A few years back people started suing Ford when their Explorers were rolling over and killing people.

After Ford paid a bunch and all was said and done the MAJOR cause of the accidents was:
1. people over loading their vehicle
2. people not checking their tire pressure and then running on under inflated tires
3. Then people making emergency maneuvers and loosing control and
rolling the vehicle.

In fact it was not just the Explorer it was happening too. But because it was the best selling SUV of the time it became the target.


I wonder why manufactures give us operational guidelines anyway. We all know they under rate these fine vehicles. lf the front end stays on the ground and the rear bumper is not dragging I must be good to go! Who cares if some *** flashes his lights because mine are blinding him.

HOWEVER in reality they have to protect themselves from the dumbasses of the world. Or at least try!

 

It wasn't that long ago that I remember a Ford truck commercial with Dennis Leary stating 1200lbs the most you can put in the box which was the most of any 1/2 tonne 4dr. pickup. Now to find that commercial on You Tube.

 

Another thing to consider is that you are paying for the road damage you cause based on axle weight. If you overload your vehicle, you are actually cheating the government of your state of their taxes. Now that really makes me sad, how about anyone else???



(In case you missed it, that was sarcasm at the end there )

 

The sad thing is these people contributed to the Explorer changing from a decent SUV capable of some decent offroad action into an eco-crossover for soccer moms who think a 4x4 is a chunk of gauze used for removing makeup.

 

The axle ratings as well as springs, tires, etc have a margin of safety built in. As does everything else. When an engineer designs a circuit for a transistor and he calculates that max power dissipated is 1 W, he does no use a 1 W transistor, probably more like 50% larger. Have you ever bought a tow chain? Notice the working load and max load rating? I have always worked all of my log chains 1/4", 5/16" and 3/8" toward the max load.

So if you are the kind of guy that says "no I can't drink that Big Gulp" because the extra weight will overload my truck you are just ****.

Sure you can go over the stated capacity, just don't over do it.

 

That's old school engineering. The new engineering that most companies (especially ones who offshore) seem to do is grab a .75 watt transistor (because it is cheaper even by a fraction of a penny) even though they know it will have a 1W load, and hope it does not go noticed. When the circuit breaks, they expect the person they sold it to, to just buy a new one.

Thankfully this isn't happening with cars yet, but with other items like power supplies, if I know I have a 500 watt load, I'll get an 800-1000 watt power supply due to the corners cut by all but the top brands.

 

Think of the load rating on your truck like a bank account. As long as you stay within the load ratings, you are only spending interest, once you exceed that, you are withdrawing the principle. Once you lower the principle, there is less interest. Likewise, when you overload a vehicle, you stress the metal past it's plastic deformation point, and you have altered the characteristics of the metal. There will be a hardening of the springs. This lowers the maximum plastic deformation for the next load cycle likely reducing the plastic deformation amount further. It is analogous to withdrawing more and more of the principle from an account, even though you only spent what was once the interest value. Eventually, the "money" will all be gone and the metal will break.

 

Huh?

 

You have this backwards; the lady in the Mercedes would need to have purchased her own uninsured/underinsured coverage from HER insurance carrier to cover her in the example you give. Your friend's uninsured/underinsured coverage would only cover damage to HIS vehicle (not HERS) if he were hit by someone who did not have proper coverage.

An example would be as follows: Uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage can pay for injuries to you and your passengers, and in some locations damage to your property, when there is an accident and the other driver is both legally responsible for the accident and considered "uninsured" or "underinsured."
An uninsured driver is someone who did not have any insurance, had insurance that did not meet state-mandated minimum liability requirements, or whose insurance company denied their claim.

The most likely scenario is that the lady in the Mercedes' insurance carrier paid for the damage to her vehicle and then subrogated the claim to your friend's insurance carrier. Her insurance carrier was most likely reimbursed by your friend's ex-insurance carrier.

 

Yep, that is what I had meant to say. When you highlighted it, it made no sense at all. Thanks for clearing that up. I will be sure to proof-read what I write better. Thanks.