Lowering a truck -- a mortal sin... repent now!!!

[illtmprdman]

Dear Dodge 4x2/4x4 Owners:

Over the past few years, I have noticed an alarming increase in the number of morons/inner city losers/yuppies/fools who purchase trucks. Moreover, many of these vehicles have V8's that require increased amounts of fuel.

Although I am a large proponent of the V8 engine, these (clueless) people will never use the power and utility of a V8, thus, increasing the scarcity of an aready precious commodity (oil).

Unfortunately, these people have decided to take their deplorable behavior a step further by LOWERING their trucks. Without question, lowering any truck-like vehicle should be punishable by castration or strangulation (public stoning would also suffice).

It pains me to see perfectly good 4x4's/4x2's lowered to the point whereby they bottom out on speed bumps. I become teary-eyed at the mere thought...

Not convinced of the stupidiy amid our world? Here's a good test -- walk up to the average truck owner and ask them what a carburetor, a locker, or an intake manifold is and I can guarantee that 90% will not know the answer.

Our world is spiraling towards a very sad reality -- loyal and intelligent truck owners will have to suffer the consequences of truck-owning retards (increased emissions laws, higher gas prices).

Follow me... Take my words and spread them to distant lands. Help me to rage against the stupidity...

ill-tempered-man

[Supercharged5.9R/T]

Ill tempered, i agree with you to a certain point, but the rest i disagree on.I'm not trying to start any flames here, but you are calling a lot of people on this site stupid, including me. Although my truck is not dropped yet, it is gonna happen in the spring. My truck is not gonna be scraping the ground, but lowered, and will look better than it did when it sat normal, and this is not speaking for everyone. Everyone likes what they like, period, you like your truck the way it sits now, the guy with the lowered truck likes the way his is now, its called personal taste, and in my eyes, it is not stupid, and what makes the next guys truck different from the rest of the trucks running the road. There, i vented, just my opinion

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Anthony Leone
13.09@102.92
99 FR RC R/T

[RAM360SST]

Here's a pic of my truck! Hope you like it

[http://www.wawazatkustomz.homestead.com/files/Wawazat.jpg[/img]

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1994 Ram 360 Red/Silver

2/4 Drop, Clear Lenses, Keystone Front Bumper, 6inch Hella lights, Rollpan, Champion Spark plugs, MSD wires, K&N Filtercharger, JBA Headers, Sony Xplod CD player www.ram360sst.homestead.com

[RAM360SST]

Here's a pic of my truck! Hope you like it



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1994 Ram 360 Red/Silver

2/4 Drop, Clear Lenses, Keystone Front Bumper, 6inch Hella lights, Rollpan, Champion Spark plugs, MSD wires, K&N Filtercharger, JBA Headers, Sony Xplod CD player www.ram360sst.homestead.com

[ram100]

Well,

I have to agree mostly. If you want something low buy a car. You want something high buy a truck. They come that way from the factory for a reason. I'm a pretty diehard form follows function. That's why pickups aren't lowered to begin with. I look for a crashing through a field, pulling a huge trailer, bustin through scraper bank, pushin huge piles of snow, going down a dirt track pullin a weight sled, crushing low cars, driving over boulders, 4 wheelin down a bumpy dirt path, carring a heavy load till the springs invert pickup truck. That's what they were meant for from day one. People aren't retards for doing it. I just don't understand it.

[This message has been edited by ram100 (edited October 26, 2000).]

[illtmprdman]

Dear RAM360SST,

Let's see --

Your truck would be unable to pull a heavily loaded trailer -- The rear suspension would bottom out.

Hit a curb and you'll take out your front suspension, possibly your front bumper, too.

Off roading -- nada...

Winter driving -- even bigger nada...

Everything considered, you have just removed most of the "utility" aspect that a pickup provides.

