Does This Trailer Look Safe or Legal?

[kach22i]

Does This Trailer Look Safe or Legal?

I felt like I was going to lose my head following this thing in traffic.

You have to admire the cut-outs for the trailer lights, built right into the slope/ramp.

http://s184.photobucket.com/albums/x295/kach22i/MISC/

[Danny_Ocean]

Legal? Probably. Safe? Only for the person not driving under it.

When I used to investigate traffic accidents, most of the decapitations were from people driving under the back of trucks (one guy decapitated himself when a piece of lumber sticking out his side window hit another vehicle, swung around and "snip"...took his head clean off. Another guy did the same thing with a surfboard).

[Joeaksa]

I have to make the same comment about the "lifted trucks" that we see everywhere. Let one of those hit you in the side and you have no chance of living through the accident.

[Danny_Ocean]

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

I have to make the same comment about the "lifted trucks" that we see everywhere. Let one of those hit you in the side and you have no chance of living through the accident.

You would think current gas prices would turn these dinosaurs into, err...dinosaurs, but I still see them @ 80+mph cruising in the fast lane on the freeway. Not sure if I'm more impressed by the work involved or the earning capacity required to keep them moving...(there are minimum/maximum bumper height laws here, but as far as I can see, they are un-enforced).

[Danny_Ocean]

This happened to someone I know. He was drunk/speeding. Truck was broken down on the side of the Turnpike. He attempted to sue the truck driver/company for the crash...

[Chuck Moreland]

That Impala picture looks staged. No damage to the truck rocker.

They angled the car hydraulics and rolled it under there.

The detailing products in the background are another clue.

[Danny_Ocean]

Originally Posted by Chuck Moreland

That Impala picture looks staged. No damage to the truck rocker.

They angled the car hydraulics and rolled it under there.

The detailing products in the background are another clue.

Yeah, it is posed for demonstration purposes. All I could find on short notice. How's this:

[trekkor]

Looks...Final.



KT

[Dantilla]

I don't have a problem with lifted trucks. While most people don't ever take them off-road where the extra clearance is necessary, it's really no different when we lower our Porsches for street driving. We lower them for better driving dynamics. Trucks/Jeeps have better off-road dynamics when they have larger diameter tires.

Any laws requiring stock ride height would affect us as much as the Jeep crowd.

[Zeke]

CA does have laws for legal height. For both the chassis and the headlights. Seldom enforced. In CA, the lowest part of the car has to be higher than the bottom edge of the wheel rim. With today's ridiculous aspect ratio tires, that's one useless law. I don't have the stats on the lights, but it's like somewhere between 24" to 30 " off the ground. Clearly, the raised up trucks are illegal. And, I wish they'd ticket them as the lights are right in the mirror and usually out of adjustment.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by Dantilla

I don't have a problem with lifted trucks. While most people don't ever take them off-road where the extra clearance is necessary, it's really no different when we lower our Porsches for street driving. We lower them for better driving dynamics. Trucks/Jeeps have better off-road dynamics when they have larger diameter tires.

Any laws requiring stock ride height would affect us as much as the Jeep crowd.

You will not feel that way after you see the result of an accident where a "lifted truck" takes the head off of a friend of family member with their bumper that is now 2-3 feet higher than it should be.

Totally disagree with your comment and any comparison between lowering a 911 and a lifted truck. A lowered vehicle does not take the head off of the occupants of a car with the stock or legal ride height.

I could care less why they increase the ride height, it does not matter one iota to me. What does matter is safety and they can increase them as high as needed ONCE THEY ARE OFF OF THE ROAD but not while they are driving on the same roads as the rest of the public are! Jeeps, trucks, I could care less what vehicle it is, we all have to obey the same laws and we all should be safe!

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

You will not feel that way after you see the result of an accident where a "lifted truck" takes the head off of a friend of family member with their bumper that is now 2-3 feet higher than it should be.

Totally disagree with your comment and any comparison between lowering a 911 and a lifted truck. A lowered vehicle does not take the head off of the occupants of a car with the stock or legal ride height.

I could care less why they increase the ride height, it does not matter one iota to me. What does matter is safety and they can increase them as high as needed ONCE THEY ARE OFF OF THE ROAD but not while they are driving on the same roads as the rest of the public are! Jeeps, trucks, I could care less what vehicle it is, we all have to obey the same laws and we all should be safe!

Yup; what Joe said. That, and I would think the increased liability exposure would be a deterrent to their owners, but it doesn't seem to be. I wonder if insurance can refuse to pay when a truck has been illegally lifted like that, leaving the owner hanging in the breeze.

[Joeaksa]

Jeff,

You can be sure that should someone be injured or killed, that their lawyer would take the lifted truck's owners to the cleaners over it.

Personally I feel that they would deserve it.

Joe

[Laneco]

The trailer is used in commerce and is illegal under numerous provisions within the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations.

All trailers with a GVWR of over 10,000 lbs and more than 80 inches wide are required to have conspicuity marking covering 50% of each side and across the back (a little more detailed at the rear). THis is the red and white reflective tape that you see. There is some on the side, but none at the rear.

