A police officer has been suspended from duty after videos circulated online showing him transporting a refrigerator in the open trunk of the patrol car he was driving in the Kamareto district of Athens.
400lbs is a lot of weight to have poorly distributed directly over the very tail end of a car. Sure, a car can easily handle 2 200lb people sitting in the rear of it with little issue, but their weight is in an expected place and well dispersed. Having half of a 400lb fridge sticking out of a trunk where it is entirely unsupported means that a great deal more stress than just 400lbs is ultimately coming down on that part of the suspension
The average payload of a small sedan like that is about 850lbs, which would include the driver. So while were probably talking 600lbs-700lbs of payload between the driver, the added equipment weight for police modifications, and the fridge, that number also assumes normal distribution of weight within the vehicle. Im no engineer, but I would bet that having the weight of the fridge (which is the bulk of it) sticking out of the car halfway is probably pushing the sedan beyond tolerance for weight in some ways. But I could be wrong
First, 400 pounds is a pretty beefy fridge, most basic units are a lot lighter. 400 pounds is coincidentally the top end of the average weight search AI gave me too, the lower end being 200 pounds. I’ve moved a few fridges over the decades, they’d have been hard pressed to get a 400 pounder wedged in there like that.
Second, a fridge is mostly empty space. The weight is certainly not distributed throughout. If they put the heavy end (usually where the compressor is) hanging out the back, they probably wouldn’t have made it very far anyway before the thing ejected itself. They are primarily difficult to move because they are bulky and lack safe handholds for lifting.
Third, police modifications adding weight would necessarily require modifications improving the suspension. It would be pretty bad design if putting three 200+ adults in the rear of a police wagon were enough to make the vehicle unsafe.
This is all a pretty dumb thing to argue about. After all, I agree that the cop in this case was an idiot. That’s mostly because storing a fridge on its side is a dumb move, but also because I do actually believe that storing it as we see in the photo would be bad for the car too. Fridges have lots of sharp edges, plenty of opportunity to destroy the interior, shatter a window, or cause an accident. I just don’t think weight or its distribution is the problem.
Some harm was probably done to that rear suspension lol
Nah, a fridge isn’t that heavy.
400lbs is a lot of weight to have poorly distributed directly over the very tail end of a car. Sure, a car can easily handle 2 200lb people sitting in the rear of it with little issue, but their weight is in an expected place and well dispersed. Having half of a 400lb fridge sticking out of a trunk where it is entirely unsupported means that a great deal more stress than just 400lbs is ultimately coming down on that part of the suspension
The average payload of a small sedan like that is about 850lbs, which would include the driver. So while were probably talking 600lbs-700lbs of payload between the driver, the added equipment weight for police modifications, and the fridge, that number also assumes normal distribution of weight within the vehicle. Im no engineer, but I would bet that having the weight of the fridge (which is the bulk of it) sticking out of the car halfway is probably pushing the sedan beyond tolerance for weight in some ways. But I could be wrong
First, 400 pounds is a pretty beefy fridge, most basic units are a lot lighter. 400 pounds is coincidentally the top end of the average weight search AI gave me too, the lower end being 200 pounds. I’ve moved a few fridges over the decades, they’d have been hard pressed to get a 400 pounder wedged in there like that.
Second, a fridge is mostly empty space. The weight is certainly not distributed throughout. If they put the heavy end (usually where the compressor is) hanging out the back, they probably wouldn’t have made it very far anyway before the thing ejected itself. They are primarily difficult to move because they are bulky and lack safe handholds for lifting.
Third, police modifications adding weight would necessarily require modifications improving the suspension. It would be pretty bad design if putting three 200+ adults in the rear of a police wagon were enough to make the vehicle unsafe.
This is all a pretty dumb thing to argue about. After all, I agree that the cop in this case was an idiot. That’s mostly because storing a fridge on its side is a dumb move, but also because I do actually believe that storing it as we see in the photo would be bad for the car too. Fridges have lots of sharp edges, plenty of opportunity to destroy the interior, shatter a window, or cause an accident. I just don’t think weight or its distribution is the problem.