Posted on 04/28/2025 7:54:36 AM PDT by Red Badger
“Rims” – the slangster term for wheels that are disproportionately large for the vehicle – are arguably one of the worst styling and functional affectations of the past 20 years. They add weight and increase rolling resistance, which reduces fuel economy. This goes for hybrids, too – i.e., vehicles specifically designed to deliver the highest-possible gas mileage. Yet even the Prius (reviewed here) that is marketed as being the apotheosis of fuel-efficiency, at least putatively – is much less fuel-efficient than it is capable of being, due to its “rims.” Specifically, it is 5 MPG less efficient when it rides on the 19 inch “rims” that are standard with all trims except the base LE – which rides on 17 inch “rims.”
Imagine how fuel efficient the Prius would be if it rode on 15 inch wheels instead.
Gnomesayin’?
“Rims” also add expense – both up front and down dey road – in the form of more expensive (because larger) tires that cost more to replace when they wear out. That wear out sooner because of the increased weight added to the load the tires must bear, which accelerates wear. Most “rims” are also shod with short-sidewall tires that haven’t got much give and so are more vulnerable to being damaged when the car drives over a bad pothole – or the driver runs the “rim” up against (or over) the curb.
Here’s another contender: “Lifted” trucks.
The term refers to – is a synonym for – a truck that has been jacked up, that rides several inches higher off the ground than it did when it left the factory via the lifting of its suspension. This used to be something that was done to a truck by its owner – or a shop – and was done in order to make the truck more off-road-capable. Clearance being important when you are attempting to drive seriously off-road.
But driving a lifted truck on road that never actually goes off-road is a lot like driving around on “rims” in that it’s for show – and comes at a cost that goes beyond whatever it cost to get the truck “lifted.”
First, it is likely to negatively alter the way the truck handles – especially in the curves, due to the weight of the truck being higher off the ground. New/late-model trucks are more stable during cornering than the trucks of the past – which generally had very basic suspension systems and few, if any, electronic safety nets such as stability control.
But that doesn’t mean they can’t be made less stable – and “lifting can do exactly that. Getting a of air under the truck at high speed helps – and raising the body does just that.
“Lifted” trucks are often complemented by oversized, knobby-tread off-road tires that are specifically not designed for high-speed handling or even straight-line driving (at high speed) on paved roads. Sudden, unexpected steering/braking inputs – such as swerving to avoid an animal or a kid that ran into the road – can unsettle the balance of the “lifted” truck and that can (and sometimes does) result in loss of control and a wreck that might not have happened if the truck had not been “lifted.”
VIDEO AT LINK...............
It’s harder to get in – and out – of a “lifted” truck, too. Not just for passengers, either. It is much harder to get at whatever’s in the bed – without a ladder – which makes it less useful as a truck, the main point of which is to have a way to carry things to and from in the bed. But when it is difficult to load and unload the bed without a forklift, the bed becomes effectively useless as a bed.
And the hitch – used to pull a trailer – is probably too high to line up with the trailer, so the “lifted” truck can’t pull anything, either. Even if it is rated to pull 10,000 lbs.
It is also harder to see what’s ahead of you when you’re sitting so high up that the car in front of you is hidden from your view.
So what’s the point? Other than the look?
Not – as Seinfeld used to say – that there’s anything wrong with that.
Not everything needs to be practical and there is much to be said for the whimsical; for creative expression.
But it’s not especially creative when its become a cliche. When it’s become something that (so it seems) everyone is doing in order to look like they’re creative – as in different from everyone else. But when every dude (so it seems) has a barbed wire tattoo on his arm and a Van Dyke beard on his face, it’s no longer different from what everyone else is doing.
Wearing “rims” is of a piece – and so is driving around in a “lifted” truck. Both have become the vehicular equivalent of barbed wire arm tattoos and Van Dyke beards.
Which is fine, if it makes you happy.
There was a time when everyone (so it seemed) was walking around wearing wide-collared shirts, gold medallions and bell-bottom cords.
And they seemed happy, too.
