Throughout the history of the automobile, enthusiasts have come up with a number of ways to modify them and make them their own. Some styles have stood the test of time, while others have flamed out like a shooting star. But one particularly popular mod – the Carolina Squat, as it’s commonly known – might just be deemed illegal in North Carolina soon.
Carolina Squat is a way to refer to trucks or SUVs (most commonly) that sit far lower in the rear than the front. This, critics argue, is dangerous, for a number of reasons, For one, it’s quite difficult to see anything in front of the vehicle when it’s pointed toward the sky, and it also points the vehicle’s headlights in an unideal direction and alters the handling significantly.
Thus, lawmakers recently introduced North Carolina House Bill 692, which aims to ban the Carolina Squat, and it has already passed the state’s House of Representatives. In most states, such modifications would likely already be illegal due to headlight and/or bumper height laws, but N.C. doesn’t currently regulate bumper height.
“A private passenger automobile shall not be modified or altered by elevating the automobile more than 3 inches from the manufacturer’s specified height in the front and lowering the automobile more than two inches from the manufacturer’s specified height in the rear,” the bill reads. “A private passenger automobile modified or altered in violation of this subsection shall not be operated upon any highway or public vehicular area.”
The bill is currently headed to the state senate, which will determine its fate. If the bill is signed into law, those that operate vehicles with a Carolina Squat on public roads face fines and even potentially having their driver’s license taken away.
We’ll have more on this as soon as it’s available, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for non-stop Ford news coverage.
Comments
I want to know how they are going to police the max 3″ lift/2″ drop.
See those around here some too, but there are not enough of them to be near as dangerous as all the drivers that cannot stay off their phones & just drive.
Carolina squat? Never heard of it. Those pictures depict the “dog with worms” look, as it is commonly known.
What’s worse than a Carolina Squat pulling out in front of you? One that also “rolls coal”, this time directly into your fresh air intake. And there is no way they can see you in their rearview. A “Gravedigger” (you know the guy) mud puppy jacked up 2 feet at all 4 corners would be safer on the road
However, 3″ in front and -2″ in back generously allows them a 5″ mini-squat. Add the legal GCW of free weights at the tailgate and the look will be right back where it started – but, ahem, legal
I can see insurance companies denying coverage in accidents. This is further proof of how hard it is to fix stupid.
The states have both the right and responsibility to regulate autos and what is safe and not safe (for those registered to drive on the roads), I have no problem with the regulation(s) over this type of “modification”. I wonder how safe something like this would be driving in a neighborhood with children/pets/people walking etc., one death is too many.
@royl
Some states shirk their responsibilities by not mandating annual vehicle inspections (CO for one) and others (NY) allow rust buckets with holes throughout. There is little uniformity among the states, but we are allowed to drive our cars cross-country without usually being stopped.
Although once on vacation in NC I had to order a new headlight assembly because they thought the lens too hazy during the day. Had nothing to do with it not working
You are right about the differences between states! NC for example takes road safety more seriously than others. Another example, many cities in certain states are defunding their police-the same great folks in charge of these cities, are wondering why the crime rate is growing so quickly! Oregon (the state) has made all drugs legal, including heroin! But thankfully there are some state govt’s and city govt’s that actually take their jobs seriously.
That “look” reminds me of the mid fifties Gasser type drag cars with leaf spring front suspension which raised the front end and on the rear were wider slicks. I really don’t see any benefit to altering a good truck to be like this. If it’s style over function, then they failed miserably.
I’ll donate 50$ dollars to the dumba!s society to get the rest of the lift kit installed!!! Absolutely stupid to own a truck that can’t be used to tow cuz it’s going to drag. I saw a truck yesterday that dumped his 4 wheeler at an intersection when he jumped on it and the straps let go from the extreme tilt. Good move dumba!s.
Amos, I like your style, great post!
I live in South Carolina and I can tell you it’s shameful they named this crap after our state. They also have overly large diesel style exhaust tips with no mufflers or catalytic converters and they sound as horrible as they look going slow and loud. Hopefully this and rolling coal will go the way of truck nutz. Im not against people modifying vehicles, but if this is art to them, it should only be at shows or events, just like the redneck mud events. It’s crap like this that makes the rest of the world think that everyone in the southeast is a bunch of uneducated hicks. We are not all this.