My EcoBoost Torture Test
12-06-2012, 08:53 AM
#181
Originally Posted by jejeosborne
I agree and from what I have read so far on this thread, most probably don't realize a WD hitch is required for loads greater than 500 lb tongue or 5000 trailer weights. This is true even for my max tow ecoboost which has the higher rated hitch. Did the OP use a Weight distribution hitch? I couldn't tell from any of the pics.
12-06-2012, 09:51 AM
#183
I don't really have a dog in this fight, but this post is just goofy. It seems the people calling others names like "women" and "drama queen" in this thread are the ones who are defending the OP's actions, and are really the ones perpetuating the drama over several pages. Why stir the pot if you think the people criticizing the OP are trying to create drama?
Those that have told the OP he shouldn't be towing that load are just providing factual information that he needs to know to tow safely and legally.
Factor of safety is not a concept invented to justify exceeding the capacity of a product. It's supposed to create a safety buffer so the likelyhood of the object failing when it's at 100% capacity is significantly lower. If the engineers felt that a smaller margin of error in this area was acceptable, they would have rated it as-so.
Using that logic, at what point is the OP too dangerous to be on the road? Is it when he's 1,000 lbs over weight? Or 10,000 lbs overweight? Is it when something finally breaks and the truck won't move anymore? If he loaded up a 40 ft gooseneck with 25k lbs of concrete, would that be acceptable? Would you say "he's just using his truck as a truck"? And should we let overweight semis drive across bridges with a weight limit of a few tons? After all, the bridge probably won't collapse and there's a factor of safety built in, right?
It's easy to say that being a few hundred lbs overweight is perfectly fine. Or to dismiss the idea that it's dangerous to tow more than the truck is rated for. But the facts don't lie. Trucks have a set payload and towing capacity for a reason, and you can't just tow anything you want with a 1/2 ton truck. At some point, you cross the threshold between safe and dangerous. And some very smart people spent a lot of time determining where that threshold is so they could reduce the chance of people trying to guess what is ok and what's not ok. You can just arbitrarily decide that it's ok to exceed your tow rating by 500 lbs, but 600 lbs or 1,000 lbs over is too much.
There's a big difference between exceeding capacities set for safety purposes, and modifying non-safety equipment like the exhaust or adding lights.
And I won't say that I've never broken the law myself. I would even admit that I have done the same thing the OP is doing by towing/hauling more than what the truck is rated to do.
The difference is that I don't post about it publicly on the internet and I don't try to justify illegal actions by claiming that "I'm just using my truck as a truck". My truck will hook to anything that fits on a 2" receiver hitch, but that doesn't mean I can safely and legally tow anything I want. It's also capable of hitting 100+ MPH, but I don't go out and do that and then tell everyone on the internet that I'm "torture testing" my truck to see how well it handles high speeds on public roads. I don't try to dismiss the idea that my actions are unsafe because I think it's ok to speed, or exceed payload capacities, or whatever other hypothetical situation we can come up with.
My point is that I don't really have an issue with the OP towing that trailer. He's a big boy and he can make his own decisions. And he will be responsible for his own actions. What I think is strange is that so many people are willing to support someone who is publicly admitting that what he is doing exceeds the ratings of his vehicle. When do you draw the line and tell someone that what they're doing isn't safe? We don't know the exact point at which something is going to break and kill someone with the OPs truck, so the only assumption we can rationally make is to stay within the factory tow rating. Otherwise, how are you supposed to determine what is too far over the line?
Those that have told the OP he shouldn't be towing that load are just providing factual information that he needs to know to tow safely and legally.
B) The towmax beefier springs, larger radiator and lower rear gears don't make it safer. They make the truck more durable for repeated towing. If you honestly think being 200lbs over the limit is bad you need to get a life. Little FYI to all you engineer want to be - look up the term "Factor of safety". Generally is 1.5:1 so I think he is a-ok!
Using that logic, at what point is the OP too dangerous to be on the road? Is it when he's 1,000 lbs over weight? Or 10,000 lbs overweight? Is it when something finally breaks and the truck won't move anymore? If he loaded up a 40 ft gooseneck with 25k lbs of concrete, would that be acceptable? Would you say "he's just using his truck as a truck"? And should we let overweight semis drive across bridges with a weight limit of a few tons? After all, the bridge probably won't collapse and there's a factor of safety built in, right?
It's easy to say that being a few hundred lbs overweight is perfectly fine. Or to dismiss the idea that it's dangerous to tow more than the truck is rated for. But the facts don't lie. Trucks have a set payload and towing capacity for a reason, and you can't just tow anything you want with a 1/2 ton truck. At some point, you cross the threshold between safe and dangerous. And some very smart people spent a lot of time determining where that threshold is so they could reduce the chance of people trying to guess what is ok and what's not ok. You can just arbitrarily decide that it's ok to exceed your tow rating by 500 lbs, but 600 lbs or 1,000 lbs over is too much.
