What the hell is in my truck?

[Porksboy]

I noticed a white powdery substance coming out from the rear bottom corner of my 2008 Ranger. I knocked it off of the outside last week and noticed today it's back.
I dug deeper and found this.

It's under the seatbelt tensioner and looks like battery acid.
I bought the truck 5 years ago and it was previously with the Army Corps of Engineers. I vacuumed it up and cleaned as best I could.
What do y'all think it is?
Someone's forgotten stash?

 

[Adam B]

Sniff it and find out

 

[Porksboy]

IfI let my wifes dog sniff it and he starts running like his head is on fire and his ass is catching Ill know a little more.
I always wanted to find a wad of cash or someones lost Rolex or something in an old car I bought.
Im fucked up enough, I dont need any chemical help.

 

[kl3309]

Fire extinguisher went off? Remains of an old road flare?

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Was your Ranger owned by Crockett? Or Tubbs?

Sirhr

 

[Porksboy]

It was stuck behind the plastic panel. Would an old flare do that?
What do old flares smell like?

 

[Jgunner]

Cum stalagmites

 

[n0glock]

panty cheese

 

[Not a Sniper]

I noticed a white powdery substance coming out from the rear bottom corner of my 2008 Ranger. I knocked it off of the outside last week and noticed today it's back.
I dug deeper and found this.View attachment 7632739
It's under the seatbelt tensioner and looks like battery acid.
I bought the truck 5 years ago and it was previously with the Army Corps of Engineers. I vacuumed it up and cleaned as best I could.
What do y'all think it is?
Someone's forgotten stash?

Oh, I definitely blame the Corp of Engineers. LOL.

Weenies-the lot of them.

 

[kl3309]

It was stuck behind the plastic panel. Would an old flare do that?
What do old flares smell like?

Is it an access panel? Maybe they were storing the flares back there. For some reason, .gov types like to save half-used flares in various places. The crumbly innards then leak out in chunks as you're going down the road..

Inhaled a lot of smoke from those flares but couldn't tell you what they smelled like other than "burning." Just as well, that's red phosphorus so you wouldn't want to inhale any of the powder if that's what it is.

 

[SONIC SAAMI]

Your post is misleading.
You do not own a truck.
You own a compact pick up.

 

[Aftermath]

Yes, an old flare can disintegrate similar to that, you might notice a slight sulfurish smell but that looks like foam or a similar sorta chemical reaction. I'd be a little worried about it eating the body off and would enlist the opinion of a good autobody shop. At least get it thoroughly cleaned out with soap and water and then maybe a baking soda rinse.

In the meantime, avoid those late night "safety checkpoints" the cops like to set up and DEFINITELY avoid DEA agents.

 

[Waorani]

I always wanted to find a wad of cash or someones lost Rolex or something in an old car I bought.

Took a chance and bought an '89 ex Gov't 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban sight unseen off Ebay about 15yrs ago. Cleaning it out I found a double handful of 9mm/.45/5.56 scattered in various nooks and crannies, almost a box of 12ga 00buck, a secure Motorola handheld radio in the spare tire well, and a stack of Ritz Carlton plastic cups!

Turned out to be a well documented low-mileage/serviced truck but I'd forgotten what a tank those used to be and, like an idiot, ultimately got rid of it. Tailgate instead of barn doors I wanted, but covered in tread tape with rear-facing rear seat, and grab handles mounted above and sides of roll-down window. Never knew what agency it came from but was always curious about it's history.

 

[Porksboy]

This is an 08 ranger reg cab short bed 4x4, 3.0V6, automtic that had 25k when I bought it 5 years ago.
In my ownership the only issues Ive had are a leaking heater core the dealer replaced.
The alternator crapped out and front hubs got noisy at 100k.
Its a base model and has factory locker diffs. Small enough to get me in the woods, big enough to haul everything I need.

 

[The D]

I always wanted to find a wad of cash or someones lost Rolex or something in an old car I bought.

the only thing I’ve ever personally found doing used car inspections is a really nice pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses

When I was in tech school, one of our instructors said they got a Mercedes S420 lease trade in for a training vehicle. They were having some weird problem with one of the doors so they took the panel off and found 2 giant bags of weed. Unfortunately I missed that car coming in by a few months...

 

[SanPatHogger]

The last dealer I worked at we found a live grenade in a traded in truck. That was pretty sweet.

 

[kimbergoldmatch]

Maybe Ford has an explosive seatbelt tensioner and it leaked?