Ram chassis issues

[Jeeper6]

Originally Posted by drover

Right about a straight 6, life is easier with them but the engine set up with the whole build being an entirely new thing for me, seems to be adding to things that can go wrong and doesn't seem like a river or desert track style runner at all..................
Have had a static look at the WL, I can't see how they are better than a WK2 though, no double diff in the poverty packs or grunt engine means they are not on my watch list at all .........
In fact looking around at vehicles and this WK2 and Van of mine will have to last a long time, as won;t be able to replace either of them........ Of course there's always that Lotto win ............... then a Izuzu 450 powered Winnabago Longreach towing a Wrangler behind ........... RAM 1500 in the shed at home as the town car.

then a Izuzu 450 powered Winnabago Longreach towing a Wrangler behind

Saw exactly that set up when staying at Mataranka...the biggest tandem axle motor home you could buy with expanders out both sides, towing a Gladiator with all the extras on a trailer behind...

[genpk]

Originally Posted by drover

I think I would like to see some onroad miles on the Hurricane before I would take it seriously, the Yank Ram drivers will certainly give it a flogging but with twin turbo's I think I would give it a miss and the WL just doesn't pass muster with or without it and I doubt its tow cap would increase very much at all...

I would still like a RAM V8 or oiler I don't care, even if they can't carry more than a couple of cartons of beer.. All that truck and they only carry 200kg more than a Grand, pathetic really...

The bloke next door reckons his Ram Larrivee had a tow capacity of 4.5 ton?
Thats a full ton more than my gc diesel.

[Jeeper6]

Yeah empty they do have a 4.5 tonne towing capacity apparently...but they also have a meager 800kg carrying capacity...so if you were to drop 450kg on the tow ball, add the weight of the towbar itself, you'd be down to a payload of around 300kg.
add 95kg's of fuel and a couple of bodies and you are close to GVM. So forget the bull bar, side steps and canopy...

But, that said, you are still miles in front of the regular Japanese farm truck on the road towing a van...

[drover]

Originally Posted by genpk

The bloke next door reckons his Ram Larrivee had a tow capacity of 4.5 ton?
Thats a full ton more than my gc diesel.

Tow capacity and Load Capacity are different things, our Grands have roughy 600kgs carry cap but once you suubtract a bull bar, steps, racks, drawers and some bums, the 3.5t towing capacity is well and truly out the door as you don't have enough left for tow ball weight, same thing happens with these Rams, in fact all vehicles ....... Today at the Club fella with a RAM was saying he had heard about the chassis drama but like me he says its a load problem and folk thinking they can tow 4.5t with a tub full of gear........

He tows a 3t van gets 25/26lt/100km with the V8 and about 11's around town and likes to keep his oil pressure up, no idling ..... reckons the Hurricane motor is a yuppy engine and can only see problems down the track with it, I tend to agree...

[bjm]

Originally Posted by drover

Tow capacity and Load Capacity are different things, our Grands have roughy 600kgs carry cap but once you suubtract a bull bar, steps, racks, drawers and some bums, the 3.5t towing capacity is well and truly out the door as you don't have enough left for tow ball weight, same thing happens with these Rams, in fact all vehicles ....... Today at the Club fella with a RAM was saying he had heard about the chassis drama but like me he says its a load problem and folk thinking they can tow 4.5t with a tub full of gear........

He tows a 3t van gets 25/26lt/100km with the V8 and about 11's around town and likes to keep his oil pressure up, no idling ..... reckons the Hurricane motor is a yuppy engine and can only see problems down the track with it, I tend to agree...

Tell him the lifters are still self destructing !and if it gets a tick it aint the
insect kind! The lifters are the same in all hemi variants imcluding the 6.4
GC SRT

[Jeeper6]

The big drama with all these Jap dual cabs and likely RAM's and Silverado's is the huge overhang behind the rear axle.
The Jap stuff has the rear axle just behind the back of the cab, then they stick a 5' - 6' tray behind that...then a tow bar behind that again.

I cringe when I see some of these setups belting down the road with their 3 tonne van swinging on the back. Totally surprised there are not more roll overs given the distance between the rear axle and the tow point...or more chassis just giving up and bending behind the cab.

With the Grand the tow ball is just under a metre from the centre of the rear axle. The tow point on many of these dual cabs would have to be up to 1.5 metres or more behind the rear axle...besides the leverage effect in weight, the potential for sway is exaggerated even further.

Beats me how the manufacturers are able to get away with advertising these things as having a 3500kg towing capacity...to do so says to me they are saying it is "safe" to tow 3500kg! No way...

[drover]

Chassis bending is the culmination of a few things and not always just a heavy tow bar, the few Ive looked at coming back from Fraser, load carried, stock springs with air bags along with a bit of speed ..... yet to see one of these bent RAMs but I bet they wouldn't pass the scale test.