And I won't say that I've never broken the law myself. I would even admit that I have done the same thing the OP is doing by towing/hauling more than what the truck is rated to do.
The difference is that I don't post about it publicly on the internet and I don't try to justify illegal actions by claiming that "I'm just using my truck as a truck". My truck will hook to anything that fits on a 2" receiver hitch, but that doesn't mean I can safely and legally tow anything I want. It's also capable of hitting 100+ MPH, but I don't go out and do that and then tell everyone on the internet that I'm "torture testing" my truck to see how well it handles high speeds on public roads. I don't try to dismiss the idea that my actions are unsafe because I think it's ok to speed, or exceed payload capacities, or whatever other hypothetical situation we can come up with.
My point is that I don't really have an issue with the OP towing that trailer. He's a big boy and he can make his own decisions. And he will be responsible for his own actions. What I think is strange is that so many people are willing to support someone who is publicly admitting that what he is doing exceeds the ratings of his vehicle. When do you draw the line and tell someone that what they're doing isn't safe? We don't know the exact point at which something is going to break and kill someone with the OPs truck, so the only assumption we can rationally make is to stay within the factory tow rating. Otherwise, how are you supposed to determine what is too far over the line?
Last edited by graysonp; 12-06-2012 at 09:54 AM.
12-06-2012, 10:05 AM
#184
King Ranchin' Member
Thread Starter
I don't really have a dog in this fight, but this post is just goofy. It seems the people calling others names like "women" and "drama queen" in this thread are the ones who are defending the OP's actions, and are really the ones perpetuating the drama over several pages. Why stir the pot if you think the people criticizing the OP are trying to create drama?
Those that have told the OP he shouldn't be towing that load are just providing factual information that he needs to know to tow safely and legally.
Factor of safety is not a concept invented to justify exceeding the capacity of a product. It's supposed to create a safety buffer so the likelyhood of the object failing when it's at 100% capacity is significantly lower. If the engineers felt that a smaller margin of error in this area was acceptable, they would have rated it as-so.
Using that logic, at what point is the OP too dangerous to be on the road? Is it when he's 1,000 lbs over weight? Or 10,000 lbs overweight? Is it when something finally breaks and the truck won't move anymore? If he loaded up a 40 ft gooseneck with 25k lbs of concrete, would that be acceptable? Would you say "he's just using his truck as a truck"?
It's easy to say that being a few hundred lbs is perfectly fine. Or to dismiss the idea that it's dangerous to tow more than the truck is rated for. But the facts don't lie. Trucks have a set payload and towing capacity for a reason, and you can't just tow anything you want with a 1/2 ton truck.
At some point, you cross the threshold between safe and dangerous. And some very smart people spent a lot of time determining where that threshold is so they could reduce the chance of people trying to guess what is ok and what's not ok.
There's a big difference between exceeding capacities set for safety purposes, and modifying non-safety equipment like the exhaust or adding lights.
And I won't say that I've never broken the law myself. I would even admit that I have done the same thing the OP is doing by towing/hauling more than what the truck is rated to do.
The difference is that I don't post about it publicly on the internet and I don't try to justify illegal actions by claiming that "I'm just using my truck as a truck". My truck will hook to anything that fits on a 2" receiver hitch, but that doesn't mean I can safely and legally tow anything I want. It's also capable of hitting 100+ MPH, but I don't go out and do that and then tell everyone on the internet that I'm "torture testing" my truck to see how well it handles high speeds on public roads. I don't try to dismiss the idea that my actions are unsafe because I think it's ok to speed, or exceed payload capacities, or whatever other hypothetical situation we can come up with.
My point is that I don't really have an issue with the OP towing that trailer. He's a big boy and he can make his own decisions. And he will be responsible for his own actions. What I think is strange is that so many people are willing to support someone who is publicly admitting that what he is doing exceeds the ratings of his vehicle. When do you draw the line and tell someone that what they're doing isn't safe? We don't know the exact point at which something is going to break and kill someone with the OPs truck, so the only assumption we can rationally make is to stay within the factory tow rating. Otherwise, how are you supposed to determine what is too far over the line?
Those that have told the OP he shouldn't be towing that load are just providing factual information that he needs to know to tow safely and legally.
Factor of safety is not a concept invented to justify exceeding the capacity of a product. It's supposed to create a safety buffer so the likelyhood of the object failing when it's at 100% capacity is significantly lower. If the engineers felt that a smaller margin of error in this area was acceptable, they would have rated it as-so.
Using that logic, at what point is the OP too dangerous to be on the road? Is it when he's 1,000 lbs over weight? Or 10,000 lbs overweight? Is it when something finally breaks and the truck won't move anymore? If he loaded up a 40 ft gooseneck with 25k lbs of concrete, would that be acceptable? Would you say "he's just using his truck as a truck"?