Sincerely,
ill-tempered-man

2000 Dakota Club Cab, 4.7L V8 w/45RFE Trans, Borla headers, Gibson cat-back exhaust, Intense Performance z-tube w/9" bigmouth filter

[DAKRACER]

Well for starters everyone is entitled to his or her ideas about how a truck should look. Some people like them stock, some people like them lowered, and others prefer them lifted. It’s all about the person and WHAT THEY LIKE! Now, I could sit here and bash people like illtemper did, but that would bring me down to his ignorance level. I feel that "ill temper boy" is just a little to emotionally caught up in his opinion. The fact that someone has lowered their truck doesn’t make them any less of a person metally than the next. If you notice, trucks are the number one selling vehicles on the road. Also, you will notice that the manufactures are selling "factory sport trucks" which some are lowered, I.E., Dakota R/T, The Indy Ram (when it was in production), the Chevy extreme, ford Lighting, and a few others. These things sell like hotcakes. Now granted you do have some points that lowered truck cant do. Such as going offroad, well If we wanted to go offroad then I woulda bought a 4x4(when I do want to go out in the woods then I just go with my friends in their 4x4's), and for the snow well you got my there I live in FL. But lowered trucks can tow heavy loads, just cause you lower a truck doesn’t mean you totally lose your tow capacity, if its done right then you can keep the majority of that. Also ever heard of airbags? The same basic things that most Semi Trucks have. Well you can bolt up a set of those to your lowered truck and tow just as much as you could before with out the suspension bottoming out. Also you hit a curb in most anything your bound to mess something up bend a rim or pop a tire. I personally am very happy with my LOWERED truck and use it to its fullest, it looks good, rides great and handles even better, I even take it out to the local SCCA events and autocross it. You want something that a stock truck cant do well I wanna see you bring your stock vehicle out to one of these events and see how well it handles through the turns. Oh and some of us lowered guys do know some motor stuff, I infact have just got done building a 318 that should put out around 330 hp naturally aspirated....if you have any doubts about feel free to check out my clubs website WWW.RCST.COM
Ryan N. VP RiverCity SporTrucks

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96 Dak Sport Lowered 3/5 99 R/T rims, 5spd "built"

[Mopar_Maniac]

My thoughts on this subject are this...
if you bought it, do what you want to it!

It's a basic, and simple theory, but it works for me.

I had a 96' Ram CC 4x4 Sport loaded. The truck had less than 100 miles on it when I installed a Trail Master lift kit, and 33" BFG Mud Terrains.
My 2000 Dakota is a 2wd, so I plan on lowering it (moderately) in the spring.

I like to customize ANY type of vehicle I own, from my Harley to my Polaris sled. And I don't look down on anyone who likes to keep thier vehicles stock.

...not that anyone asked my opinion.

Later,
Jeff C.



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"There's no such thing as too much cam, just not enough motor"
-David Freiburger

00 Dakota RC 2wd, IB 4.7 V8 5spd. 3.55's. Decal free, 255/60-15 Firestone's, loud pipe's, homemade intake and traction bars, removed overloads, and more to come...

[Duner]

So What!!

I hate blue trucks, and fords, and taxes and ill-tempered people who think that everybody should like what they like. Any questions?

Have you ever heard of DODGE - Different?

Get over it!


Duner's lowered gas-hog truck! (Power & Utility to Spare!)

[Fastdak]

O.K. guys, lets try to keep this a civil discussion. Everybody is entitled to their own opinions and should feel free to speak them, but not at the expense of other members. Please refrain from making comments which may be construed as offensive. Thanks!


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94 Dakota Sport 5.2L, Magnum Performance Super Karbine 250 throttle body, 3.90 auburn LSD, K+N X-stream filtercharger, MSD 6A, Blaster Coil II, Taylor wires, MP Computer, Pacesettter headers, Dynomax supercat, Flowmaster 50, Crower 1.7 rockers, Lakewood traction bars, Hellwig sway bar, Transgo shift kit, MP valve covers, Firestone Firehawks SS20

[WEDGEMAN3]

Hi Guys,
Cant we all just get along ???
My take on the whole thang is like
alot of you other DAKOTA owners. Its mine
and I dont give a damn what anyone else
thinks about it. I didnt buy it to please
YOU. !!! I own Five (5)MOPAR products so
as you can probably guess I dont have a
problem being called "DIFFERENT".
Its all about personal preferance.
My problem is understanding why 300hp
Chevy Trucks are so slow ?!?.....



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WEDGEMAN3

[Skillz]

What about those like me? hmm...

I have plans on buying a dakota in the very near future, and it's going to be lowered.

