Putting sand bags in the back of the pickup for safety

[tweedledee2]

On 1/25/2018 at 7:23 PM, StevieAus said:

We had a problem with a new Toyota Vios when we bought it about 5 years ago driving not at speed and on a bend with a steep camber and incline and 

wet road the back end bounced or lifted and we ended upon the other side of the road perhaps I admit due to our inexperience

I was advised that as they are built for carrying weight they could be a problem in some circumstances and unlike the Fortuner which has the same chassis are not fitted with a stabilizer bar.

After speaking to Toyota and others we had a stabilizer bar which was really a big shock absorber fitted and never a problem since.

You either had a stabilizer bar or a big shock (stabilizer shock ie."damper") installed but not both.

[madmax2]

I have noticed in Thailand some roads have corrugated bitumen on them usually on the bend in a road, when hitting this type of bitumen in both the Ford and Toyota pickups i have owned the rear end skips sideways and its frightening when this happens without warning

I have a hard cover on the rear of the Hilux and it makes no difference when this happens

[sawadee1947]

22 hours ago, cooked said:

Great, helpful answer. 

A new truck that I bought one time was doing just this, after 40 years of experience driving trucks and it was a white knuckle drive all the time. After being advised to put a heavy steel plate in the back (and accepting increased fuel usage)  I eventually changed the tyres, problem solved. The tyre seller said I wasn't the first to have this problem. 

Don't worry about sandbags and stuff, your experience was quite possibly due to a false combination of tyres to truck.

Or the wrong truck, they should after all, be designed to be driven fully loaded, not empty, but this shouldn't be a problem on newer models

Well, as an experienced truck driver as you suppose to be you should know there are also unsafe trucks on the market. And sure you drove such a shit.

The solution: choose another brand!

 

[tweedledee2]

 It appears this "bit of a noob thread" as the OP labeled it, is dead. His last post was #19 and he never replied to my request in #24.  One can only hope he has found a solution to his driving experience from the vast amount of information on vehicle driving dynamics that were supplied by posters, hopefully by trial and not error.  

 

 

[davidst01]

19 hours ago, madmax2 said:

I have noticed in Thailand some roads have corrugated bitumen on them usually on the bend in a road, when hitting this type of bitumen in both the Ford and Toyota pickups i have owned the rear end skips sideways and its frightening when this happens without warning

I have a hard cover on the rear of the Hilux and it makes no difference when this happens

thats what happens to me and its why I will put sand bags in the back. 

[Anythingleft?]

thats what happens to me and its why I will put sand bags in the back. 

So to clarify... the vehicle being light on the axle as it is unloaded is being driven too fast for the road conditions....
Thought that had been mentioned several times lol [emoji23][emoji23]

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[stevenl]

14 minutes ago, Anythingleft? said:

So to clarify... the vehicle being light on the axle as it is unloaded is being driven too fast for the road conditions....
Thought that had been mentioned several times lol

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No, on certain roads more weight on the back nis required (or 4WD).

[giddyup]

34 minutes ago, stevenl said:

No, on certain roads more weight on the back nis required (or 4WD).

So you carry around 200 lb of sandbags on the offchance you will hit one of those roads, but increasing fuel consumption whether you do or don't?

[transam]

25 minutes ago, giddyup said:

So you carry around 200 lb of sandbags on the offchance you will hit one of those roads, but increasing fuel consumption whether you do or don't?

Traction is about weight distribution...Some rides the weight is mainly over the front axle and if it is rear wheel drive one can have a problem...Putting a few hundred pounds over the rear axle is much the same as carrying passengers up front, very little impact on fuel consumption l would have thought...

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, giddyup said:

So you carry around 200 lb of sandbags on the offchance you will hit one of those roads, but increasing fuel consumption whether you do or don't?

I travel on one of those roads almost daily, but drive a 4-door cab, so far less chance of that happening as with a 2-door. Plus I quite often have a load in the back, because I use the pickup as intended: to carry loads. If I am behind a minibus or other truck on that specific track I make sure I am far enough behind (before the curve), so that if it rolls back it won't roll into me.

[giddyup]

4 hours ago, transam said:

Traction is about weight distribution...Some rides the weight is mainly over the front axle and if it is rear wheel drive one can have a problem...Putting a few hundred pounds over the rear axle is much the same as carrying passengers up front, very little impact on fuel consumption l would have thought...

See post #56.

[JaseTheBass]

Usual nonsense in this thread...

Most single cab/low end trucks don't get much or any of the tech and would probably benefit from a bit of weight over the back axle. Most top end trucks have a number of safety systems which should prevent the need to add weight.

That being said, the biggest selling truck drives like a pig unloaded, despite the tech, so if you're an unfortunate sheeple, load it up.

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[speedtripler]

Switch on 4x4

That combined with electronic stability control should keep you from bouncing into the wrong lane, without any sandbags 

 

(unless you have a really old /crap truck) 

 

It you have added height to your ride you should also lower your cornering speeds to accommodate a higher centre of gravity

 

Don't forget you're not driving a lambo... 

