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Gladiator bent frame offroading with trailer? Why do you think this happened?

bgenlvtex

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The lift was done by reputable shop and looked at by several..
They are just as perplexed as me.

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Yeah I don't know man, it is worse on the passenger side than the driver, maybe the cab mounts are the culprit, the bed doesn't look to be bent from the tailgate pics
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REDBEAST

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According to CORE Offroad (and comments from someone who says they know the owner of the JT well) (https://www.facebook.com/COREOffRoadLLC/)



Does the frame look bent? or is it just the trailer hitch attachment and box
The way that trailer is set up makes for a heavy tongue load if not loaded properly but you would think the frame would be stronger than that.
 
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I bet he bent it without the trailer on it. Jumped it, landed on something mid frame. But, still had to tow the trailer out. my trailer is 4k lbs and I went Overland-trailer hauling with it all last summer, and yeah, I baby my trailer alot more than the JT but I don't see how that could happen under reasonable use. The long wheel base will get ya if you're gonna be crazy, but it sure does tow nice off road, (within reason) I'm gonna pull the trailer out tomorrow and I'll get a pic after I get it all washed up. Mines way bigger than that. I'm not scared;


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Looks like you've posted this over a year ago. If you don't mind me asking, what tire size and axle ratio are you running pulling the 4000 lb 17 ft Jayco? I'm assuming you have the 8 speed transmission. Brought home a 16' ft Cherokee Wolf Pup with a dry weight of almost 3800. Curious as to your setup.
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Trippin01

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Looks like you've posted this over a year ago. If you don't mind me asking, what tire size and axle ratio are you running pulling the 4000 lb 17 ft Jayco? I'm assuming you have the 8 speed transmission. Brought home a 16' ft Cherokee Wolf Pup with a dry weight of almost 3800. Curious as to your setup.
Thanks
I have the max tow with the stock 4.10's on 34" tires. I have 37's too, for trails and My RTT, but still use the 34's when pulling the trailer until I get 5.13 gears installed. I have 2 sets of wheels and tires to make it easy. 65mph feels safe with my single axel trailer, or the 37's with the RTT. I do a lot of trails tho. I did 2100 miles last week, 3 nights 4 days, to do 3 of the BOH trails, and I have 8 more trails planned this summer, to include the Rubicon.
 

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I got a booklet from a company that makes products for trailers, towing, hitches, scales, etc. and the info on what happens to tongue weight during bumps and dips in a highway - it's amazing. People have no idea how that 500 pounds quickly is amplified to several times that. Think ENERGY, not "weight" Mass times velocity or something like that. Think slide-hammer. What can a 1 pound weight do if given enough velocity. Stop thinking in static tongue weights.
I need to see if I can scan part of that booklet or get their permission to post some of their info here.
 

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XJADDICTION

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The lift was done by reputable shop and looked at by several..
They are just as perplexed as me.

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Nice truck, looks to me like you need to lengthen your upper and lower rear control arms. Are those the stock arms on your truck with how much lift?
 

j.o.y.ride

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Truck was bought new and straight. I have been wheeling several times still straight. Came back from last trip and the bed was bent up. Did some pretty flexy washouts and caught some ledges on the rear lower control arm brackets; nothing crazy... I've seen lots worse and nothing that I haven't done before. The only things in the bed were spare tire in front and tools and fluids in the back.
It has been on a frame rack and is straight. Have had the bed off and I can see no visible signs of deformation at the channels that contact the frame mounting locations.
So I was hoping all the Gladiator Gurus out there would be able to help!
The only way you will be able to tell for certain though is if you take a very long straight edge to a stock jeep and measure the fore and aft of the bed rails to the cab rails. Then, assuring your cab rails are straight, do the same on your truck and compare measures. I bet your bed rails are up a few inches.

It doesn't need to be fancy straight edge, it can be a metal pipe that you know is straight. Try rolling it and see if it's flat or not. And mark up and down sides so you use it the same way. Place it in the same spot between stock and yours, measure in the same spot.
 

BamaJeepTruck

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Given Larry's tree root story I think there's a distinct possibility Larry is the real owner of the original post's bent frame pic, trying to show it couldn't possibly be something they did lol.
 

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A tongue scale is extremely helpful
 

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WXman

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I got a booklet from a company that makes products for trailers, towing, hitches, scales, etc. and the info on what happens to tongue weight during bumps and dips in a highway - it's amazing. People have no idea how that 500 pounds quickly is amplified to several times that. Think ENERGY, not "weight" Mass times velocity or something like that. Think slide-hammer. What can a 1 pound weight do if given enough velocity. Stop thinking in static tongue weights.
I need to see if I can scan part of that booklet or get their permission to post some of their info here.
Exactly.

And along these lines, anybody here who has driven the Western Kentucky Parkway or the Bluegrass Parkway through Kentucky knows that I'm telling the truth when I say that those roads are R O U G H. There are sections where it's literally like being off-road at 70 miles per hour. It will cause the suspension to strike the bump stops. It'll jar your teeth.

Well, when I tow I'm on these roads for 4-5 hours at a time. I have a 24' enclosed trailer behind me that has 1,000 lbs. of STATIC tongue weight. Technically I'm somewhat above the listed tongue weight for the truck, though I'm well within the limits of the class IV hitch. So, when I'm hitting these craters in the road at 65-70 MPH the shock loading to the frame is enormous, likely in the several thousand pounds range.

AND, I have the Timbren SES kit installed to help prevent sag, which increases the cantilever force applied to the frame directly above the rear axle.

This is worst case scenario for the frame of the Gladiator. IF there were a design issue with the frame, or if it were too weak, I would have found out a long time ago. Having said that, my frame could fold like a cheap lawn chair tomorrow, but so far I just haven't seen an issue.
 

ShadowsPapa

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You nailed it.
 

Jaxmax

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I thought the original truck looked to have been damaged offroad going through mild jumps and driver hitting brakes while up to 3,000 pound trailer is basically almost in air and going to put 3,000 pounds dynamically on the rear of Gladiator just like a small car rear ending it? Old thread but not sure what has changed.....Jack
 

WXman

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Funny that I saw this today. One ton Ram 3500 dually. Probably has 3,500 to 4,000 lbs. of payload capacity. Yet the frame folded from carrying 1,700ish lbs of car on the hitch.

ANY truck is vulnerable to shock loading.

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Josh00333

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Same exact way this guy did it.

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