airborne M1010

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Cruising North at interstate speeds through West Virginia in the dead of night, I passed over a poorly maintained bridge. The concrete in each section had sagged considerably, at least in the right lane. At the end of each sag, my entire rig went airborne, Fortunately there was no curve, so I just hung on tight and waited for it to be over. We went airborne 5 or 6 times in rapid succession, both M1010 and M1101. Then it was over and we were back on smooth blacktop. I know the semis stress the roads far more than my empty rig. But it still got my undivided attention. The rig took it in stride. No funny noises, steering shakes or vibrations. The only unusual sounds came from me screaming.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Likely I-77.

 

[bikeman]

Sir... do you know how fast you were going?

 

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Sir... do you know how fast you were going?

My target speed was 65. It was late at night and I'd been driving a long time, so I wasn't necessarily exactly on target. The remarkable thing, to me, was the state of the road. My speed was entirely unremarkable. I was cruising in the right lane in a CUCV towing a trailer, not exactly a high-speed scenario. Other than the road, there was no sign of civilization. I'm not sure how a bridge could develop that much sag and still be safe for the heavy trucks. I was past it before I had a chance to really look at the road surface. It was an overpass, but I couldn't tell you what I was passing over. Once things settled down to normal, I remember thinking to myself, "suspension works".

 

[Mg84648]

These trucks suspension tends to magnify bumps for sure!
Here in Atlanta on the 85 to 285 ramp there is a slight bump on the overpass as experienced in my wife's explorer. In the M1009 it's a "hold on for your life, I think I can make it" bump. And that's at 45 mph