It's easy to say that being a few hundred lbs is perfectly fine. Or to dismiss the idea that it's dangerous to tow more than the truck is rated for. But the facts don't lie. Trucks have a set payload and towing capacity for a reason, and you can't just tow anything you want with a 1/2 ton truck.
At some point, you cross the threshold between safe and dangerous. And some very smart people spent a lot of time determining where that threshold is so they could reduce the chance of people trying to guess what is ok and what's not ok.
There's a big difference between exceeding capacities set for safety purposes, and modifying non-safety equipment like the exhaust or adding lights.
And I won't say that I've never broken the law myself. I would even admit that I have done the same thing the OP is doing by towing/hauling more than what the truck is rated to do.
The difference is that I don't post about it publicly on the internet and I don't try to justify illegal actions by claiming that "I'm just using my truck as a truck". My truck will hook to anything that fits on a 2" receiver hitch, but that doesn't mean I can safely and legally tow anything I want. It's also capable of hitting 100+ MPH, but I don't go out and do that and then tell everyone on the internet that I'm "torture testing" my truck to see how well it handles high speeds on public roads. I don't try to dismiss the idea that my actions are unsafe because I think it's ok to speed, or exceed payload capacities, or whatever other hypothetical situation we can come up with.
My point is that I don't really have an issue with the OP towing that trailer. He's a big boy and he can make his own decisions. And he will be responsible for his own actions. What I think is strange is that so many people are willing to support someone who is publicly admitting that what he is doing exceeds the ratings of his vehicle. When do you draw the line and tell someone that what they're doing isn't safe? We don't know the exact point at which something is going to break and kill someone with the OPs truck, so the only assumption we can rationally make is to stay within the factory tow rating. Otherwise, how are you supposed to determine what is too far over the line?
12-06-2012, 10:06 AM
#185
Originally Posted by graysonp
I don't really have a dog in this fight, but this post is just goofy. It seems the people calling others names like "women" and "drama queen" in this thread are the ones who are defending the OP's actions, and are really the ones perpetuating the drama over several pages. Why stir the pot if you think the people criticizing the OP are trying to create drama?
Those that have told the OP he shouldn't be towing that load are just providing factual information that he needs to know to tow safely and legally.
Factor of safety is not a concept invented to justify exceeding the capacity of a product. It's supposed to create a safety buffer so the likelyhood of the object failing when it's at 100% capacity is significantly lower. If the engineers felt that a smaller margin of error in this area was acceptable, they would have rated it as-so.
Using that logic, at what point is the OP too dangerous to be on the road? Is it when he's 1,000 lbs over weight? Or 10,000 lbs overweight? Is it when something finally breaks and the truck won't move anymore? If he loaded up a 40 ft gooseneck with 25k lbs of concrete, would that be acceptable? Would you say "he's just using his truck as a truck"? And should we let overweight semis drive across bridges with a weight limit of a few tons? After all, the bridge probably won't collapse and there's a factor of safety built in, right?
It's easy to say that being a few hundred lbs overweight is perfectly fine. Or to dismiss the idea that it's dangerous to tow more than the truck is rated for. But the facts don't lie. Trucks have a set payload and towing capacity for a reason, and you can't just tow anything you want with a 1/2 ton truck. At some point, you cross the threshold between safe and dangerous. And some very smart people spent a lot of time determining where that threshold is so they could reduce the chance of people trying to guess what is ok and what's not ok. You can just arbitrarily decide that it's ok to exceed your tow rating by 500 lbs, but 600 lbs or 1,000 lbs over is too much.
There's a big difference between exceeding capacities set for safety purposes, and modifying non-safety equipment like the exhaust or adding lights.
And I won't say that I've never broken the law myself. I would even admit that I have done the same thing the OP is doing by towing/hauling more than what the truck is rated to do.
The difference is that I don't post about it publicly on the internet and I don't try to justify illegal actions by claiming that "I'm just using my truck as a truck". My truck will hook to anything that fits on a 2" receiver hitch, but that doesn't mean I can safely and legally tow anything I want. It's also capable of hitting 100+ MPH, but I don't go out and do that and then tell everyone on the internet that I'm "torture testing" my truck to see how well it handles high speeds on public roads. I don't try to dismiss the idea that my actions are unsafe because I think it's ok to speed, or exceed payload capacities, or whatever other hypothetical situation we can come up with.
My point is that I don't really have an issue with the OP towing that trailer. He's a big boy and he can make his own decisions. And he will be responsible for his own actions. What I think is strange is that so many people are willing to support someone who is publicly admitting that what he is doing exceeds the ratings of his vehicle. When do you draw the line and tell someone that what they're doing isn't safe? We don't know the exact point at which something is going to break and kill someone with the OPs truck, so the only assumption we can rationally make is to stay within the factory tow rating. Otherwise, how are you supposed to determine what is too far over the line?
