interesting

ArkansasDon

ArkansasDon

Adventurist
I found this post on Natural State Overland on Facebook.

Here's the post
A friend of mines Chevy Colorado with 10k miles was towing a 2100# camp trailer on a dirt road and hit a bump. This is the result. GM sent out an “investigator” 6 weeks later and has denied any warranty claims. They state the “the truck has 1” taller tires as the first reason. The second reason is the trailer is 2100 pounds, in the owners manual it states that trailers over 2k pound should have brakes. (Towing capacity listed as 5k) Since hit trailer is 100 pounds overweight and doesn’t have brakes that’s what the frame bent. No other damage to truck.
GM’s investigator took trailer to a certified CAT scale. Trailer is 2100lbs. Tongue weight is 347lbs.
Think twice about that Colorado purchase if you actually use your truck as a truck.
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Could that coupler be to blame? It looks heavy duty, but if does not allow up down movement, leverage is a bitch.
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That looks like the Max-coupler. I have read about some problems with premature wear on them, but I would expect them to allow more vertical pivot that a normal ball.

The weight behind the axle is a problem with all crew-cab short bed trucks. But I always thought it was usually an issue with handling, steering, and breaking. This, and the Triton photos above, are shocking.

Pretty weak response from GM. The Colorado was pretty high on my list. This hurts my feelings a little.
 
Dean said:
More information on this has come out. The trailer was overloaded, no brakes, too much tongue weight, and the driver was going 40mph+ through 3' whoops. This is 100% driver error. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
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Thanks for finding this. Did some more digging.
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ArkansasDon said:
I would of never though a individual would be so wreckless on his stuff.
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I'm sure there's some sarcasm in there, but since I've done some done things in my time, I'll commiserate. Three most notable ones off-road are, in no particular order: swamping a motor in a mud hole and destroying a perfectly good 318 c.i. V8; breaking a Dana 30 axle housing in half (ironically, the same Jeep); and getting my very first Jeep stuck in a stream for three days. It's a symptom of the "bought not built" mentality. When you buy something and/or pay someone to build/fix something for you, you don't have the same level of respect for it compared to someone who's built it.

There's a huge difference with how I treat the LJ, something I've built, compared to my older jeeps. Granted I still have to pay a mechanic from time to time to fix something outside my wheelhouse. However the bulk of the LJ was built by my friends and I and because of that I want to take better care of it.

It's also an age and maturity thing. When I was young, dumb, and inexperienced I lived by the mantra, "When in doubt, throttle out." (See aforementioned ruined motor and broken axle housing.) Over time, and a few parts' bills later, I realized that wasn't the best option. I learned better driving skills and now I approach things with a little more finesse. No doubt this kid just learned the most expensive lesson of his life. I'm sure the next time out he'll be using a lot less skinny pedal. Or at least one can hope.
 
Al Swope said:
I assume that he posted these pics himself coming full circle to this thread
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It goes back and forth. Some direct quotes from the Owner from his posts on ExPo.

I hit a dip in the road at about 25 mph.

I hit a dip in the road hard enough i though i better stop and check the trailer.

I was on Smokey Mountain Road which is a Scenic byway in the Grand staircase-escalante National monument in Utah, then up smoky hollow road.. there is also no damage whatsoever to the undercarriage or anywhere else on the truck.
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If a good portion of that 2100 lbs augured into the hitch then I don't think how fast he was going mattered. This is all speculation though so my final conclusion is this.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
Dean said:
I'm sure there's some sarcasm in there, but since I've done some done things in my time, I'll commiserate. Three most notable ones off-road are, in no particular order: swamping a motor in a mud hole and destroying a perfectly good 318 c.i. V8; breaking a Dana 30 axle housing in half (ironically, the same Jeep); and getting my very first Jeep stuck in a stream for three days. It's a symptom of the "bought not built" mentality. When you buy something and/or pay someone to build/fix something for you, you don't have the same level of respect for it compared to someone who's built it.

There's a huge difference with how I treat the LJ, something I've built, compared to my older jeeps. Granted I still have to pay a mechanic from time to time to fix something outside my wheelhouse. However the bulk of the LJ was built by my friends and I and because of that I want to take better care of it.

It's also an age and maturity thing. When I was young, dumb, and inexperienced I lived by the mantra, "When in doubt, throttle out." (See aforementioned ruined motor and broken axle housing.) Over time, and a few parts' bills later, I realized that wasn't the best option. I learned better driving skills and now I approach things with a little more finesse. No doubt this kid just learned the most expensive lesson of his life. I'm sure the next time out he'll be using a lot less skinny pedal. Or at least one can hope.
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well your correct about a tad of sarcasm in my comment. oh yes I have myself done in, 11 transmissions, 9 drive shafts, several rear ends on a drag car I had. Front axle on 1990 GMC Z71 being frustrated backing a trailer up hill & got lead footed in 4 low in reverse, bang!
 
I'd been following this over a week or so since I drive a nonZR2 Colorado and had been planning some rock rail/steps that attach to the frame instead of the GM accessory rocker panel attachment.
The variations of the occurrence (as well as the "wide-spread" number of similar damage on google--cough-cough-BS) have left me convinced that I'm relatively safe from this happening to me. Owner is not happy with the way GM dealer has taken their time (it was either 5 weeks or 11, depending on where you read) to give him an answer he didn't like. That does seem to be a long time for a verdict. Of course, the initial verdict may have been given in 1 week and he's been fighting it -- who knows?
One of the BookFace threads had almost 26K separate comments when I last checked. A significant portion of those are arguing over FS trucks instead of mid-sized, another significant portion is re-hashing the 2009 bailout and Guvmint Money. It's been shared on at least 5 different forums that I'm aware of -- the story has legs.
Sorry the guy broke his truck and perhaps his trailer...sometimes sh** happens.
 
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