined for that kind of idiocy!

[Chief of the 60's]

Originally Posted by 68lemans462

I havent seen anyone double pull with a 1/2 ton truck.. Pulling a 33' camper with a 1/2 ton and without a boat is something I would never do! Around here you would likely get stopped and fined for that kind of idiocy!

A fellow racer tows a 28' enclosed trailer loaded with a Maverick, 2 Jr. Dragsters, 2 pit bikes, golf cart, huge tool box loaded, air compressor and anything else you need at the track.

He tows all with an Eco-Boost powered F-150.

Big difference is, he replaces the "P" rated car tires 1/2 ton trucks come with and put on "E" rated truck tires.

[Chief of the 60's]

And then, there's these guys...…. (and don't think they travel light)

[Bob's GTO]

Originally Posted by Chief of the 60's

And then, there's these guys...…. (and don't think they travel light)

Did you see Tom Bailey burn down his latest Camaro in Gainesville last weekend?

[lust4speed]

The grey Ford above wins, but here's a runner up in a white pickup from a few years ago.

[Chief of the 60's]

Originally Posted by Bob's GTO

Did you see Tom Bailey burn down his latest Camaro in Gainesville last weekend?

LOL!

Yeah! 2 cars, 2 trailers and 6000 horse.

God this is a great country!

[77 TRASHCAN]

Originally Posted by Chief of the 60's

And then, there's these guys...…. (and don't think they travel light)

A differential kind of “ Stupid”!

[Chief of the 60's]

Well then, there's a whole lot of "Stupid" going on out there and I'll take every moment of it.