[StevieAus]

On 1/28/2018 at 1:40 AM, tweedledee2 said:

You either had a stabilizer bar or a big shock (stabilizer shock ie."damper") installed but not both.

You are right it wasn’t both I missed out a word intended to say “ it was like a big shock absorber” to be frank hadn’t seen one before but certainly seemed to fix the problem which of course all the armchair experts on this site say doesn’t exist

[StevieAus]

On 1/28/2018 at 2:44 PM, madmax2 said:

I have noticed in Thailand some roads have corrugated bitumen on them usually on the bend in a road, when hitting this type of bitumen in both the Ford and Toyota pickups i have owned the rear end skips sideways and its frightening when this happens without warning

I have a hard cover on the rear of the Hilux and it makes no difference when this happens

Thanks for that comment of course all the armchair experts on this site will claim that it cannot happen if you are driving at the correct speed, meeting road conditions, etc etc.

[cooked]

On 1/28/2018 at 5:57 PM, sawadee1947 said:

Well, as an experienced truck driver as you suppose to be you should know there are also unsafe trucks on the market. And sure you drove such a shit.

The solution: choose another brand!

 

GREAT answer. A new model on the market, they later recalled those tyres. And for your info I did sell it pretty quick.  AND chose another brand. Go and kick a pussy cat next time you feel out od sorts.

[canthai55]

2 hours ago, StevieAus said:

You are right it wasn’t both I missed out a word intended to say “ it was like a big shock absorber” to be frank hadn’t seen one before but certainly seemed to fix the problem which of course all the armchair experts on this site say doesn’t exist

Track bars are only needed on coil spring suspensions, to keep the differential centered. On leaf sprung vehicles the leaf spring themselves keep the axle centered in the chassis. Anyone who installs a track bar with a big spring on it fails to understand the purpose of a track bar, which is to stop side to side movement. A sway bar is a whole 'nother kettle of fish.

Track bar ... in red

Sway bar ... in blue

 

[tweedledee2]

16 hours ago, StevieAus said:

Thanks for that comment of course all the armchair experts on this site will claim that it cannot happen if you are driving at the correct speed, meeting road conditions, etc etc.

I, for one never said what the OP or you experienced never happened, but it only happened because one of the drive axle tires on your vehicle lost contact (grip) with the road surface. The question should be. Why?  There could be a mechanical issue involving a defect in the suspension, something as simple as a bad shock absorber. Also, the type of tire, mismatched tires, treadwear and air pressure. The condition, the type of road surface and is the pavement dry, wet or oily. The speed at which the vehicle is being operated at, the operators driving style, and attentiveness are contributing circumstances. Any combination of these only increases the chance it will happen again, whether you added weight or not. 

[StevieAus]

On 1/31/2018 at 9:09 PM, canthai55 said:

Track bars are only needed on coil spring suspensions, to keep the differential centered. On leaf sprung vehicles the leaf spring themselves keep the axle centered in the chassis. Anyone who installs a track bar with a big spring on it fails to understand the purpose of a track bar, which is to stop side to side movement. A sway bar is a whole 'nother kettle of fish.

Track bar ... in red

Sway bar ... in blue

 

Thanks for the information very interesting, although what was fitted didn't look like either of the above.

It seemed to do  the trick and although the incident happened about five years ago fortunately never occurred again

We sold the vehicle a couple of years ago as we no longer need a pickup.

18 hours ago, tweedledee2 said:

I, for one never said what the OP or you experienced never happened, but it only happened because one of the drive axle tires on your vehicle lost contact (grip) with the road surface. The question should be. Why?  There could be a mechanical issue involving a defect in the suspension, something as simple as a bad shock absorber. Also, the type of tire, mismatched tires, treadwear and air pressure. The condition, the type of road surface and is the pavement dry, wet or oily. The speed at which the vehicle is being operated at, the operators driving style, and attentiveness are contributing circumstances. Any combination of these only increases the chance it will happen again, whether you added weight or not. 

 

18 hours ago, tweedledee2 said:

I, for one never said what the OP or you experienced never happened, but it only happened because one of the drive axle tires on your vehicle lost contact (grip) with the road surface. The question should be. Why?  There could be a mechanical issue involving a defect in the suspension, something as simple as a bad shock absorber. Also, the type of tire, mismatched tires, treadwear and air pressure. The condition, the type of road surface and is the pavement dry, wet or oily. The speed at which the vehicle is being operated at, the operators driving style, and attentiveness are contributing circumstances. Any combination of these only increases the chance it will happen again, whether you added weight or not. 

Sometimes on this site responses don’t seem to to be linked to the original post as I wasn’t the one who mentioned adding weight.

Although the “ incident” happened about five years ago I never fortunately experienced it again and have driven along the same stretch of road hundreds of times.

For the record I don’t think the cause was attributed to the reasons at the beginning of your post as the vehicle was only a couple of months old and I have always been particular about tyre pressures

I agree it was likely for one of the other reasons you mentioned but doesn’t really matter now as we sold the vehicle about two years ago as we no longer need a pickup

It has been an interesting debate and very informative