Does anyone think the Cybertruck will be able to tow a 5th wheel trailer with the sides and where the batteries are at?
Every article I've read says so. "The Cybertruck is obviously tougher than the regular truck. And while Ford switched to aluminum to keep things light and flexible, Tesla adopted a new construction and a new alloy. Big trucks still feature the ancient body-on-frame architecture, which means that the drivetrain basically drags the body and the bed, which isn’t very efficient. So Tesla designed an exoskeleton, a fancier word for unibody layout, to move the stress from the frame to the outer skin of the vehicle."
An exoskeleton is different from a unibody, not a fancier word for it. The unibody is really just a frame consisting of various beams with a skin over it. An exoskeleton the skin is the structure. So it's more resistant to deformation. Now I don't know if it's usable for a fifth wheel as there are some other considerations, but it's not a unibody, regardless of what some talking head says.
No it's closer to a Monocoque than a unibody there's a big difference there it's not semantics https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-a-unibody-monocoque-and-space-frame-in-cars
There is likely still a means of attaching the 5th wheel hitch, but its going to take some kind of adapter or extra plate or something to get it bolted on in a sturdy way.
The truck is designed based on triangulation. The strongest geometric shape. Imagine they will design a 5th wheel mount to take advantage of this feature.
Believe the floor of the bed is a stressed member of the entire structure. Could possible be much stronger than typical 5th wheel mounting to the bed of typical truck.
The only part that worries me is the clearance to the sail panels. I'm quite certain that Tesla or a third party can develop a suitable hitch mounting - after all, they're doing it for the rear bumper area for a 14k trailer, right? Not sure how the clearance will work out, though. The peak of the Cybertruck roof is a little lower than most pickups, and I think the Sails end at about half the cab-bed difference of a typical truck.
As reference. Here is a render that someone did. Assuming it’s accurate the height of the sails at the rear axle is what? 6 inches ish or higher than the fossil truck
I saw that on one of the FB groups, but failed utterly at finding it again when I was trying to decide if I would steal it for my post. Thank you.
If my rusty math skills are correct, and that someone said that the angle of the sail panels is 13 degrees, then the height of the sails at the cab should be ~1.5 feet.
about 15.4 inches based on known measurements. Numbers are a little wonky just because this isn't a perfect profile. but it's certainly closer to a foot than 6 inches. The counter to the reach over argument is if there's something you could grab over the edge that close to the cab you could probably store it in the huge trunk or sail panel storage instead and have just as easy access to it used Measure in photo online - eleif.net