another reason I drive a 1 ton as a daily driver

[wolfpack2]

Sounguy, glad nobody got hurt. I got rear ended in my Excursion years ago and the only damage was the trailer wiring. No visible damage, but the wires got broken from the mounting bracket pinching them. I didn't find out until I was hooking up the travel trailer to go on vacation. No brakes, lights or power. Needless to say the vacation got delayed until I could get it fixed. You might want to verify that yours is still working before you need it.

 

[buickanddeere]

That's also why I drive mid to large vehicles. Added protection on each is the HD trailer hitch on the market. Then a stepup drawbar with ball. If hit had enough the other vehicle goes under mine. Drove a GMC Jimmy home after somebody behind was talking on his cell instead of driving. Drawbar sliced through the front and and hood almost to his windshield. $2500 to repair my vehicle and his was wrote off. Sister is a paramedic and Father-In law a fire chief. Neither will own or ride in an econo box vehicle.After seeing road wrecks.

 

[JDgreen227]

Not knocking those who prefer a large truck as I feel safer in mine than I do in a car, but a few years ago I read a book titled:

"High and Mighty: SUV's, the world's most dangerous vehicles and how they got that way"

The publication traced the development of today's monster gas guzzlers from the origins of the Jeep and bashed SUV's for being wasteful, gas guzzling sloppy handling toads. Further stated they are prone to rollovers, are involved in a much highe percentage of single vehicle accidents than they should be, and are dangerous to smaller vehicles because of the weight and height differential. An interesting and well written book, maybe too much scare-fiction but for the buck I paid it was well worth reading.

Back in '87 I was driving an 18,000 pound loaded straight truck in northern Michigan and was involved in a glancing head on accident at a combined speed of about 60 mph for both vehicles, the other one was a 60,000 pound semi and because I was driving such a large and heavy unit I managed to walk away from the crash that totaled out my truck. Every since then I have never felt really comfortable driving a car.

 

[Deere Dude]

Not knocking those who prefer a large truck as I feel safer in mine than I do in a car, but a few years ago I read a book titled:

"High and Mighty: SUV's, the world's most dangerous vehicles and how they got that way"

The publication traced the development of today's monster gas guzzlers from the origins of the Jeep and bashed SUV's for being wasteful, gas guzzling sloppy handling toads. Further stated they are prone to rollovers, are involved in a much highe percentage of single vehicle accidents than they should be, and are dangerous to smaller vehicles because of the weight and height differential. An interesting and well written book, maybe too much scare-fiction but for the buck I paid it was well worth reading.

Back in '87 I was driving an 18,000 pound loaded straight truck in northern Michigan and was involved in a glancing head on accident at a combined speed of about 60 mph for both vehicles, the other one was a 60,000 pound semi and because I was driving such a large and heavy unit I managed to walk away from the crash that totaled out my truck. Every since then I have never felt really comfortable driving a car.

yep.. I feel for the guy.. the front clip of his truck is a gonner.. and well.. less than cosmetic damage if any, on mine... oh well.. his fault.. his dime...

I had an experience when I was 18 yrs old. I had a 1961 full sized Chevy Impala, three on the floor, great glass packs and jacked up and looking nice. and was leaving the Saturday night races in stop and go traffic. I was racing the guy next to me in little micro-bursts and forgot to pay attention to what was in front of me, plus I had to pump my brakes to stop. Low and behold I read ended a guy driving a full sized jeep. I looked at my car and the whole front end, grill, fenders, hood, radiator etc, was trashed and I couldn't even find a paint chip from the jeep. Dang that thing was solid.

 

[sequoyah101]

In a span of two months when I drove my '88 GMC 1500 THREE separate Nissan Maximas drove up under the back end of the truck while I was dead stopped at lights! What are the odds? Bent my bumper a little once. Wiped out the front end of all three Maximas.

My son made little black silhouettes of three Maximas and put them under the windows on both doors.

It is a shame I won't drive GM again. Now I gotta keep the Dodges going until I expire, the 2500 PU and the 3500 flat bed.

The Marquis is pretty solid as well for my daily driver and gets nearly 25 mpg. Why drive a tin can?

