Piston Slap: Gambling on Getting Lifted?
Kurt writes:
Hello Sajeev,
Appreciate your postings! Perhaps in future you or associates can find out why the USA (and by eventual inclusion, rest of world) has become infatuated with Lifted Trucks to point of lifting anything SUV or wagon under the sun (locally, we have folks trying to lift Foresters and Outbacks)?
Sajeev answers:
As someone who dodged a bullet during Hurricane Harvey, I’ll take my personal opinions about lifted trucks vs. terrifyingly shitty weather out of the equation. Going forward, the infestation infatuation with lifting anything on wheels likely fits into these categories:
1. Cars are Out of Fashion: trucks and SUV/CUVs are the rage, sorry for stating the obvious. And car body design takes some of the blame: I’ve spent many a Vellum Venom article lamenting analyzing the trend of raised cowls and pedestrian safety standards, seemingly pushing people away from modern chop-top sedans with terrible visibility. Taller cowls mean taller bodies, and stock wheels and tires often look lost in a sedan’s massive haunches.
2. More Products, More Marketing + Awareness: the speciality equipment biz has never been larger, if SEMA’s report is believable. Which means businesses of all sizes are jumping in the (lifted) band wagon. And promoting the hell outta them.
3. Readily Available, Easy to Finance: People with the money or credit (especially credit) can buy a custom, lifted truck that’s “cooler” than the stock ones on a dealer’s lot. New car dealers are taking their truck inventory (i.e. not KIA dealers) over to local truck accessory shops (or their own service departments, a good revenue stream for them too!) to lift those suckers with aftermarket suspensions, bodacious wheels, etc. and making a killing in the process.
Even if they don’t sell the new ones, what are the odds of any dealer having a lifted truck parked prominently in their used inventory with the promise of easy financing for most?
4. That Whole Grassroots Thing: ever heard of the Gambler 500? The rally race of $500(ish) junk cars is open to any vehicle, and just about anything will fly (so to speak) with a mild suspension lift, off road tires and extreme body modifications. The race exploded in popularity in 2017, as races showed up around the country. And every car enthusiast’s seen a Gambler-worthy vehicle in their social media feeds… PROVE ME WRONG!
We’ve covered all bases: from a $500 Panther, from lifted 6-figure trucks with easy credit, to companies like LP Adventure covering the middle ground (with dealer support!) we have all price ranges and socio-economic conditions covered. And don’t they look cool?
It’s a safe bet to gamble on this trend sticking around for a long, loooooong while.
[Image: Shutterstock user Chere]
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Here in the Midwest from around the mid 60s thru to the 70s it was all the rage to just lift the back of your car (although there were a few souls that did the reverse). Sitting still with the right wheels and all the car would look great providing the owner didn't max out the lift. Never got that though as I realized it would seriously compromise the cars handling. I thought doing the lift with bigger wheels/tires would be a better way to go, but even then the handling would be compromised. I get why folks lift their vehicles, but it's not for me. I like going fast through corners too much.
In my very youthful days I had a Ramcharger with a 3" lift, white spoke steelies and 31/10.50/15s on it. Took that thing everywhere and the only thing I wish were different was it needed wider tires because I broke a front disc on a rock one day. Traded it for a 427 Cobra replica that can't even clear a speed bump.