What you want to look for is more in the "feel" of the ride. You're looking for any unusual motions from the rear end or swaying motions from the front or rear. Stand behind the car and look for any graphic wheel angles "out" or "in" at the top. One last thing is to watch for any unusual tire wear. Anything funny in the usual feel of the ride and I'd just get it in for an alignment check. Good Luck :thumbsup:

 

Two thumps should mean your tires went over it, I'd look at the rims inside and out for any bends, does the car shimmy at all?
Look at the air dam and the belly pan. Hopefully all is,well and your lucky on this. Most importantly is you're fine. Good luck.

 

Thanks guys. Gonna give it a good once over when the rain stops tomorrow. It felt fine but I was close to home and still a bit "puckered" from the incident so I didn't think to check steering/alignment on a straight. I'll do that tomorrow. I don't think the tires went over it though. It was at most, 18 inches wide and it went smack under the center of the car. I didn't feel anything through the steering wheel and it didn't feel like the suspension moved as it would if the tires ran over it. It felt more like two metallic thuds, like the first one hitting the lower crossmember and the second one hitting more toward the rear, like possibly the rear axle housing. That's what I "imagined" in my mind anyway because it felt like it hit two things that were pretty solid: no clanging or tinny sounds. Just thud-thup. I'll get it up on ramps, drive it, eyeball the things suggested, and report back tomorrow.

Mike

 

I respectfully recommend a rear view mirror mount for your cam, that way you won't have to keep picking it up off the floor, suction cups are non reliable

 

When you get it up on ramps, check carefully with a bright light and look for dents in the lower "frame" structure, the K member, and for damage (cracks or leaks) around the rear axle. In addition, check the plastic bits for cracks. I wouldn't worry about a minor dent or scrape here or there. If it's only a dent on the exhaust system, it should be okay.

Good luck.

 

Nothing to really add that hasn't already been covered, but if it makes you feel better i hit a ~2-3 foot twisted piece of sheet metal that for some reason was in the middle of the interstate the other day. Just sort of came out of nowhere and made quite the ruckus as i ran it over. When i stopped i immediately checked for damage and thankfully it hit the front license place plastic mounting assembly. Cracked that sumbich right down the middle and bent my front plate up with an additional few scrapes on the front chin spoiler. I was going to get my catless mids installed so once my buddy and i got her up on the lift i was able to do a further inspection and make sure there was no additional damage. It's a damm jungle out there on the road i tell ya. Glad to hear you and the car (so far) are okay.

 

When I had my 98 1500, I was driving on the interstate going 75 and some dudes tire came off their car and rolled into my lane. The tire was still rolling foward, probably like 50mph or so, when smacked it doing 75. I was on a bridge too and I wouldnt have been surprised if I sent it flying off the bridge. Lucky, the 1500 is a solid steel tank and I didnt get as much as a dent on my bumper.

 

Thanks again everyone. Took my son to the doctor (flu) and the drive went well. Alignment and tracking still seem perfect. No noises or odd behavior. Put it up on ramps when I got home and the attached is the only evidence I can find: a piece of the spanish moss hooked under the rear bumper cover. There were some scrapes on the front bellypan but I couldn't swear what is new and what is from previous minor bottoming-out incidents. They're all minor but I did remove the bellypan and inspected above it and all looks fine. Couldn't even find any debris or bark type scrapes on the rear diff cover which looks like it's the lowest point. So I guess I'm gonna call myself lucky on this one! I even checked the push pins on the rear bumper cover thinking it might have bent something if it hit up under the rear bumper cover. All looks good.

Either I just got lucky or these things are tougher underneath than their thin sheet metal panels on the outside would suggest.

Mike

 

it probably rolled after the initial hit and thumped on the front cradle, floorpan, trans x-member and rear cradle.

The floorpan steel is stiffer since it supports weight of seats, passengers and cargo and is a key structural member.