A while back some pictures of a Chevy Colorado ZR2 with a bent frame started making the rounds on social media. Publisher Tim Esterdahl decided to join the discussion in this video to explain what happened and why.
According to the owner
The 2018 Chevy Colorado ZR2 had just 10k miles on it when he took it out for a camping trip. While traveling down a dirt road the rig encountered a bump and the truck’s frame bent. The trailer was nowhere near the trailering weight limit for the truck.
Claim denied by GM
Six weeks after the incident, GM sent an investigator out to review the case and he denied the claim based on the following:
- The truck’s tires were an inch larger than recommended.
- The owner’s manual states that while the trailering weight limit is 5,000 pounds, any trailer more than 2,000 pounds should have its own brakes and this 2,100-pound trailer did not have brakes.
Third-party weighs in
While doing some digging Tim found some third-party commentary that may shed a little more light on the incident. The commenter points out we have no idea how much weight was in the bed of the truck (covered with a camper shell) and that in order to bend the frame and break the trailer’s axle (unsure where he got this info) he must have hit a pretty massive “pothole” at speeds a bit faster than one should be traveling on a dirt road. You can see more of this commentary in the video.
Not the only Chevy Colorado bent frame
Interestingly enough, just one year later the Colorado pickup truck made news again when an owner installed a slide-in camper. And then there was the Jeep Gladiator with a bent frame… This has been such a big problem that Esterdahl came back later in the year and made another video to follow up on these issues. You can watch that here.
Question of the day: Who’s at fault?
What do you think? Is the Colorado owner to blame? Should Chevy have built a stronger pickup? Sound off below!
