North Carolina outlawing gassers?!

[BobWaitz]

While the bill is designed to prevent a particular truck modification, it looks like it could also exclude gassers.


The new bill states “a private passenger automobile shall not be modified or altered by elevating
\the automobile more than three inches from the manufacturer’s specified height in the front and
lowering the automobile more than two inches from the specified height in the rear.”

https://www.wmbfnews.com/2021/06/05/north-carolina-bill-could-ban-carolina-squat/

[r1lark]

Interesting, had not seen this. I've seen some of those 'squat' trucks running around here in central NC. To me, they look like they are either hauling a big load of firewood, or like a crawling baby with a full diaper. But to each their own.

Unfortunately, this bill could be used to harass lowered mini-trucks, the big jacked up trucks, hot rods with dropped axles, lowered sporty cars, and like you say the gasser recreations.

[Mike Van Veghten]

"California Lean"..?

Never heard of it, never seen it out here in SoCal.
Most cars and trucks either go up in the air or down...not both..! Not unless they have airbags, like many low riders, and that's a temporary thing, like in minutes, not a lifetime.

Mike

[NCDave51]

My neighbor to the west Paul is correct in post #2. It’s called the Carolina Squat or Slouch and that’s exactly what the newspaper article said here a couple weeks ago. It has nothing to do with any “style” in particular but goes after braking orientation, steering, headlight alignment and driver’s line of sight (according to my friend at a local inspection station, Allen’s Citgo).

Why people do this to any truck let alone new trucks is beyond me. What a stupid trend this is becoming here.

[dad had a lark]

I can see the confused Police officer, looking at his computer for headlight and ride height specs. Studebaker........Studebaker......
could you tell me who manufactured this car?

[Andy R.]

IMO, most restrictions like this are targeted to a specific segment of the population and selectively enforced, rather than the vehicle itself. If it was popular with boomers to relieve lower back pain, it wouldn't see the light of day.

I very much doubt the NC legislature is concerned with potential oil-starvation or visibility.
The stock hood height of the blocky new trucks today is already ridiculous. A squatted F150 from the 90s is still going to have better visibility than a new Silverado.

The workaround...



My uncle's street-racing big block Impala sat low in the rear, much to the ridicule of his peers who liked to show off their diffs. (duffs)
The laughs stopped when the bandana dropped.

[Andy R.]

IIRC, don't some drag racers use lighter front springs (6 cyl) to aid weight transfer at launch, even though they sit level at rest?

[BobWaitz]

I haven't noticed anyone in Minnesota doing this but my complaint would be their headlights blinding me. What always surprised me was the LowRiders I saw here before airbag suspension or hydraulics were widely available. If it were me, I'd have done every cosmetic thing you'd normally see in a LowRider on a 4x4 chassis with monster mudders considering our climate, crappy streets, and steep driveway aprons.

But, hey, if raising the front and dropping the rear gets the cute girl to go for a ride in your truck, they're going to have a hard time stopping it.

[NCDave51]

For the 1960 model year, Volkswagen was forced to raise the headlamps on their Karmann-Ghia, roughly 1.75” from the 1959 centerlines.

My how times have changed.

[62 Lark]

Here in New York, some police (wrongly IMO) apply, the D.O.T. regulation about height of the horizontal cross bar, on trucks that prevent a car going under a truck, in a rear end collision. It is a stretch to apply it to pick ups, but some still do.

[52 Ragtop]

For some reason, in the N.C. and S.C. areas, the "fad" is to drop the rear of the truck, and raise the front, looks pretty ridiculous but to each their own. I've been "told" the N.C. law staes that the center of the headlamp can not be more than 52" from the ground. Some states have a specified height for the bumpers.

Jim

[NCDave51]

The height is a reasonable rule - but says nothing of the angle of the beam! Pretty sure the OEMs didn't allow for that much downward adjustment.

[JRoberts]

Here in eastern North Carolina this fad started several years ago. At that time it was used primarily on pickups, but now a lot of big SUV's are using this treatment. Why? Who knows. I do the the time many years ago to put the gasser look on cars. That did not look all that bad, but law enforcement tried to keep the height down to a reasonable level.

[PackardV8]

I know a guy who does new truck modifications. He was a mechanic at a Ram dealership and they were not allowed to do the dumbshit raise/lower mods some buyers wanted. He and his boss decided to move down the street, rent a shop and charge insane big bucks for what the customer wanted. He says he feels guilty putting all that money in the bank and filling dumpsters with new shocks, springs, tailights, whatever. He does resell the OEM tires and wheels.

Often, a customer will pay thousands for Chicom dub wheels and tires, a six-inch raise kit and a bunch of other mods which results in a truck which isn't as fast, doesn't ride, handle or stop as well and voids the warranty.

jack vines

[Lark Hunter]

I'm not a huge safety maven or a fan of ever more legislation, but looking at these squatty trucks does raise some serious concerns. I've never wantonly lowered the rear of a vehicle, but have driven some very heavily loaded-to-slightly overloaded vehicles with their nose up in the air. That would put them at a rake roughly similar to the less extreme examples shown here, and it was pretty difficult seeing over the front of the hood, becoming impossible when cresting a hill. After dark on one road trip, I was turning on my brights to avoid blinding oncoming traffic, as those shot well above the tops of their heads. With brights on, I could pretty much only identify whether the trees lining the road were coniferous or deciduous... I fortunately had the requisite Torx T-15 onboard to do a quick re-aim.

To me, it's one of those things where if where your vehicular personal expression impedes or jeopardizes the safety of others, mebbe it's better to keep it off the public streets. Also, aren't gassers a more effective weapon on the dragstrip, than puttering down Main Street at 23mph next to Nana on her way to Bingo practice?