Crashed into and destroyed our mailbox last night.  The neighbors box has been hit/destroyed twice in the last 2 years.  Our street has become a racetrack after dark and often during the day. It's time to go on the defensive and up armor the mailbox.  

I'm thinking an 8" or so diameter thick walled steel pipe filled with concrete.  Any other suggestions?

That’s fucked up and I’m sorry it happened to you. I would anchor the steel in the ground with additional concrete, but it sounds like a good plan otherwise.

Put rebar in the pipe as well.

Funny but true story - In my former neighborhood, two doors down was a police officer who had retired and he had this problem where twice within a month a car had deliberately crashed into his mailbox.  This was before everyone had cameras, etc on their houses.

His fix was to have some biddies come in and auger a seep hole and concrete anchor a section of telephone pole as a mailbox post.  He had a custom steel box welded together as the box itself.  Funny thing was a Orange mustang ran into it a month later and was totaled.  By sheer coincidence it was someone he had arrested in the past who claimed he had nothing to do with previous mailbox destruction.  

The sheriff asked him to remove it as it posed a hazard to other people who may hit it by accident (snow and ice) he complied.

What advantage would the rebar in the pipe have?  Just to add a little extra strength? I think we have some somewhere.

Normally I'm pro law enforcement but I don't think I would have complied with that request.  

I just wish the driver had the honor to at least come to the door, apologize and pay for the repairs but he or she chose to be a POS. I hope their vehicle really paid a price.

 Next mailbox won't be built to injure anyone but it should fubar their vehicle enough so they can't just drive away.

If it were people hitting the mailboxes with something, I'd definitely implement this idea.  In our case it's people racing down the street, losing control and hitting mailboxes.

I heard it happen.  I heard someone coming down the street wide open and about a half second of brake squeel followed by the impact and the sound of them driving away a few seconds later.  They hit it and were gone by the time I got to the window.  

They basically snapped a 4x4 post in half like a toothpick and sent the top half of the post and mailbox 30ft into the front yard.  That section weighed a good 15+ pounds so it had to have seriously damaged their vehicle.   I guess we need a door camera because that would have caught them for sure.

Had a few knocked out over the years here, all on video. We had built a nice, custom stainless steel mailbox assembly and it's probably 30' off the roadway. Garbage trucks, drunks...you name it. Last one happened within a couple months of repairing the previous. Evidently the rip rap barrier is too easy to drive over so hopefully the used tank tracks I have will be a bit more of a deterrent.

Not sure making an injury causing mailbox setup is a good idea. Saw one setup once with the main parts made out of all metal. To survive damage, it was welded to a ground level steel post by way of a heavy duty spring that would allow it to move if hit during an ordinary accident. Because of multiple previous damage incidents, I considered an all steel one that could shear on impact once but decided I didn't have the skills to make it and that it still might be a bad idea.

True story. When mine got knocked down once someone got the tag number of a car running the neighborhood knocking down boxes one evening. I got a subpoena to court in the mail. When the judge called me up I told him the particulars about cost of the mailbox with post and that the hard clay was an obstacle The person should come dig the hole for the correct replacement. I had temporarily put it back together. He gave a monetary reward for cost to those that requested it but refused to send the guy by to dig the hole for the post as I requested. He also gave the guy a payment plan to reimburse everyone. I guess the guy paid once because I never received but one partial payment from the court system. It is kind of funny. The post is still temp repaired with the same beat up box on it from years ago awaiting the rest of the money from the court.

Building a stronger mailbox isn't to hurt anyone, it's to protect my property.  I have no intention of building something intended to hurt anyone.  That's like saying you shouldn't have glass windows in your house because someone might get hurt while breaking in.  It's not my responsibility to create a safe place for vandals and idiots.

Wish the world thought that way. I know I was told at one time in some areas of the country a utility quit putting up bollards to protect equipment near roadways because the loses from lawsuits injuries from hitting them was worse than equipment replacement cost.

Food for thought, do what you want.

A mailbox outside of what USPS stipulates could result in refusal to deliver and if someone does hit it and decides to sue you might face greater liability.

First off, have you priced 8” pipe lately? My box has been smoked twice in the past 4 years, but I just replace it with the cheapest stuff from Home Depot each time. I weld stuff for a living but knowing my luck I’d build some bombproof mailbox and some drunk kid would hit it and end up dead or disabled and his family would sue me for everything I own and I’d end up homeless and full of guilt. When I was young and dumb me and a friend took out someone’s mailbox once, we at least had the decency to show up the next morning with a new post and box and apologized and replaced it for them.