The topic that has been beaten to DEATH

[jdowens1]

I might regret saying this but when pushed to far and something uas to give the frame is the weak link. I'm not saying the frame is delicate or fragile I believe they built it very stout. I inspected mine this weekend looks to have slight bend maybe 1/4 inch and I have not ever actually jumped my vehicle. Nore have I given rides to any fat girls. What went wrong I'm not sure but in9k miles and one year it hasn't been abused.

 

[Humvee21]

^ Now I'm worried

 

[Aaron]

The good news is, if you're worried, we have a few companies here who would be glad to hook you up with a kit to prevent it or keep it from getting damaged further. I'll be adding one eventually, I just don't know when.

I like what one person said a bit ago, if you did this to a stock F150 a frame would be the least of your worries.

If you want the lemons into lemonade approach, if you ever do tweak your frame badly, then you have an excuse to cage the back out and maybe even 4-link it.

 

[Humvee21]

Haha, I like the way you think

 

[jdowens1]

Humvee, After thinking about it last summer I hauled few cubic yards of gravel which weighs around 2600lbs. So I have overloaded it before and maybe that is where I caused my problem.

 

[Hockster]

Humvee, After thinking about it last summer I hauled few cubic yards of gravel which weighs around 2600lbs. So I have overloaded it before and maybe that is where I caused my problem.

Um, ya that might have something to do with it... lol

 

[jdowens1]

Um, ya that might have something to do with it... lol

Ha ya just took a while to remember it.

 

[Hockster]

Ha ya just took a while to remember it.

I do that shit all the time... Something happens and I'm like WTF is going on.. Later I remember I did something and go hmmmm... Oh ya I remember thats why... lol

 

[Maxx2893]

I would think Ford would re-think the placement of the crush zone, but i'm not engineer either so what I think really doesn't matter to them.

Here is the problem. Many people think why didn't Ford just make a kit like the aftermarket has come up with. Well they are required to have a crumple zone. On our trucks that crumple zone happens to be right where the bumpstops are located as well.

Ford could have redesigned the frame to move the crumple zone. But that would take millions in R&D and testing. Which would drive the price of our trucks up. Im not sure how much but I would venture to say that it would be more than most of us would want. Many of us wouldn't be able to afford these great trucks at a much higher price point.

 

[BlueSVT]

Everybody loves saying these kits will affect the crumple zone... But how does anybody know that? This brace runs side to side, not front to back. It would NOT be hard to design a proper bump stop that doesn't affect the crumple zone, even if the current designs DO.

Anyways, there's obviously 2 opinions on this subject, and all people will never agree. I'm of the opinion that it's a **** poor design to have your FRAME be the weak link, given the frame is the backbone of any vehicle. There are many alternate designs that should have been considered, given they knew about the issue during pre-production.

Even the human body will usually break legs in a fall long before your back... It's evolution, and "intelligent" design... Something Ford lacks! Haha