Nearly everywhere you look, you’ll see a truck; that’s an average North Carolinian experience.  However, nearly everyone has experienced the less-than-desirable sound of a truck rumbling past with its muffler off. 

Picture this: you’re having a quiet, peaceful nighttime drive when a lifted truck suddenly appears in your rearview mirror.  The cab is so high that even the trucks’ low beams are blinding you, and its aftermarket light bar isn’t making your vision any better. You move over to the right lane to allow them to pass before the driver floors it past you, leaving a cloud of diesel fumes seeping into your car.  

Now the overall idea of “squatting” trucks comes from some owners believing that it gives their vehicle a more aggressive look, by lowering the back end and raising the front end of their pick-up trucks.  

Many owners of these trucks also go “catless,” removing every sound-deafening and emissions control aspect of their exhausts.  These exhausts are extremely loud, and many people who enjoy louder modded cars share a disdain for many of these trucks.

However, these trucks aren’t just a nuisance; they are extremely dangerous as well.  Those with lifted trucks have an extremely limited amount of visibility.  Higher hoods block drivers’ view in the case of a child or animal running out into the road.  Some squatted trucks can be so high that smaller vehicles can even disappear. 

They are also unstable to drive.  Due to their modified suspension, their handling is limited, and tend to sway. These characteristics run a heightened risk of causing these trucks to cause wrecks.

Now this is not to say that all truck modifications are “weird.”  The vehicle modding culture is vast and unique.  Other mods to trucks that are safer and less disliked include things like lowering kits and performance mods, allowing owners to still customize their pick-ups without the added danger that comes with it. 

So please, if you ever consider “squatting” your RAM 1500, consider the detrimental effects.