Filed under: Trucks/Pickups, Etc., Dodge, First Drive
"Dear Dodge, Thank you for giving the Ram a really strong frame."
There is a good reason to pay attention to those "Bridge May Be Icy" signs that are posted at nearly every overpass in the U.S., and the guy in the photo above would likely have died for ignoring the warning if it weren't for his Dodge Ram. The Ram's sturdy frame is the only thing standing between this lucky mother trucker and a 70 foot fall to the riverbed below. And the picture is the best argument we've seen to date against unibody pickups that would have slid right over the edge. Click here to see more pics of the Ram's high-wire balancing act.
[Source: Wrecked Exotics]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Menice 10:05AM (3/07/2008)
holy cow, see that pic inthe link of the guy in the truck?
i would have been throwing up, repeatedly.
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The Doctor 10:06AM (3/07/2008)
"The best argument we've seen to date against unibody pickups"
God, the other ones must be pretty poor then.
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psarhjinian 11:01AM (3/07/2008)
A unibody probably would've handled well enough, and ridden low enough, to have avoided the accident in the first place.
Gary Blomquist 3:48PM (3/09/2008)
Dodge trucks are not unibody, but are frame on body, like the Ford and GM Pickups.
henrykrinkle 10:11AM (3/07/2008)
Chevy: "Like a Rock".
Ford: "Built Ford Tough".
Dodge: "Bendy!"
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SPG 10:59AM (3/07/2008)
Haha, I love it.
Randy 4:29PM (3/07/2008)
I'm laughing so freakin hard my monitor has speckles on it!
Bob-omb 10:14AM (3/07/2008)
Best argument against unibody pickups? A unibody pickup with 4WD, stability control, and traction control wouldn't have lost control on ice as easily as this RWD truck in the first place.
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Jay 11:20AM (3/07/2008)
Schmuck. Don't you see the locking hubs on the front wheels? This truck is 4wd, which he will need to get it home as the rear half is no longer attached.
Gonna be kickin' off a power of sparkage while he's at it too.
why not the LS2LS7? 11:32AM (3/07/2008)
Most of those things you speak of merely help you get power to the ground. When you enter a bad situation, usually your concentration is not on getting more acceleration, but more braking. 4WD (or AWD) does nothing to increase braking, in fact, the mass and rotating of mass of 4WD hinders stopping.
Snow tires and ABS would be this person's biggest friend, and maybe stability control too. Although a fully working brain would probably top them all.
gschon 1:41PM (3/07/2008)
Oh Really? I was following a GMC Envoy (4x4, Stabilatrak) that hit a patch of black ice on a overpass at 60 mph. It lost control and hit the bridge retaining wall and spun into the right lane right in front of me.
All the electronic safety gear, ABS and all wheel drive can't overcome physics, glare ice and poor driving.
To think that a unibody, stability control, 4x4 and ABS can cure all the evils of poor decisions, lousy road conditions and bad driving skills is totally ridiculous.
Mobius_1 10:56PM (3/07/2008)
More like best argument against bridges!
Avinash machado 10:17AM (3/07/2008)
I wonder how the Tundra would have done in a similar situation?
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rar 11:20AM (3/07/2008)
I don't know for sure, but maybe this will help you with your question.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8611283014940187452&q=Silverado+vs.+Tundra+Stability+Control&total=1&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0
Joe K. 11:23AM (3/07/2008)
I used to drive a 99 Ram for work and distinctly remember when hitting the brakes hard in the Ram I could get the bed to hit the cabin if I had a load in the bed. It always felt like it wanted to fold in half. The new Tundra doesn't feel anything like that.
The whole boxed vs. lipped-c-rails is a marketing not engineering argument.
Meanwhile in this case, had this truck had a more rigid frame, it could have snapped instead of bent and then he would have been 70 ft below.
Rigidity is always what you are looking for.
sw 11:58AM (3/07/2008)
With ebd and stability control? Probably would've been just another drive across the bridge. After that, he would've gone home and probably had something to eat, and then maybe a nap.
Quattrofan 10:20AM (3/07/2008)
I dunno, that looks like a ......FRAME failure?
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BRAVENRACE 10:36AM (3/07/2008)
Looks more like a weak frame to me. Maybe strong in tension, but weak in bending.
scappy 10:39AM (3/07/2008)
If that frame doesn't bend like that his center of gravity just might have stuck out over the edge enough to cause the truck to fall.
fanbrain 6:25PM (3/08/2008)
Are you serious? That truck has a Cummins diesel. That engine alone weighs more than 1000 pounds. No wonder the frame bent.