Weirdest thing happened

[98tls]

Headed off up to Christchurch this morning in the ute to see the old girl and just before Winchester (just past rally site) theres a god awful bang and what sounded like something smashing to pieces under the ute,so loud the mrs and if im honest myself just about jumped outta our seats so quickly pulled over weird thing was car right in front of me didnt brake/swerve nor did the car right behind me,cars still running and all seemed ok until i attempted to drive forward to get into a parking area off the road and the thing sounded like an old demo derby car so figured whatever it was had smashed a or both mufflers so at that stage thought turn round and head back to Timaru.Easter Saturday so nothing open but to make sure pulled over and asked a parked up copper if he knew of anything and he directed me to the VTNZ place out at Washdyke..got there to find a huge line of cars but not sure of the extent of the damage figured i would have to wait it out and get over a pit.Cant believe how helpful the guys at VTNZ where as when i told them what happened they directed me round the back avoiding the queue and put the ute over a spare pit then went under to inspectwhatever it was it was solid as it had taken a big chunk off a bracket holding the trans up then punched a hole in the link pipe which was the cause of the noise,we had a good look around when back at winchester for the offending item and found nothing and the VTNZ bloke reckons that possibly something had fallen off the underneath of the car in front if so glad i was directly behind it as if not it could have come through the bloody windscreen,all really strange but as the guy said "you where very lucky it didnt connect with petrol tank etc" as it was obviously something well soild to do the damage it did.Made me glad i hadnt taken the bike to be honest.Annoying me that i couldnt find what it was,ive never heard a noise like it and my first thought was "this is going to be expensive".

[oldrider]

Sounds like it could have been even nastier - glad neither of you were hurt - happy Easter apart from that - buy a Lotto ticket before you leave! J&P.

[Tazz]

That is weird, good service at a VTNZ is unheard of

Sounds like you were a lucky sort of unlucky. Could have easily been trans, sump or fuel tank as you mentioned. Can't imagine what could simply fall off the bottom of a car to do that sort of damage though.

[98tls]

Sounds like it could have been even nastier - glad neither of you were hurt - happy Easter apart from that - buy a Lotto ticket before you leave! J&P.

All good John,tis just driving me nuts not knowing what it was or why i didnt even see it.By the way Danny shared his peaches the other day very nice they where to.just re-read thatsounds a bit off but you will know what i meant.

[98tls]

That is weird, good service at a VTNZ is unheard of

Sounds like you were a lucky sort of unlucky. Could have easily been trans, sump or fuel tank as you mentioned. Can't imagine what could simply fall off the bottom of a car to do that sort of damage though.

Agreed,few years back i remember a local bloke got killed when something came loose underneath a truck and went through his windscreen,almost killed his daughter as well,very sad.

[Moi]

What ever happened, really glad you and Mrs 98tls are ok, even if a bit shocked... things like that are un-nerving...

Whatever hit your ute's underneath may have been lying on the road for some time, the vehicle in front may have straddled it but not enough and caught it with a tyre and flicked it up causing it to bounce and hit you... as you said, better your ute than someone on a bike or through a windscreen... definitely think a lotto ticket is in order...

[98tls]

What ever happened, really glad you and Mrs 98tls are ok, even if a bit shocked... things like that are un-nerving...

Whatever hit your ute's underneath may have been lying on the road for some time, the vehicle in front may have straddled it but not enough and caught it with a tyre and flicked it up causing it to bounce and hit you... as you said, better your ute than someone on a bike or through a windscreen... definitely think a lotto ticket is in order...

Cheers M,your right and if the noise hadnt been so incredibly loud i wouldnt really have given it much more thought but jebusss it was horrendus noise wise then to find simply no evidence of whatever it was is truely strange as we did have a good scout about,even stranger theres no damage to the front of the ute ie spoiler etc

[oldrider]

All good John,tis just driving me nuts not knowing what it was or why i didnt even see it.By the way Danny shared his peaches the other day very nice they where to.just re-read thatsounds a bit off but you will know what i meant.

Tell Vicky that there are lots of peaches over there and she welcome to as many as she can take - Danny said she only took a small handful!

They will just go to waste otherwise!

[mossy1200]

Driving up the George and a small truck with a scaffold plank tied on the top caught the wind. Plank snapped in the middle and the front half came straight at me. Wind caught it at the last second and it spiralled off missing the van. Never follow a vehicle with a plank tied off from the deck over the roof.h

Even worse on the night of the big storm doing callout at 2am on the way home a lamp post on the motorway blew down over the motorway 90degrees to the road. Just caught sight of the reflector head and braked to find the pole in front of me extending out over the 2 right hand lanes. Same colour as the road and in the rain impossible to see.

[98tls]

Tell Vicky that there are lots of peaches over there and she welcome to as many as she can take - Danny said she only took a small handful!

They will just go to waste otherwise!

Will do,cheers for the phone call she will go over and see Dan sometime today.

[98tls]

Driving up the George and a small truck with a scaffold plank tied on the top caught the wind. Plank snapped in the middle and the front half came straight at me. Wind caught it at the last second and it spiralled off missing the van. Never follow a vehicle with a plank tied off from the deck over the roof.h

Even worse on the night of the big storm doing callout at 2am on the way home a lamp post on the motorway blew down over the motorway 90degrees to the road. Just caught sight of the reflector head and braked to find the pole in front of me extending out over the 2 right hand lanes. Same colour as the road and in the rain impossible to see.

You to should buy a lotto ticket,very lucky mate.