It's pretty common to see these on the road in Houston, Texas.

Oh wait, you said "civilized world", my bad.

Surprisingly, even Brazil is more civilized in that regard. Tires and rims may not extend laterally farther than front or rear bumpers.

The downside is that people weaponize the sound system, so they don't even need to be driving to be hostile to everyone within 300 meters.

See also

• Scythed chariot – An ancient, military counterpart

Thanks.

Swangas (also spelled swangaz, and colloquially known as elbows (or elbos), 83s, or 84s (or simply 4s)) are custom extended wire-spoke wheel rims associated with slab car culture of Houston, Texas

Slab (sometimes in all capital letters) is an acronym for "slow, loud, and bangin'" that describes a custom car, music and surrounding culture that's associated with African American hip-hop culture that emerged in the Houston area.

TIL. I always wondered what they were about.

Even more surprising is that Houston has any sort of culture.

They're surprisingly common in the Houston area. If they're illegal, you certainly wouldn't assume they are based on how often you see them.

Why would you assume they're real?

America is a scary story the Brits made up to keep the other colonies behaving.

America is fine, as long as you steer clear of the United States.

Friggin bullies!

Texas is just a fictional place. Doesn't really exist. (/j)

They aren’t.

Confidently incorrect. Maybe they're illegal some places, but definitely not most places. In Texas, they're not illegal, but it can be illegal if they make your vehicle more than 8 feet wide. Since they're usually on sedans, they usually don't hit 8 feet.

Also they're more specifically a thing in Black culture in Houston. I see them pretty rarely in other Texas cities

Usually, US law enforcement errs on the side of illegal since they have the presumption of good faith (or at least did until ICE went gonzo about lies and cover-ups).

But anything that looks suspicious counts as probable cause meaning they can search you and relieve you of cash and valuables. Nowadays, they presume they can jusy rob you and it enhances the precinct budget for fun stuff.

We see this kind of overpolicing done more to minorities than whites, but so long as you don't look super rich (enough to have a lawyer on your contacts list) then you're fair game.

If this sort of thing is uncommon in their parts, it's going to draw more attention than a red sports car.

Not in Texas. I can basically guarantee that this is in houston, they are all over the place down there. They're called elbows or swangas and are popular throughout the "slow loud and bangin"(slab) car culture native to the area.

Depends on what state you live in if there are mandatory vehicle inspections (20 of 50 states do NOT have vehicle inspections). The state I live in does not have any mandatory vehicle inspections.

You can literally mount real bull horns to your hood over there

Some of them are surprisingly legal, depending on the width of the car. They're popular in Houston, and so long as the total width of the vehicle doesn't exceed 102 inches they may be legal in Texas. Lots of them do make the vehicle wider than 8 feet, but for probable cause it has to be glaringly obvious they're over 102 inches, and that's not always legally clear. They mostly get tickets for them if they get pulled over for something else and the cops measure them during the stop.

And Texas no longer requires inspections as of like 2 years ago. But they could just remove them before inspections before anyway.

i have never in my 24 years of owning and driving 13 cars while living in two US states experienced such a mandatory check.

I've very distant memories of emissions tests but that was strictly exhaust or OBDII checks specifically for emissions.

Never safety or roadworthiness.

There are no more standards in america if your liked.

I've seen those sharp things on a pickup truck's wheels

A few months ago a pickup truck cut me off and i crashed into its side and fell into the side of the wheel. If the truck i hit had these spikes, i'd be dead

The idea is the driver can see if a lug nut is missing. They are typically just plastic, but would still shred a pedestrian or cyclist, two members of the woke left.

You really don't see them as much compared to when they were in their hay day, because they were/are a liability. But current ones are soft plastic with a thin metallic coating.

They put them on to keep cars from crowding them, which they do have a legit problem with. I don't really care as long as they stay in their lane it's just psychological. The first time the wander a little into my line and tear up my car, i'm going to own their ass.

Idiots, they live among us.

Look, you spent all that money on your Cadillac, you can't just look like everyone else. They gotta know it's you! Swangas stand out from the crowd. Whistle tips on the exhaust (only in the mornings, when you supposed to be up making breakfast) let everyone know you're coming. You don't have to hide. You're the king of the block, no, the city. No need for subtlety.

Put a cow catcher on the front of your truck and lift it three feet! Put underglow on your (Automatic) Honda and a JDM tow hook! Make it so your car sounds like gravel in a trash can at 60kph!

Basically, people like to customize their very expensive decisions. You don't have to worry about accidents because they're not going to happen to you.

Or just confiscate the car, fine their sorry asses, and pass that info on to their auto insurance company.

straight to the thunderdome