--- title: "Chevy Colorado bent frame, whose fault is it?" url: "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2021/04/chevy-colorado-bent-frame/" publisher: "Pickup Truck + SUV Talk" content_signal: "search=yes, ai-input=yes, ai-train=no" author: "Erica Mueller" published: "2021-04-21T16:50:52+00:00" modified: "2026-08-19T15:43:45+00:00" image: "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/qotd-oops-bent-frame-on-chevy-colorado-zr2-who-do-you-blame.jpg" --- # Chevy Colorado bent frame, whose fault is it? By Erica Mueller Published: 2021-04-21T16:50:52+00:00 Updated: 2026-08-19T15:43:45+00:00 ![Featured image]() 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! ## Related vehicle coverage - [2020 Chevrolet Colorado]() ## Structured page information ~~~json [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Article", "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2021/04/chevy-colorado-bent-frame/#article", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2021/04/chevy-colorado-bent-frame/" }, "author": { "name": "Erica Mueller", "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/#/schema/person/28ea7673f6c33cc560979055b335c167" }, "headline": "Chevy Colorado bent frame, whose fault is it?", "datePublished": "2021-04-21T16:50:52+00:00", "dateModified": "2026-08-19T15:43:45+00:00", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2021/04/chevy-colorado-bent-frame/" }, "wordCount": 359, "commentCount": 0, "publisher": { "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/#organization" }, "image": { "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2021/04/chevy-colorado-bent-frame/#primaryimage" }, "thumbnailUrl": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/qotd-oops-bent-frame-on-chevy-colorado-zr2-who-do-you-blame.jpg", "keywords": [ "2020 Chevy Colorado", "chevy colorado", "chevy colorado bent frame", "colorado zr2 bent frame" ], "articleSection": [ "Buyer's Guide", "Owner Reviews" ], "inLanguage": "en-US", "potentialAction": [ { "@type": "CommentAction", "name": "Comment", "target": [ "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2021/04/chevy-colorado-bent-frame/#respond" ] } ] }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2021/04/chevy-colorado-bent-frame/", "url": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2021/04/chevy-colorado-bent-frame/", "name": "Chevy Colorado bent frame, whose fault is it?", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/#website" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2021/04/chevy-colorado-bent-frame/#primaryimage" }, "image": { "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2021/04/chevy-colorado-bent-frame/#primaryimage" }, "thumbnailUrl": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/qotd-oops-bent-frame-on-chevy-colorado-zr2-who-do-you-blame.jpg", "datePublished": "2021-04-21T16:50:52+00:00", "dateModified": "2026-08-19T15:43:45+00:00", "description": "We know one thing for sure. 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