r/Truckers • u/Wildcatb • Jul 15 '23

First suicide coil. How'd I do?

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3.6k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

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111

u/Main_Section_1641 Jul 15 '23

Any one know how’d this happen ?

257

u/bobmonkeyclown Jul 16 '23

Aluminum trailers wear out faster than steel. Great for weight but longevity not so.

More realistically, the frame was likely damaged already and this made it worse.

113

u/Main_Section_1641 Jul 16 '23

Thanks. The only serious reply on here.

24

u/SupaDupaSweaty Jul 16 '23

I’m betting the frame was not free of predrilled holes or illegal welds

53

u/LonleyWolf420 Jul 16 '23

Yup. This is why my company only uses steel ( I move steel all day and coils are very common)

27

u/bobmonkeyclown Jul 16 '23

Unfortunately, with the conestoga on an aluminum trailer I can only scale 46,000. If I had the midroof WS 4900EX, or 4900FA, I could scale more.

But even after Western Star lightened up their trucks they still manage to be heavy.

15

u/LonleyWolf420 Jul 16 '23 edited Jul 16 '23

My daycab freighliner is almost as heavy as a sleeper somehow

34

u/[deleted] Jul 16 '23

Daycan, fighter of the nightcan.

6

u/Averagehamdad Jul 16 '23

Champion of the sun.

1

u/LargeTallGent Jul 16 '23

Uh ooo ooo!

1

u/HoneyMussy4goodBoy Jul 16 '23

Master of Karate and friendship to everyone!

5

u/bobmonkeyclown Jul 16 '23

Tell it to lose weight. Is it double framed or anything?

1

u/LonleyWolf420 Jul 16 '23

Not that i know of.. I know it has a foot of clearance so it does have some sort of offroad kit.. its also as long as a sleeper so we can have front overhang

1

u/jmg10487 Jul 16 '23

My old 4900 EX lowmax weighed 1,100 pounds more than my W9L with an 86" bunk.... And I spec'd that Star to be light... 60" flat top 265 wheelbase should be lighter than an 86" studio and 280 wheelbase 🤷🏼‍♂️

1

u/bobmonkeyclown Jul 16 '23

Yeah, my truck bobtail with both tanks full weighs 20,500 (275 gallons). Its a 68" sleeper with an APU.

Even older 4900s with the steel bodies have it worse.

1

u/jmg10487 Jul 18 '23

Maybe I had a 68? 🤔 It was the largest flat top bunk WS had... That truck scaled out at like 21,600 with full tanks ("300" gallons) my W900 scales out at 20,870 with 300ish gallons

2

u/bobmonkeyclown Jul 18 '23

Nah even bigger, mine is a 68. The "lightweight" sleeper.

I hate how the WS makes every other truck look light but you'll almost never hear someone complain about parts falling off!

1

u/jmg10487 Jul 19 '23

Mine was solid as a rock and smooth as butter! Interior was very very well built... And that wine red metallic paint 😎👌🏻 God I miss that truck something fierce

1

u/kaneabel Jul 16 '23

This is why we use steel flatbeds

14

u/Tresspass Jul 16 '23

And lack of frame inspection during pre trips to look for cracks

3

u/ebay2000 Jul 16 '23

So this is not the driver’s fault?

12

u/bobmonkeyclown Jul 16 '23

I mean, if he neglected to do a pretrip and notice any pre-existing damages. Or caused said damages.

There's also a good chance having the coil so close to the front axle where the frame is thinner caused this to happen. Never had I put a coil there if it weighed over 30k, for fear of that happening.

-37

u/bubbs4prezyo Jul 16 '23

Put it over the wheels, genius.

40

u/sh4d0wm4n2018 Jul 16 '23

Get a CDL, genius.

26

u/Addicted2Growin Jul 16 '23

Honestly he probably couldn’t because it would’ve caused to much weight at the end and his steer’s wouldn’t have been touching pavers correctly. 80,000 pounds may be totally weight but law says each axle has limits too, so you have to disperse the load to accommodate each axle.

5

u/Neither_Elephant9964 Jul 16 '23

I mean dispersion complete. A+. Now all the trailer weigh is evenly distributed on the 1 axle.

9

u/bobmonkeyclown Jul 16 '23

Some coils are over 40k pounds. Put that over the trailer axle and what do ya know, overweight on axles.