i think its easier said than done to put an automatic in N while you're fishtailing trying not to crash

 

Glad to hear you are alright that Mailbox beat up, pretty bad

 

that sounds like a good idea when talking about it but get in the situation and you tell me how that works for you cause that stuff goes out the window. you can preach to some one all your life how to do something. but once it physicaly happens all that preaching goes out the window.

well my ego thought i could move over and be fine but it was wrong

 

If he doesnt have full coverage, that means he has liability. If he has liability it has nothing to do with fixing his truck. In which case it could never be totaled.

Glad you weren't hurt OP. Was the bottom edge of the cab (under the door) dented in too? If so the truck will be much harder to repair, and if you have full coverage it might be totaled.

If it is totaled be sure to tell your friends a kick *** story, not that you lost your truck because of a mailbox

 

well i have full coverage
it lloks a little bent under the door but it is back in drivable condition so i can use it manly my parents want to get the mailbox taken care of first then my truck. but tomorrow im going to get quotes
it might be totaled but i dont think so

 

Down the street from me, theres a rich guy who decided he was going to put up a rebar reinforced poured concrete mailbox. He got a small H beam drilled it into the ground a couple feet too using his tractor and cemented that in too.

Lets put it this way a town plow truck + this mailbox bent the side plow blade and made the truck do a 360 in the road almost flipping over.

The other thing that the local kids around here do is they get rail road nails... pound one or two into the pavement before the plow trucks come and they'd hit them and it bends the blade.

 

That's true, but, that's the hardest thing to do, without ever practicing it first. Technically, when fish tailing, your rear tires lack traction, so the only way to get more traction on those wheels is to floor the engine, which is not going to be your gut reaction. I did it only once, and it worked as designed.

You don't want to brake because that throws more vehicle weight on the front wheels, and leaves less vehicle weight on the rear wheels which will contribute to a spin out. I was in the passenger seat once, when my wife did that.

 

but your gut says slam the brakes and its hard to do the opposite but o well we learn from our mistakes
theres alot of things i could have done different like take the long way home which was safer, could have reduced my speed even more, could have stayed in my lane and possible hit the mini van in the oncoming lane/ but all in all it turned out alot better than what could have happened.

( the thing that realy ticked me off was the 30 or so cars that went by not one stopped to ask if i need help. am the person who will help someone who is stuck in the middle of the road because of some mechanical failure and not one person stopped. people around here can be so self centered)

 

Now you know not to move over unless you absolutely have to. It was probably the bump that caused you to lose control. You may have been OK if you would have hit it going straight. Another lesson is knowing when to bail out and just take the ditch.

 

the ditch turned into huge oak trees and light poles. about 100yrds south of the maild box i hit was one of those nice 4x4 wood posts ones wish i hit that one

 

Totally agree. These are the kinds of things that you just have to practice if you can. I was fortunate enough to be able to practice emergency driving maneuvers at a very young age, and it's saved my *** on more than one occasion.

That's one reason I prefer a manual trans - a quick stab on the clutch does the same thing and I can keep both hands on the wheel.

 

Why is that funny?

 

Why does it matter how the mailbox is built? The mailbox didn't hit the truck, the truck hit the mailbox. They tried to pull that crap with me in upstate New York. It's my property and if I wanna build a nice looking mail box im going to. I'm not implying that someone may or may not have been driving too fast or not know how to handle a vehicle when it gets squirly, but it isn't the mailbox owners fault or responsibility to build a 'breakaway' mailbox so that someone who cant stay between the lines doesn't damage their vehicle. Anyway, not trying to upset anyone, just had experience with this before and had to fight about it with the county.

 

Oh, and sorry about the truck. it always sucks to see a wrecked truck. don't wish it upon anyone. Good luck with getting it fixed or getting a new one.

 

QUOTE...
well coming home from work today i hit brick mail box. i took the shortest way home which included a 2 lane rural road.
Quote...

B-ryan, Sorry to hear about your misfortune.
Good to know you're okay.
I've been kinda there myself, but I took the damage, not my vehicle.
While driving my grand am down a back street ---to avoid traffic---,
I passed a lady driving her lawn mower.
My window was half way up, but that didn't stop a piece of 'something'
from shooting out her mower and through my window and INTO the side of my head!
An inch away from my temple.
Instant flash of blood inside, red polka dots galore.
A mad gash above my eyebrow.
The EMT's and police stopped by, we had a party.
I got a free ride to the Emer. room.
Stitches, a CAT scan, then an MRI, wasn't fun.
Besides the scar over my eye, everything turned out okay.
Don't take back roads too often these days, especially that back road.
Always roll my window up when passing people mowing their lawn.
AND I stop my pushing my mower when mowing if anyone passes by.
Moral of the story??
DUCK! ?
Run 'em over if you're bigger than they are?