I ran over a plastic drum

So I was doing 70mph down the interstate, minding my own business, when I notice the cars in front of me hit their brakes and swerve. I started to slow down but not in time to avoid a plastic construction drum, those orange drums they use to mark construction areas, lying on the floor. It had already been mangled by several cars (I presume).

It came too fast. I swerved a bit, but I knew better than to swerve too violently. I could have hit a car beside me or worse flip the Raptor. I made a split second decision to run over the drum with the front driver side.

I heard a pretty loud "thunk" but other than that, nothing. I kept driving a couple of minutes on the interstate, didn't notice any vibrations. When I got to where I was going a couple of miles later, I peeked under to see the damage (it amazing how much easier it is to peek under this truck).

Nothing. Not a scratch, nada.

So I'm trying to forget about it but wondering if I should have it checked. Then again, for a truck designed to do 100mph off road, a mangled plastic drum at somewhere south of 70mph should be cake, right?

Suggestions welcome.

check for frame damage





other than checking the big wire harness and visible damage to protectve plates on that side, i wouldnt worry about it

Gotta agree with 'Busa on this. Unless you snagged some wiring your probably fine. if you had damaged something, you would have been telling us about your ride in a tow truck.

That is awesome. Glad to hear everything is okay! If it didnt fly out from the side, check your driver side rear plastic shock shaft guard. Ive been through several of those things. Its ridiculous how flimsy they are.

Holy shit. Any double checking yet?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Check your driver side CV boots for cuts / tears.

DILLIGAF said:

Holy shit. Any double checking yet?

Click to expand...

I'm staying at a hotel so they valet parked it. I'm going to have to sleep on this and check tomorrow. But I did inspect it when I got here, and couldn't see anything. But I'm hoping to spend more time checking. I'm a bit OCD that way...

Truthfully I think I would have taken that drum centerline at a reduced speed as opposed to potentially blowing my driver's side tire(s).

At this point I'd say maybe your alignment's off by a smidgen but otherwise you should be good.

If you don't have any cosmetic damage you're good. In the condition you described the drum, it had already been softened up by a couple of soccer moms, one in an SUV and another in a Minivan. Both we're texting and never saw the drum before hitting it.

New Guy said:

Truthfully I think I would have taken that drum centerline at a reduced speed as opposed to potentially blowing my driver's side tire(s).



At this point I'd say maybe your alignment's off by a smidgen but otherwise you should be good.

Click to expand...

Thinking back that center skid plate would have made fast work out of that drum. But I had a fraction of a second to react, and I instinctively swerved a bit. I'm at 29K miles so I'm due for a rotate and balance and inspection with alignment check, so timing is good!