We all love modified cars, but how you modify your car matters. Some folks like track suspension and wide, grippy tires, while others are more into lift kits and beadlocks. Everyone’s got their own thing, but some things — according to you all — simply cannot be allowed. Earlier this week, we asked you which car mods should be banned, and today we’re looking through your answers.
Rolling Coal. This is just ignorant. Nobody wants to breathe in a cloud of diesel smoke.
I’ve had brodozers roll coal on me, in my old Miata, and let me tell you: I would like them to stop doing that. It’s not very nice, and I don’t like it.
“Carolina Squat” is stupid, the whole “stanced” look is dumb (and not exactly safe either, right?), but I reserve my highest level of disdain for any vehicle with an excessively-loud exhaust and their drivers who insist on forcing everyone to hear their crappy vehicle and pay attention to them.
I live in the city, on a road that gets a fair bit of traffic during the day and it’s normally not that bad, but any time of the day or night there’s always some jerk in a brodozer, Harley, sport bike, or some DIY street racer who rips down the street with their loud exhaust to break up any moment of tranquility.
Nobody thinks your car/truck/bike sounds cool.
But I think my car/truck/bike sounds cool, and I want to enjoy the sound! We really need some way to allow for sound inside the cabin without high volumes outside. Scientists, get on that.
Any kind of lift on a full size pickup. Again, please see your doctor - there’s more effective treatments for micropenis.
Trust me, truck driver, that vehicle is not giving off the vibe you’re hoping for. No one thinks it’s cool.
LED lights stuck into headlight housings meant for halogen bulbs.
Granted, it is already illegal to do this, but it is not enforced, and everybody does it anyway.
LED headlights are good. LED headlights retrofit into housings that don’t properly aim the beam are a menace, and should be treated as such.
OK, hold on a sec... *cracks knuckles* for street vehicles, the following mods should result in an immediate impounding and crushing of your vehicle:
Lift kits. Body lift kits. Chrome bumpers. Tubular bumpers. Truck nuts. Bull bars. Winches. Tow hooks. Chrome tips. Light bars. Roll Bars. Double/triple roll bars. Giant tires. Giant wheels. Eternally mounted jacks. Externally mounted traction mats. Externally mounted axes. Externally mounted jerry cans. Externally mounted first aid kits. Externally mounted propane tanks. Rolling coal. Angry jeep faces. Tubular jeep doors. Lowering kits. Slammed suspensions. Body kits. Chin spoilers. Diffusers. Those stupid mini shark fins you see on EVOs. Summer tires. Underbody light kits. Wraps. Fart-can exhausts. Exhaust cut outs. Aftermarket hood scoops. Aftermarket NACA ducts. Aftermarket blowers. Performance chips. Upgraded fuel systems for racing. Upgraded suspensions for racing. Anything CNC’d from Billet. Anodized anything. Racing seats. Keeping the tow-eye exposed on your car. Stance of any kind. Donks. Carolina Squats. Tires with less than 5" of sidewall Tires with more than 12" of sidewall. Glass packs. Loud exhausts of any kind. Flame anything. Skull anything. Flag anything. Skull-flag anything. Flaming skull flag anything. Tinting over lights. Tinting over turn signals. Loud exhausts on motorcycles. Skull accessories on motorcycles. Stupid handlebars on motorcycles. Urethane frame bungs on motorcycles. Extended swing arms on motorcycles. Hypermiling fairings.You want these things? buy a trailer and haul your vehicle to wherever it needs to be. But keep them off the fucking road.
I love the idea that simple anodizing means your car should be crushed into a cube. Oh, you wanted your parts to be a color? Well fuck you forever, apparently.
Any exhaust that sounds like gun shots or could be described as “brap brap”. In car subwoofers. Any forward facing lights that aren’t installed directly from the manufacturer. Window tint past whatever percentage is required to safely block out the sun, and window tint on a windshield full stop.
Bass is also illegal. No low tones. You like electronic music? Stop that.
I struggle with this. Because the answer should be “most of them.” However, it seems like the majority of the ones that actually get enforced are for mods that are more common with minorities.
Jacked up truck? Not enforced
Squated Truck? Enforced
Lowered supercar? Not enforced
Scrapping Impala? Enforced
Loud Pipes? Not Enforced
Fart Cans and Popcorn? Enforced
I can keep going. I think it would be interesting to pack a car with 2500W of stereo and start blasting Toby Keith near a police station and see if you get a ticket, a warning, or an audience.
When you get down to it, American is thankfully home to many subcultures. These subcultures enrich us as a people. Many do car modifications, which is cool. But some of these modifications make the vehicle less safe, which is not cool.
To me, the big thing is if the person has changed their driving habits to offset the modifications. Take the stereotypical low rider that is driving slow. The lower speeds offset the suspension modifications. On the other hand, I see jacked up trucks hauling ass on twisty back roads where they driver is not slowing down to offset the lower limits of the vehicle. In this case, I have a problem with them.
The law is meant to be applied equally, right? Has that ever happened?
These dumb fucking things.
I honestly think these are pretty fun. Inconvenient for street use, absolutely, and likely to take out some ankles in a parking lot, but there’s something neat about them.
Bro-dozers with oversized wheels AND spacers making the thing a good 6" wider (or more) on each side. This shit:
Fuck off with that! I’ve just made it illegal!
Most car mods evolve from motorsport, or other automotive activities, but this one makes no sense to me. Is it meant to look like a monster truck?
Slammed cars. Not just low - tire wrapped 1" off the ground slammed. You want to bring it on a trailer (if you can get it on there) to some car show and drive around real slow, go for it. But if you have to drive 13 mph through my entire city so you don’t bottom out on anthills you need to make some adjustments to your life. And car.
I’ll defend stance more than the average bear, but the ultra-thin tires do seem to post a genuine risk to safety. Maybe don’t stance your daily, at least.
Tinted or blackout head/taillamp covers. If you are rear-ended with these on, all fault should be on you.
This is so, so dumb. Your lights are, sort of definitionally, meant to be bright and visible. Why make them worse at that?
Those stick-on fake louvered vents
They aren’t dangerous or anything, I just hate them
Y’know, I appreciate the self-awareness. We appreciate a hater who knows they’re just here to hate.
This is a new thing, and I’ve been seeing it everywhere, student driver bumper stickers on obviously not student driver vehicles. I don’t get the joke, and you’re an asshole.
Sharing a car with your parents? Illegal now. Go immediately to jail, do not pass Go, do not collect $200.