Most of the real low riders I saw were older (60s, 70s, maybe 80s), and larger cars. Need a lot of trunk room for the hydraulics and 12 extra batteries.
The cars which are simply lowered, however, mostly seem to be post 90s imports. All those Toyotas, Hondas, and Nissans permanently lowered to the point where they can’t open the door if they park in the grass are the ones I point and laugh at.
I also think it’s a doofus move to require a ladder to get into the cab of a truck that has the same ground clearance as a regular 4X4.
Different strokes for different folks. Just because someone choses to modify their vehicle doesn’t mean they have a tiny penis. You enjoy your car just as it came from the factory? Great! News flash; we’re not all the same.
Not all lowriders have hydraulic ‘suspensions’ that raise and lower.
I believe they were originally done because the car could be lowered when it was parked, which is when it was being shown off.
Lowriders with hydraulic ‘suspensions’ no longer have real ‘suspensions’, so they are very impractical to drive, even when they are ‘high’ enough to go over bumps and ramps.
On solid axle trucks (which pretty much all of those goofy big ones are) a lift only increases the ground clearance to the extent that it allows larger diameter wheels and tires. Ground clearance isn’t everything though-- a properly done lift also improves the approach angles and allows more side-to-side articulation of the suspension, which helps. Not that I’ve ever actually seen one of those giant trucks off pavement.
At least with lowriders, they’re generally washed and waxed and have sweet-ass paint. You can sense a pride of ownership.
Lifted trucks are always like a rusted out bronco with a confederate flag and truck nutz. You get the sense that if the owner could have just driven the regular rusted out bronco and moved into a little bit nicer trailer.
People can spend their money on whatever they want. I don’t care. But lifted trucks affect other people. They tend to take up more than one parking spot, and their headlights blind others. They’re more likely to be in accidents due to their high center of gravity and low visibility, and cause more harm in two-car accidents due to the other car going beneath them. Their tires make more noise than normal trucks.
A well done (by a shop who know what they’re doing) lowrider or hotrod can be a work of moving art; a well done lifted truck can be a worthy thing as well, I’ll admit my bias towards the former though.
OTOH like Gump’s mama and HoneyBadgerDC said, stupid is as stupid does. See the second example in running coach’s post #16 – Egads.
Speaking as somebody who’s actually had both, I thought I’d chime in on a few points:
A properly set up lowrider that’s able to bounce and articulate has a fully functional suspension, and can be a daily driver. Even if it’s one of the little Japanese trucks. Mine had fancy paint, shaved body, airbags running on a pressurized nitrogen system, and could bounce front, back, corner to corner, and lay on the ground, but in daily driving could be anywhere from scraping the ground to 6 inch clearance, you literally chose the ride height to be whatever you wanted. And ride quality was high, they use similar “air ride” suspensions in large (think moving) trucks.
The raised trucks with big wheels do make more noise at speed, and those big tires are expensive. They do get used offroad, too, but probably not often enough to justify the expense, it’s mainly for looks.
My vote on which is stupider? Depends on the context. But I think if I were going to have one or the other again, I’d go with a lowrider. Lots of fun, comfortable ride, and gets lots of attention. Plus, as pointed out earlier, babes prefer the lowriders.
Actually a couple of weeks ago I did see a hugely lifted truck, complete with Truck Nutz, being driven by a woman. Granted, as a species we are not prone to that sort of thing.
When I lived in Western states I was very impressed by some of the lowrider cars, and the artful work that was done on them. Not practical, for sure, but creative, and there isn’t a rule that mandates cars be practical. :). The lifted trucks, unless there’s some actual reason (not that I’ve seen), are pure-D, Duck Dynasty, stupid.
Have you ever watched one driving down the road? It’s a brutal ride. Seriously brutal. If they could be driven at normal height with ANYTHING resembling a suspension then I could see the fun in it.