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I hate those wheel covers that keep spinning after the vehicle has stopped. I’ve slammed on my brakes a few times when I caught that motion out of the corner of my eye at an intersection and reacted.
At some point they just look silly.
My neighbor has a truck just like the one at the top of the article. He also helps others do the same to their trucks........
I haven’t seen many of those lately. I guess they were a passing fad or they get stolen a lot.................
I honestly want to have my 99 Suburban lifted about three inches so I don’t have to use ramps or a jack to change my oil. I could care less how it looks.
They had installed 26” rims and extreme low profile tires on their vehicles.
I had to explain to them that their air suspension was fine, they just chose to exchange ride quality for looking cool. They wanted me to fix that problem they created. Again I had to explain that it was their choice, ride quality or looking cool.
They wanted me to fix that problem they created
5%? A number pulled out of their @$$. Those rims are pretty stupid though. Tires are a large part of the shock absorbing quality of a suspension. The ride on those things is horrible. But if people want to be idiots why stand in their way?
The stupid thing too is putting low profile tires and huge rims on 4WD and AWD vehicles.
They give you no traction in the winter.
They tend to float over snow.
These tires started showing up on SUVs twenty years ago.
I remember when one of the ladies in my office bought a new Jeep Grand Cherokee. She had to put different tires on it in the winter because the others were terrible in the snow.
Then they started put them on big pickup trucks.
Now, all vehicles have them. I remember in the 1980s/90s when most smaller to mid size cars had 75R14 tires. They were inexpensive to replace. Now, every rim is 17-19”. Tires are over $200+ each.
I slacked this weekend, I was supposed to remove the 15” snows off my car and put my huge custom 17” wheels with summer tires on.
Yes it does cost me a few mpg, but I don’t care
It seems like to me the larger the radius of the tire, the more miles the tire will travel.
Some people put on larger rims, but lower profile tires so that the radius is unchanged. This helps handling but reduces ride quality. They convert 14 inch rims to 15 on older cars. Hard to tell the difference.
The only reason to raise the car is to increase clearance. There have been people who lower cars to make them look “cool”. It is mostly about “look at me”. Ditto, most plastic surgery, tatoos, low riding pants, etc, etc.
My F-150 is my former company vehicle which I bought when it was time for a new one.
It came standard with 20” wheels.
I rigged it with a rooftop tent and other gear as an overlanding rig. I recently bought knobby tires and 18” rims for better off road capability.
I don’t plan on a lift but I’m planning to beef up the rear suspension with either more leaf springs or air bags.
Btw, I’m cheap. I bought the tires and rims used.
Some people are so stupid they lease them. It’s a ghetto and ghetto identity crisis wannabe thing.
There is no accounting for taste.
To each his own.
Some people appear to have more money than brains!
Not mentioned is the increased risk to others on the road caused but these extreme modifications. Reduced stability, reduced stopping distance, reduced visibility, etc.
There was a Cadillac Escalade owned a big Ft Worth tattoo artist that came in. He said his truck drove “wild” and for us to take a look at it.
The Escalade had just spent a month in a custom shop being lifted. That shop removed the factory air air suspension for their own air suspension contraption. Inspection found that there was no shocks or struts on the vehicle and no ability to reinstall the active factory shocks/struts. The vehicle was dangerous to drive.
I was not about to take on the legal liability of “fix’n” his Escalade and told the owner to take back to the custom shop that screwed it up to correct the problem of no active shocks/struts.
*Active shocks/struts are computer controlled.
More “look at me” phenomena.
I’m sure people who do this think they’re so awesome, kind of like movie stars or celebrities might think.
In my opinion, a guy will catch more guys with those add-ons than he will catch gals.
Stupid is as stupid does.
The Low IQ crowd started with $2,5000 stereos in $250 cars.
Looks like the truck ran over a couple of T-1000s from Terminator 2.
I poked fun at a guy at the gas station recently, who was filling up his Olds 88 or something similar, which had huge rims, way oversized like 22” at least.
All I said was when I was a kid we all tried to get our cars lower to the ground and with smaller rims, now you guys want your cars to look like monster trucks.
I don’t recall a reply.
It also screws up the speedometer.
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