GM's newest pickup costs $9,000

[freebeard]

https://www.buyclassicvolks.com/2013...2-pick-up.html

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Xist

Perfect!

Home Depot rents trucks that fold down like that, but the sides fold 180°.

The sides folding 180° seems to be pretty much the standard for flatbeds, no matter if they're made out of wood as it remains common in Brazil and some European countries or made out of sheetmetal like those Australian "ute trays" usually made out of aluminium.

[Xist]

The M1083 Medium Tactical Vehicle (5-ton) also has sides that fold down:


I just wish that someone told me that the black box between the driver and the truck commander was to adjust the air pressure in the tires before I deployed.

I nearly got stuck multiple times during the one mission where bad guys fired at trucks in our convoy!

I also wish that I knew that the big black button between the cabin and the snorkel primed the fuel pump. Nobody knew that when one of our trucks ran out of fuel. We put in 10-15 gallons, but it wouldn't start.

Just prime the pump!

The M977 HEMTT (Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck) also has a big black button behind the driver's side of the cabin. We knew that it dumped the air pressure in the suspension, but when some cook drove my truck on a mission and the dash said "low suspension air pressure" as we rolled out the motor pool we should have stopped, hit the button, allowed the truck to repressurize, and we would have had a tolerable drive!

Instead we were shaken excruciatingly to Frontenac and back.

Suspension is important!

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

I'm favorable to the usage of air suspensions as they often improve the riding comfort, yet they're definitely not dumbproof.

[Xist]

My battle buddy blew out an airbag offroading in Afghanistan and needed to hold down the spring brake to make it back to base.

I don't think that conventional suspensions have that vulnerability.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Xist

My battle buddy blew out an airbag offroading in Afghanistan and needed to hold down the spring brake to make it back to base.

When you refer to spring brakes, the only thing I remember are the parking brakes on trucks and buses.

I don't think that conventional suspensions have that vulnerability.

They usually don't have that same vulnerability, even though it shouldn't serve as an excuse to quit developing air suspensions with an enhanced capability to overcome harsh environmental conditions.

[Xist]

The buses and commercial trucks that I drove had similar spring brakes.

[freebeard]

Still doesn't tell us what a 'spring bake' might be.

[Piotrsko]

I recall some drivers telling me trucks that big trucks which have airbag suspension require a system that restrains lateral movement, which typically looks like and acts like a leaf spring.

However, Xist! Should explain what his term actually means to those who did not experience the sandbox.

[Xist]

Commercial and Army vehicles are required to have a spring-operated parking brake, which also automatically comes on when the suspension air pressure drops below 30 psi. That is part of the commercial pre-trip inspection, but not normally part of the Army Preventive Maintenance Checks and Services (PMCS) inspection, although I always did the same test, because we had the same air brake system.