Watch out for loose junk in your truck bed

[profdant139]

You may have seen this story, but it is interesting -- someone left a ratchet strap in his truck bed. It eventually flew out and wrapped around his driveshaft, somehow, causing thousands of dollars in damage.

Full story

[rhagfo]

#1nobby wrote:

Chuck_thehammer wrote:
History..

car crash test in the 1950's a tissue box on rear window shelf..
could shatter the front windshield..

Ha! We used to ride back there as kids......that's when we weren't sitting on Dad's lap steering the car.

Mythbusters disproved that, not enough mass.

[1jeep]

While your loading stuff in your bed and not tying it down just think about this....You can buy a new drive shaft, some of us ride motorcycles and cant buy new heads when that junk hits us!

So tired of people not thinking about their loads, mattress' on the roof of a mini van held on with thread. ladders on work van roofs secured with a bungee cord!

Yes I see it all during my daily ride. last month I was behind a work truck that had hammers hanging off its headache rack...they were hanging off a bungee cord!

[profdant139]

Caveman, good idea, but it is very hard to fix stupidiity. It is very common to see debris from ladders, gardening tools, etc., on the freeways.

[CavemanCharlie]

profdant139 wrote:
There are a lot of mattresses on the LA Freeway system at the end of every month -- folks moving from one apartment to another and strapping their old mattresses to the roof of the car with twine. Weekend afternoons are prime time for this trick.

They hit the freeway and the twine snaps. The fun begins.

This is a known issue -- I have even heard the traffic reports on the radio refer to "the usual end of the month mattress problem" as the cause of tie-ups.

I don't know if this happens in other places the way it does here.

WOW.... Maybe the LA police should run some public warning advertisements to encourage people to stop doing this.

[profdant139]

There are a lot of mattresses on the LA Freeway system at the end of every month -- folks moving from one apartment to another and strapping their old mattresses to the roof of the car with twine. Weekend afternoons are prime time for this trick.

They hit the freeway and the twine snaps. The fun begins.

This is a known issue -- I have even heard the traffic reports on the radio refer to "the usual end of the month mattress problem" as the cause of tie-ups.

I don't know if this happens in other places the way it does here.

[subcamper]

Back in the late 80s a coworker told me the story of his friend who owned a pickup truck. He had a load in the bed and covered it with a tarp that was tied down. The tarp was too long, so he stuffed the excess between the bed and cab. While driving, the excess tarp vibrated down between the bed and cab until it wrapped around the driveshaft. The tarp was securely tied to the bed and did not rip or let loose. The driveshaft instantly stopped, locking up the rear wheels and putting the truck sideways into a skid. The force of locking up the shaft instantly caused the frame to bend until the top of the bed was touching the cab. Lots of expensive damage (new frame). Foryunately nobody got hit by his uncontrollable truck before it finally stopped.

Steve

[_1nobby]

Chuck_thehammer wrote:
History..

car crash test in the 1950's a tissue box on rear window shelf..
could shatter the front windshield..

Ha! We used to ride back there as kids......that's when we weren't sitting on Dad's lap steering the car.

[CavemanCharlie]

Timtation wrote:
Several years ago I was accelerating (GMC 1500) in the merge lane, saw my opening just as I saw what may be a dead deer ahead in my lane. No time to change into the freeway, locked up the wheels and found the deer was an innerspring mattress. It wrapped around the drive-shaft, locked the rear wheels, put me into a slide that somehow I controlled within the lane but scared heck out of next lane cars. Eventually I was able to get to the shoulder using both reverse and low. Had it towed home on a flat bed and it took three days and a second bolt cutter to get the mattress off the drive shaft. Shaft and undercarriage probably was never cleaner.

I saw a picture on the internet of someone who had run over a mattress and it got wrapped around the driveshaft. It must happen fairly often I guess.

[Timtation]

Several years ago I was accelerating (GMC 1500) in the merge lane, saw my opening just as I saw what may be a dead deer ahead in my lane. No time to change into the freeway, locked up the wheels and found the deer was an innerspring mattress. It wrapped around the drive-shaft, locked the rear wheels, put me into a slide that somehow I controlled within the lane but scared heck out of next lane cars. Eventually I was able to get to the shoulder using both reverse and low. Had it towed home on a flat bed and it took three days and a second bolt cutter to get the mattress off the drive shaft. Shaft and undercarriage probably was never cleaner.

[Last_Train]

We avoid this kind of problem by using our Ridgeline's in-bed trunk. Locked and water tight. 😉

[qtla9111]

Good post. On my way to Florida a few years ago, I couldn't avoid a steel cable on the road. It did just that, wrapped around my drive shaft. Fortunately I was able to avoid disaster but it was a pain to get it off.

[Chuck_thehammer]

History..

car crash test in the 1950's a tissue box on rear window shelf..
could shatter the front windshield..

[romore]

An empty fuel drum bounced out of a speeding pickup and rolled into my parents yard. 30 bucks in my pocket.:B Lots of good stuff to be picked up along the highway but people have been killed or seriously hurt from unsecured items in truck boxes and open trailers. Violations will net stiff fines here too.

[campinia]

On the other hand, my brother-in-law in Texas calls empty gas cans, raincoats, and other stuff blown out of the bed of pickemup trucks "treasures". 😄

I had to laugh at this, it made me picture "Cousin Eddy" from the National Lampoon shows!