States Keep Banning Squatted Trucks and Now Haters Are Having Second Thoughts

I’m not sure there’s any car mod trend as universally hated as the Carolina Squat—y’know, where trucks and Tahoes are lifted sky-high up front with stock-height suspension in the rear. It’s been the subject of many a gripe online, and in 2021, enough people complained about it that North Carolina state legislators actually banned it. They weren’t the only ones as Virginia, South Carolina, and Tennessee followed soon after, and on Wednesday, Arkansas became the latest state to outlaw the modification citing road safety concerns.

The bill, named SB411, was introduced on March 10, so it passed through Arkansas’ state Congress in less than a month. It specifically prohibits suspension, chassis, and frame modifications that elevate a vehicle’s front bumper four inches or more above the rear bumper. Drivers will be hit with a $250 fine for a first offense, and if a second offense follows, it’s a $500 fine. Get caught driving a squatted truck three times and you risk having your license suspended for a full year. SB411

Since I live on the Missouri-Arkansas state line, I’m part of quite a few local car groups on Facebook. The discussion is about as kosher as you’d expect—as in, not kosher at all—but people seem pretty split on the decision. While some are glad these “eyesores” are off the road, others comment that passing this type of legislation could be a “slippery slope.” Their argument makes sense, too; if this modification can be outlawed in a hurry, others could be too. And if you’re leaving it up to government officials to decide what alterations should and shouldn’t exist, you might wake up one day to find your project car or daily driver illegal for road use.

I’m not here to pick sides. Fortunately, that’s not my job. But this conversation has been going on for years already. I remember Ezra Dyer’s blog on Car and Driver after North Carolina banned squatted trucks, and clearly, other people feel the same way: The mod sucks, but should it be illegal? It depends on who you ask.

We’ll see if the passage of SB411 works in keeping squatted trucks off the road. Personally, I have my doubts. Arkansas’ decision will be part of the conversation going forward and I wouldn’t be surprised to see other states hop on the bandwagon before long.

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