 

[scrappy isb67]

I drive a 3/4 ton GMC Yukon XL that sits really high in the rear, so if anybody bashes me from behind odds are they are going to sustain major damage. There are those who feel if bumper heights were standardized and bumpers on vehicles could actually be used in collisions like OP relates, there would be less damage. Not practical to have that situation in real life, however.

mine is a 3/4 Dodge Cummins w/6" ift and 37" tires. If someone hits me hard enough they will take my rear AXLE out and bring my rear bumper down on their head(potentially)! I keep my 6" drop slide in installed at all times trying to keep them from getting that far under! I am all for standardized bumper heights but not as low as they are making the bumpers nowadays!

 

[Soundguy]

I don't think the front of your '99 would look much different under like circumstances.

with the 6" lift on mine.. It likely would have hit him in his tailgate.. but luckilly I didn't hit him.. big vehicle hitting a small vehicle is bad for the small vehicle no matter what usually.

it's a good thing I wasn't in my F 450 it sets even higher.. his bumper would have went under and mine would have pushed all his front clip back to his block probably...

 

[Soundguy]

Sounguy, glad nobody got hurt. I got rear ended in my Excursion years ago and the only damage was the trailer wiring. No visible damage, but the wires got broken from the mounting bracket pinching them. I didn't find out until I was hooking up the travel trailer to go on vacation. No brakes, lights or power. Needless to say the vacation got delayed until I could get it fixed. You might want to verify that yours is still working before you need it.

i crawled under mine while waiting for the police. checked my bumper hangers and hitch frame mounts. no involvement. wires i ran myself when i chenged out 7 pin plug back when I got the truck, and I ran them along the frame in places they were safe. 7 pin plug was out of the way offset back from the hitch.

i'm actually glad I had taken my tounge and ball off. that liekly would have given him leverage to bend my bumper down maybee.. AND done more damage to his truck.

as it was.. we both drove away.. me with a slight dent in a bumper and cut in a pad, and him with a crushed front clip he had to bend up off his tires..

 

[Deere Dude]

mine is a 3/4 Dodge Cummins w/6" ift and 37" tires. If someone hits me hard enough they will take my rear AXLE out and bring my rear bumper down on their head(potentially)! I keep my 6" drop slide in installed at all times trying to keep them from getting that far under! I am all for standardized bumper heights but not as low as they are making the bumpers nowadays!

I am glad we don't have standardized bumper height. Last year I was backing my GMC dually out of the garage and about 6' out I noticed something in my mirror. It was an antennae from a car waving around. I forgot I parked my Geo Metro in front of the garage door until I saw the antennae, but I got very lucky. The truck bumper was on top of the fender and only put a 2" x 3/4" slight crease in the fender of the car.

 

[3930dave]

'227 - I read the same, or similar book (can't recall the exact title, it's been a while).

Their main safety point was about center of gravity. Many people on TBN here understand that you can't drive a lifted 4+ ton vehicle like a Corvette. Unfortunately, some people on the road don't get that, either due to limited cranial capacity, or just inexperience.

The factory engineers recognized the problem, for the longest time (till suspensions got a bit better) they would not install factory glass roofs on tall SUVs - the last thing they needed was more mass, up high. People also need to keep this in mind, when loading up roof racks.

Sadly, you'll often see a high speed rollover like the book described around the back to school time. Young driver, driving long distances with the folks SUV - maybe drifting off, late at night, wakes up hitting the shoulder and snaps the wheel the other direction. Not picking on kids, can happen to anybody.

I moved a brand new slide-in camper last winter for a friend, on a brand new 1 ton p/u. Scariest new vehicle experience I've ever had. Old slide-ins were tiny, this thing was massive with at least 2 slide-outs on it. Top heavy AND tail heavy. Forget trail crawling with this setup, going over a couple of tiny pot holes in a parking lot felt like you were in a sail boat, crossing heavy swells. On a brand new one ton, this slide-in would have needed a couple of grand in suspension upgrades, just to give you a minimum handling setup. Everyone who drove that setup agreed, if you had to make an emergency lane change on an expressway, you'd most likely flip.

The general point of that book is that the invincible feeling big trucks give people can lead to other problems, sometimes fatal. Most people who have spent time around heavy equipment (and survived) have figured this out - some people driving SUVs or other tall trucks, haven't had that Darwinian education.

Don't get me wrong, I like 1 tons, I drive one myself. Like any piece of equipment, not understanding the operating hazards can be dangerous or lethal.

Rgds, D.