what are the damaging effect to vehicles from driving wash board roads?

Question

i work at a surface coal mine and our access roads are never maintained because our blades are too wide. they are telling me that a contractor costs too much. i work seven, twelve hour days and let me tell you, by day three my insides are mush and i'm in a bad mood-literally. my work truck which is a flat bed ford, 2005 rattles to no end. the doors no longer shut right either and the exhaust and running boards are constantly being rigged back to where they belong. i'm looking for proof that this is bad for us and our trucks. can anyone help?

Answer 1

those kind of roads will tear a truck apart in time, suspension, tires, alignment, rattles and like you say even the doors are jarred out of alignment.

Answer 2

Washboard roads cause premature failure of suspension and steering parts, and can easily crack the chassis. Ball joints, tie-rods, engine mounts, exhaust mounts...all will fail quickly. Also, the vibration can wreck the vehicle's computer, and will shake screws and bolts loose, so the vehicle can literally fall apart around you. A vehicle that should manage 250,000 miles on the road will be lucky to survive 50,000 in these conditions - and be worth nothing at the end. And the driver has the same problems - it can absolutely ruin your spine. The constant sharp vibrations will destroy the cartilage between your vertebrae - and there is no cure for this. You might be able to get one or two fixed by removing the cartilage and fusing the bones together, but this can't be done for your whole back. Keep working under these conditions, and you'll be in pain for the rest of your life - and no money is worth going through that!

Good luck!

Answer 3

As a rule of thumb, the smaller the vehicle, the less it will absorb bumps on bad roads. Get a small pickup, no running boards, unless factory equipped. ( Jeep Cherokees and Grand Cherokees are good).The ride won't be as bad as you think and maintenance will be a LOT less. And leave to go to work with enough time to go slow enough as to enjoy the trip at least a little bit more. There is nothing worse than being in a hurry while driving on a bad road. I use to live and work in the mountains of New Mexico and know the pain too well. Other wise like aussie Bloke suggests, find another job. What you are going through may not be worth it in the long run.

Answer 4

Washboard roads put extreme stress on the suspension components of an automobile, the shocks, the springs the ball joints, and also cause bad vibration throughout the entire car. See if you can find a speed that causes the least amount of vibration, that is about all you can do.

Answer 5

rough on the alignment