Install a Spring Coil in Your Mailbox, and Deter Vandals

Have you ever awakened in the morning to find your mailbox destroyed by a passing motorist? Accidents do happen, and that is completely understandable. Most of us take responsibility for our accidents, but there are some who find it entertaining to destroy someone else's property. Imagine, if you will, a mailbox able to strike back and defend itself, so to speak.

Not only is this mailbox something that will last a lifetime, it is something unique that most likely you have not seen anywhere before. Utilizing a coil spring from an automobile, and some scraps of pipe laying around the garage, the unbreakable mailbox post was created. It has stood the test of time and lasted 40 years now.

The project starts with a hole in the ground. A power post hole digger was used to create a hole 4 feet deep and 8 inches in diameter. A manual post hole digger would get the job done as well. The pipe used was 6 inches in diameter, with very heavy sidewalls approximately 1/2" or 5/8" thickness. A piece of this pipe 50 inches long was welded to a coil spring from an automobile. The spring also is very heavy-duty. The 50 inch piece of pipe goes into the hole and the spring is aboveground. The same pipe is welded to the top of the coil spring and cut to length according to where you want your mailbox to be. The pipe in the ground needs to be temporarily anchored to hold it straight, the pipe itself and the whole it sets in are filled with cement with-in 3 or 4 inches from the top of the whole. 1 inch steel plate is used for the platform on top of the post, the platform has holes drilled in it for a piece of wood to bolt to it. The purpose of the wood is so that you have something to connect the mailbox itself to. The platform made from 1 inch steel plate is 1 inch larger than the piece of wood. This way the mailbox itself is protected as well. This custom mailbox post with the coil spring can be painted in any fashion to suit your needs. When complete the mailbox is able to bend and twist in every direction and snap back with a great deal of force. The safety of this contraption may want to be considered as well.

Our mailbox from my childhood is something I will ever forget. I wanted to have the whole thing chrome plated; dad was not going for that one. Not only a mailbox, but also very entertaining at times. We never had to fix the mailbox ever again. There were a couple of occasions I recall that I had to sweep up the glass and other remnants left behind from the vandals as they experienced the coil spring effect.