It’s time for me to pick a bone. An abysmal trend has been dubbed the Carolina Squat, giving my beloved North and South Carolina a bad rep. The truck and SUV trend started in an entirely different state before our rednecks adopted it. 

The Carolina Squat is really the Cali Lean 

First of all, the Carolina Squat is now illegal in three whole states including, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. 

I know this is subjective, but I think the style looks terrible. Plus, I’m glad it’s beginning to be banned because doing this to your truck, SUV, or car is dangerous. 

It can lead to steering issues, weight imbalance, and worn tires. It limits visibility out the front as the nose points toward the sky. It also ruins stability, making it dangerous at high speeds. Last but not least, it makes trucks weaker for towing and hauling. 

This may not matter because most people don’t actually buy trucks for towing. Most people buy them for big truck energy, which squatting can quickly diminish. 

But this isn’t an original Carolina trend. The squatting movement started back in the 1990s in CALIFORNIA, all the way across the country. It’s referred to as the California Lean or the Cali Lean. 

It quickly spread across the nation as people on social media started sharing it. It gets thousands of searches every month. 

For a while, the Cali Lean was popular in Baja racing. Raising the front of the trucks prevented damage while landing jumps. This is because the back tires would hit the ground first, reducing impact force. 

Raising the front also helped improve suspension travel in the front. Without having to worry as much about the impact, drivers could do faster jumps. 

In the Carolinas and Virginia, it’s illegal to raise the front end of a vehicle four inches above the ear fenders. If you’re caught you could get a $100 fine. But if you’re caught for a third time, the fine is increased to $300 and your license will be suspended for a year.