Random pseudo-rice question...

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240Z freak

240Z freak

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Whenever I drive through the inner city, I inevitably see cars with a certain type of strange wheel modification. What I'm talking about is the small lowrider-type wheels that , although having an extremely small diameter, stick waaay out from the body of the car, sort of like this:
nopi109.jpg

I usually see this on pickup trucks and compacts being driven most often by Mexican dudes. What's up with this and where does it come from? Anybody?
 
people usually have that one thier cars if they have some sort of air bag suspension kit or a hydraulic suspension kit (ie "Hopper") as is shown in your picture.
 
Yes, lowriders.

Although it'd be interesting to know why they need such small diameter tires though? Is it so they can fit up inside the wheel well?
 
Because if they had bling blingin' 20"s, the tyre would be so small and not big enough to absorb the bounce. Also probably like Corbraboy said, so they can fit inside the wheel well...
 
That is an outgrowth of the Hispanic Lowriders of the late '60s. Before there were hydraulic or air suspensions, they would cut the springs. To get even lower, they would put extremely small diameter wheels/tire combos on so that the car would crawl as low as possible. That's where the 13" rims came in, since most cars had 14" stock.

They other thing that was a popular modification - and remember, this is back when custom wheels were virtually unknown - was to get your stock wheels chromed, and then put them on reversed - inside out. This meant that the offset was huge and made the wheel stick way out of the fender well. I really think this was just to make the tires more prominent after they had been downsized, ao they wouldn't look lost in the big wheel arch. It also meant frequent wheelbearing problems, and played holy hell with the spring rates and drivability (especially considering the cut or heated springs), but hey, true fashion has to hurt, right?
 
So, basically just to get a lower ride? I was only using the first picture to illustrate the wheels, my question had nothing to do with "hopper" systems.
 
When i went to a cruise in london there was a Honda accord that had 14-inch rims, that had a £7000 hydraulic system. When i was speaking to him he said the main reason for small wheels is the fact the wheels will hit the top of the arch if ya bouncin plus if he wants to drive along on three wheels (.:odd: ) it wont rub on the back..........

Have to say there the craziest car ive been in
 
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