Those that have told the OP he shouldn't be towing that load are just providing factual information that he needs to know to tow safely and legally.
Factor of safety is not a concept invented to justify exceeding the capacity of a product. It's supposed to create a safety buffer so the likelyhood of the object failing when it's at 100% capacity is significantly lower. If the engineers felt that a smaller margin of error in this area was acceptable, they would have rated it as-so.
Using that logic, at what point is the OP too dangerous to be on the road? Is it when he's 1,000 lbs over weight? Or 10,000 lbs overweight? Is it when something finally breaks and the truck won't move anymore? If he loaded up a 40 ft gooseneck with 25k lbs of concrete, would that be acceptable? Would you say "he's just using his truck as a truck"? And should we let overweight semis drive across bridges with a weight limit of a few tons? After all, the bridge probably won't collapse and there's a factor of safety built in, right?
It's easy to say that being a few hundred lbs overweight is perfectly fine. Or to dismiss the idea that it's dangerous to tow more than the truck is rated for. But the facts don't lie. Trucks have a set payload and towing capacity for a reason, and you can't just tow anything you want with a 1/2 ton truck. At some point, you cross the threshold between safe and dangerous. And some very smart people spent a lot of time determining where that threshold is so they could reduce the chance of people trying to guess what is ok and what's not ok. You can just arbitrarily decide that it's ok to exceed your tow rating by 500 lbs, but 600 lbs or 1,000 lbs over is too much.
There's a big difference between exceeding capacities set for safety purposes, and modifying non-safety equipment like the exhaust or adding lights.
And I won't say that I've never broken the law myself. I would even admit that I have done the same thing the OP is doing by towing/hauling more than what the truck is rated to do.
The difference is that I don't post about it publicly on the internet and I don't try to justify illegal actions by claiming that "I'm just using my truck as a truck". My truck will hook to anything that fits on a 2" receiver hitch, but that doesn't mean I can safely and legally tow anything I want. It's also capable of hitting 100+ MPH, but I don't go out and do that and then tell everyone on the internet that I'm "torture testing" my truck to see how well it handles high speeds on public roads. I don't try to dismiss the idea that my actions are unsafe because I think it's ok to speed, or exceed payload capacities, or whatever other hypothetical situation we can come up with.
My point is that I don't really have an issue with the OP towing that trailer. He's a big boy and he can make his own decisions. And he will be responsible for his own actions. What I think is strange is that so many people are willing to support someone who is publicly admitting that what he is doing exceeds the ratings of his vehicle. When do you draw the line and tell someone that what they're doing isn't safe? We don't know the exact point at which something is going to break and kill someone with the OPs truck, so the only assumption we can rationally make is to stay within the factory tow rating. Otherwise, how are you supposed to determine what is too far over the line?
12-06-2012, 11:21 AM
#186
Reading through all the troll comments was tiring but am glad I clicked into this thread. I don't pull over 6 or 8,000, maybe streatch to 9, but if you can get away with 10,000 plus with the same setup as I've got, I feel pretty well set. I wanted a 250 diesel so badly I could taste it but my wife didn't want "that big damn truck" and it wouldn't have fit in my garage, and maintenance is higher, and, and, and. Thanks for the thread!!!
12-06-2012, 11:35 AM
#187
King Ranchin' Member
Thread Starter
Reading through all the troll comments was tiring but am glad I clicked into this thread. I don't pull over 6 or 8,000, maybe streatch to 9, but if you can get away with 10,000 plus with the same setup as I've got, I feel pretty well set. I wanted a 250 diesel so badly I could taste it but my wife didn't want "that big damn truck" and it wouldn't have fit in my garage, and maintenance is higher, and, and, and. Thanks for the thread!!!
12-06-2012, 12:05 PM
#188
it's great to see what these are capable of muscling through, and for all those that swear by the door sticker- you should rest easier knowing the truck will take what the door sticker says and eat it alive. To me- that's engineering.
Great thread, love the boat!
12-06-2012, 01:13 PM
#189
Originally Posted by smurfs_of_war
I was in the same boat as you guys. I don't tow TT's or anything, but I load and use my truck like a packmule- that's why I enjoyed your thread so much. If they got after every half ton owner that overloaded the crap out of their trucks, 75% of Sask farmers would never buy one. It's a fact- they get overloaded. I have easily doubled (or more) my payload on the door sticker many times. It happens.
it's great to see what these are capable of muscling through, and for all those that swear by the door sticker- you should rest easier knowing the truck will take what the door sticker says and eat it alive. To me- that's engineering.
Great thread, love the boat!
12-06-2012, 02:01 PM
#190
Your Ad Here