Each vehicle of this size must have rear under ride protection or have the wheels or other device at the rear that prevents a car from going underneath it. Well, maybe not prevent, but definately slow them down. On a trailer, let's start with it must be no more than 22 inches high and within 10 inches of the rear of the trailer. There are ways around this, but this trailer meets none of them and the under-ride protection is clearly way more than 10 inches from the rear of the trailer.

Though the pictures are not entirely clear, there appears to be a single safety chain between the power unit and trailer. Except for a bridle arrangement (which this does not have), there needs to be TWO safety chains.

From the pictures at the rear, it would appear that there are unsecured items in the bed of the truck - specifically the white barrel with the handle.

Other than that, looks great...

angela

[Porsche-O-Phile]

100% agree with the thing about lifted trucks. Utterly stupid and inappropriate for street use. Want to trailer one to the off-road park? Fine. Have a great time. But to drive on the street in order to show off your penis compensator? No way. It's a not-so-subtle way of extending the middle finger to everyone else and saying "I don't care if I kill you or your family - at least I get to look badass [to a bunch of similarly 2" dicked insecure guys]".

I really do wish they enforced those laws more. Also IIRC the law in CA is a max. 5" body lift and max. 31" overall. No more. Here's a site I use for reference:

http://www.jeepgod.net/liftlaws.html

[Noah930]

Dantilla, I'd have to agree with the others that there's a difference between a lowered car and a lifted truck. For the most part, a lowered car is not a threat to others. Well, let me take that back a bit. I admit that just the other day I saw a lowered Scion tC (probably done on the cheap, by cutting springs or something ghetto like that) scrape its undercarriage while going through a dip in an intersection. Car bottomed out. I suppose that is potentially dangerous, as it could cause the driver loss of control, thereby causing a crash. That's a little bit different than a Porsche owner lowering his/her car (with proper suspension modifications, so that the suspension isn't nearly as likely to bottom out) for a performance application. Either way, I can see how it's difficult to write a law (or enforce it, in our super-PC world) that distinguishes between properly lowered and improperly lowered cars. And I've definitely known of people getting tickets for lowering their vehicles (even when they, technically by the vehicle code, were legal).

On the other hand, the lifted truck owner may have an argument that that offers some sort of performance advantage in an off-road capacity. Unfortunately, they're not in that off-road capacity on the road. If anything, by and large the truck is clearly made less safe in doing so (by a significant margin). If hard core Porsche and sports car purists put a premium on non-sunroof coupes because there's less weight by deleting that sunroof mechanism up high in the chassis, what do you think lifting an entire truck 12 inches does for the center of gravity and handling/braking prowess on the pavement? And, like others have commented, I frequently see monster trucks doing 80 on the highway. That's dangerous for the occupants (though, to a certain extent, that's their own choice); but that's dangerous to the general public, as well. I've never heard of a lifted truck getting a ticket. Admittedly, I don't have friends that have 'em, nor do I hang out on 4x4 forums.

But I don't think you can make a simple apples-to-apples comparison between lowering a car and raising a truck. The killing potential of lifting a truck make that violation of the vehicle code a public safety issue.

[Pazuzu]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

100% agree with the thing about lifted trucks. Utterly stupid and inappropriate for street use. Want to trailer one to the off-road park? Fine. Have a great time. But to drive on the street in order to show off your penis compensator? No way. It's a not-so-subtle way of extending the middle finger to everyone else and saying "I don't care if I kill you or your family - at least I get to look badass [to a bunch of similarly 2" dicked insecure guys]".

No one would built a truck like that to go off-roading in. My old rig was only lifted from the tires and about 2 inches of suspension, which meant it remained stable with a low COG. The sky-riders are not capable of even dirt road driving, and they are illegal in most states. I don't know why I get dinged on my safety inspection because he can't see the brights indicator on the Porsche well, but someone can get those trucks registered and drive them on public streets...


Oh, and my rig did look badass

[Dantilla]

Originally Posted by Noah930

Dantilla, I'd have to agree with the others that there's a difference between a lowered car and a lifted truck.

Very true. My concern is that the state lawmakers would use simple language stating ride hight must remain stock. Unintended consequences would make any 911 at euro ride hight illegal.

It's also true that I see no purpose whatsoever with 12 inch lifts. That's not for off-road use, that's for bragging rights ony ("I'm a bigger idiot than you!"). I do have a Jeep that has been lifted 2.5 inches, and with the 33" tires, sits about 4 inches taller than stock. The wider track more than compensates for the added height, and it is far more stable than the old leaf-sprung Jeep I used to have with 31" tires. I'm amazed at the difference between the 31 and 33 inch tires when off-road.

So I guess when I think lifted, I'm thinking of moderate lifts for off-roading. Not the useless monster truck type lifts.

[tcar]

Originally Posted by Danny_Ocean

This happened to someone I know. He was drunk/speeding. Truck was broken down on the side of the Turnpike. He attempted to sue the truck driver/company for the crash...

He survived??????

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by tcar

He survived??????

I was thinking the same thing. Either an ejection seat or he is now very short.