Until you have to stop...

[mrsilv04]

You know, I would have assumed that a new F-150 that cost $60,000... would have come from the factory with a trailer brake controller.

Either that, or the owner is dumber than a box of rocks, and had no idea how to use it.

And the lucky insurance company that gets to pay out on that...

 

[Rand]

looks more like operator error to me.. or someone cut him off.

 

[4wheeldog]

Looks to me like the trailer was a bit heavy......And there was a steering problem between the driver's ears.

 

[racer12306]

If it was operator error, just another reason why i feel anyone that wants to tow anything beyond a 4x8' need to pass a test, especially something heavy enough to require it's own brakes.

As a 18 year old high school senior, I hopped in my Dad's truck with 24' enclosed trailer attached to pick up my broken down car with no prior experience other than watching my Dad for the past 15 years. I should not have been able to do that legally. Just like many people shouldn't be able to hook up to a 30' camper and just go.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: racer12306
If it was operator error, just another reason why i feel anyone that wants to tow anything beyond a 4x8' need to pass a test, especially something heavy enough to require it's own brakes.

As a 18 year old high school senior, I hopped in my Dad's truck with 24' enclosed trailer attached to pick up my broken down car with no prior experience other than watching my Dad for the past 15 years. I should not have been able to do that legally. Just like many people shouldn't be able to hook up to a 30' camper and just go.


I was towing on the road (nothing that big, though!) at 16. But my father was a truck driver and I had experience towing before hitting the open road with it.

I believe the trailer brake on this truck is part of a package that comes with hitch, etc. Judging by the fact that it's a high trim level, the truck was likely not spec'd to tow. Instead it's just a look-good cowboy cadillac that ended up doing work for once.

 

[KGMtech]

F150 = Best in crash tow rating!

Maybe he was trying to parallel park?

 

[A_Harman]

But look at how well the passenger compartment held up! The door gaps have hardly been deformed.

Sorry about the insurance company's luck.

 

[eljefino]

It was nice of the truck's frame to bend like that to protect the trailer for another day.

 

[bubbatime]

Looks like the trailer is full of 8k-10K pounds of rocks. Wow, even bent the frame. Maybe even totaled.

 

[HerrStig]

Originally Posted By: racer12306
If it was operator error, just another reason why i feel anyone that wants to tow anything beyond a 4x8' need to pass a test, especially something heavy enough to require it's own brakes.

As a 18 year old high school senior, I hopped in my Dad's truck with 24' enclosed trailer attached to pick up my broken down car with no prior experience other than watching my Dad for the past 15 years. I should not have been able to do that legally. Just like many people shouldn't be able to hook up to a 30' camper and just go.
The camper builder's lobby is very powerful. Thus, sales will not be reduced because Gramps has to pass an extra driving test.

 

[John_Conrad]

That is a hefty well built power or light pole! Doesn't seem to have moved an inch(from what I can see) and that had to of been one heck of an impact...

 

[OtisBlkR1]

is that the new "military spec" F-150 I keep hearing so much about ? and that appears to be pea gravel.. I don't think id call that 10,000 lbs worth...

 

[440Magnum]

That's a tandem-axle dump trailer (probably a Big Tex), and I can just about guarantee you that with that much aggregate in it, its well over a 1/2 ton truck's tow rating. I looked pretty hard at buying one a few years ago, though I'd have probably gone with a single axle. It may well be a rental with surge brakes (though most rental places WILL NOT let you leave their property with a tandem dump hooked to anything less than a 3/4 ton), but its probably a case of neglected trailer brakes and a significant overload for the truck.

Problem between seat and steering wheel. You can get away with that kind of dumb-***ery when everything goes well, but one emergency stop required and its all over.

 

[Colt45ws]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
It was nice of the truck's frame to bend like that to protect the trailer for another day.

It did that to save the passenger compartment. The loading would've been similar to a rear end impact. Like someone else posted the passenger compartment is not deformed. Ill bet good money you can open and close the doors like one still on the dealer lot.

 

[MNgopher]

Context would be nice before jumping to conclusions.

And we know this truck didn't have a trailer brake controller how?

And we also know exactly what caused them to run into the traffic light base?

Quite frankly if they ran into the base and never touched the brakes, the outcome wouldn't look much different that what I see here. Trailer brake controller or not...

A trailer of that type weighs in at about 4000 lbs - empty. 2.5 CY of pea gravel, and your at or just over 10,000 lbs. Doesn't look all that far off from what is in the image. Very easy to overload a 1/2 ton in this application.

 

[Colt45ws]

I just checked and with the EcoBoost (which this truck has, I can see the badge on the door) you can have a little over 10k lbs tow capacity. But it would depend on the specific truck options.

 

[4wheeldog]

Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
I just checked and with the EcoBoost (which this truck has, I can see the badge on the door) you can have a little over 10k lbs tow capacity. But it would depend on the specific truck options.


Yeah.......It can tow it. But what is it rated for, when plowing into an unmovable object?

 

[OtisBlkR1]

Originally Posted By: MNgopher
Context would be nice before jumping to conclusions.

And we know this truck didn't have a trailer brake controller how?

And we also know exactly what caused them to run into the traffic light base?

Quite frankly if they ran into the base and never touched the brakes, the outcome wouldn't look much different that what I see here. Trailer brake controller or not...

A trailer of that type weighs in at about 4000 lbs - empty. 2.5 CY of pea gravel, and your at or just over 10,000 lbs. Doesn't look all that far off from what is in the image. Very easy to overload a 1/2 ton in this application.


That's really a 4,000 lb trailer ? I woulda never guessed it... I just know that wasn't 10,000 lbs worth of pea gravel..

 

[440Magnum]

If its a 14' trailer, it might weigh as much as #3500 depending on configuration. It is a dump trailer meaning a separate frame and box, plus hydraulic rams, hinges, lock, etc. It looks more like a 12' to me, which tend to weigh in around #2000. With the stakes in place, though, it can easily be loaded beyond its own weight rating, and well beyond the truck's. Its easy to make a mistake when the hardware gets big....

 

[OneEyeJack]

Often times the real world limits on towing are the brakes and the cooling of the engine and transmission. It appears that this driver was testing the brakes.

Now this driver and everyone else that sees this picture knows that it would have been better to divide the load into two trips. Instead the driver was acting just like those drivers that must be absolutely first to every red light. And in the end the rest of us end up in some way helping to pay because stupid can't be fixed.