An auto enthusiast’s worst enemy is often legislation. Whether it be modifying a project car, repairing a broken vehicle, or buying a new daily driver, the ever-changing word of law can prove to be challenging for car and truck lovers.
Now, legislators in North Carolina have set their sights on a controversial automotive trend growing in popularity: the Carolina Squat. A bill passed by the state’s House of Representatives and sent to its Senate would modify the vehicle code to specifically ban suspension modifications that both raise the front-end of the vehicle and lower the rear—the key signature of a squatted truck.
A full copy of the proposed change, which was recently posted to Reddit, can be read here. We’ll outline the important bits below.
“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 2 inches from the manufacturer’s specified height in the rear.”
Love it or hate it, the purpose of the bill is clearly aimed at doing away with squatted trucks. No matter what name it goes by—the Carolina Squat, the Cali Lean, and the Tennessee Tilt to name just a few—the premise of the suspension modification is the same. In each case, the vehicle’s front end is raised while the rear-end is either lowered or left at factory ride height, giving the truck a leaned-back look.
This goes beyond just installing a leveling kit to even out factory rake. For many, the purpose is simply to stick the front-end of the truck into the air. Some believe the trend originated from baja trucks which raise the front-end of vehicles to combat nose diving on uneven terrain. Whatever the origin may be, non-enthusiasts often find the rake to be annoying, making ordinary headlights seem like high beams and putting pedestrians at risk due to decreased visibility.