Am I some sort of 'sinner' then? Oh no, I won't be able to tow things, I won't be able to off-road, I won't be able to drive in the snow, I won't be able to...oh.......wait a minute...that's what my lifted JEEP is for!!!

Let people do as they will.
We didn't become a great country by listening to what other people tell us to do!!!

Flame me if you will. I just hate people nosing into other people's affairs. My $0.02

[ram100]

Hey to each his own,

Like I said before form follows function. I perfer a crashing monster that looks like a truck and handles like one. To you others you want a truck that handles like a sport car, is low like one, and can take to a track like a pro. Another good point brought up is where you live. Here in NY especially where I live a lowered truck is extremely rare. They are stock or lifted and I can guarantee that more often then not if one does roll into town it is scoffed at put down. The 2 dealerships never sell any trucks like them either. No market here. That would probably explain why I don't understand why people lower their trucks. I haven't been exposed to other parts of the country.

[larry dart]

Well where do I start....I know, Just because my truck is lowered doesn't mean that I am a moron or stupid or any of your other colorful words that you have used. My truck is that mine and I will do whatever I damn well please to do with it..I like the look of my truck lowered. Hey "pup" what gives you the right to think that just because the truck is lowered that the truck can no longer perform it's duties. I have had up to 1000 lbs in the back of mine and it has not caused me a moments grief. Sheesh just look at the way the manufacturers are going..Everything is lower than it use to be..Think back to let me see a '81 Chevy Malibu. It was high enough that you could crawl under the car and see what was banging around when the exhaust was loose. Try sticking your head under a Honda.. That is right you are going to knock yourself silly. Hey that might not be a bad idea...You have your opinions. You are entitled to themm But just because you don't like something doesn't mean it is wrong. By the way what kind of vehicle do you have???

[illtmprdman]

Thorndike Barnhart World Book Dictionary...

Truck (n): A motor vehicle designed primarily for the carrying of things rather than people, ranging in size from small vehicles used to carry tools or deliver parcels to large vehicles used to carry very heavy objects, such as furniture and commodities in bulk.

See the problem...

As mentioned in an earlier post -- even if you use airbags to stabilize the rear of a lowered truck, it cannot match the versatility (ability to position the trailer) of a regular pickup. For example, take a small fishing boat on a ramp -- most lowered vehicles would scrape the ramp due to the incline.

Another "angle of approach" example can be seen at many of your local parking lots. As road drainage and highway elevations evolve, entrances and exits to many parking lots have become steeper. Think about it -- raise the front of a lowered vehicle too much (sometimes only 3") and the back end will be dragging.

Moreover, I refuse to believe that hitting a speed bump at 25mph has the same effect on a 4x4 that it does on a lowered 4x2 -- it just doesn't add up (ground clearance, suspension travel, tire/rim sizes).

On a slightly different note, personal insults within this topic are not acceptable -- I have not directly called ANY user inappropriate names nor do I intend to. That would not achieve my goal of enlightening the masses...

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2000 Dodge Dakota 4x4, 45RFE auto transmission, Borla stainless shorty headers, Gibson 3" cat-back exhaust, Intense Performance "z-tube" w/9" big mouth filter.

[DAKRACER]

WELL IT WOULD APPEAR THAT EVERYONE HAS MADE THEIR POINT, AND ITS OBVIOUS THAT EVERYONE HAS DIFFERNET VIEWS, I FEEL THAT ANY MORE DISCUSSION ON THIS WOULD BE LIKE "KICKING A DEAD HORSE" IT ISN'T GONNA MOVE AND NOBODYS OPINION WILL CHANGE. MY OTHER .02

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96 Dak Sport Lowered 3/5 99 R/T rims, 5spd "built" 318

[Fastdak]

Enough said! This thread is closed.


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94 Dakota Sport 5.2L, Magnum Performance Super Karbine 250 throttle body, 3.90 auburn LSD, K+N X-stream filtercharger, MSD 6A, Blaster Coil II, Taylor wires, MP Computer, Pacesettter headers, Dynomax supercat, Flowmaster 50, Crower 1.7 rockers, Lakewood traction bars, Hellwig sway bar, Transgo shift kit, MP valve covers, Firestone Firehawks SS20