Change My Mind About Lifted Pickup Trucks

Show of hands: Who likes to be noticed for their ride? Come on, admit it! When you’ve got your auto, whatever auto that might be, all buff and shiny, you want to get noticed. At every red light, you glance around to see who’s checking out the wheels, right? There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, says the proud owner of a Ford Mustang!

However, there is getting noticed and then there is doing something flat out ridiculous to your car. I’m not talking about covering the back with clever bumper stickers but about giving your ride a lift. Specifically, I’m talking about lifted pickup trucks. Frankly, I don’t see the point.

To Lift Or Not To Lift

From a “fix-up perspective,” I kind of get it. You can take on the lifted pickup project yourself and add anywhere between 6 inches to “I need a set of stairs to get into the cab” heights to your truck. Sure, it will be a blast getting in there and adding a lift, working with your buddies to jack up the truck and then taking for a spin. Of course, you’ll have to make sure you’ve got the tunes cranking and your muffler rumbling to really sell the lift.

After all that “fun,” you’re now stuck with a pickup truck that looks plain stupid. Perfect for a Monster Truck rally but kind of silly pulling into the Piggly Wiggly to pick up some milk and eggs. Are you sure those stares from other folks aren’t coming with a roll of the eyes? How many of those people would gladly trade their ride for your ride? Not many.

Living In A Lifted World

Then there is the practicality to consider with a lifted pickup truck. First of all, clearance is now a major issue. Sure, you’ll still be able to glide under an overpass. However, there might be a lot of parking structures that will be off limits. Think you can squeeze in? Go ahead and give it a try. That loud metal scraping sound you hear will be your roof cab being shredded.

There is also the “date effect” to consider. Trying to impress a special lady friend with a lifted pickup is going to be dicey, especially if they have to struggle to get into the darn thing. Imagine how much time they’ll spend picking a cute outfit to wear on your big first date, only to be confronted with climbing Mt. Everest to get into the truck. Not a good way to start things off.

There are also the safety issues to think about. Sure, the lifted pickup truck is going to give you higher visibility, but it can also create a lot of blind spots. There’s also a learning curve to driving one of those beasts. Do you really want to start your driver’s ed all over again?

Change My Mind on This

All of that being said, I know there are plenty of lifted pickup fans out there. Hey, I’d like to think I have an open mind when it comes to vehicle modifications. I’ve done my fair share of off-market upgrades. So, take your best shot. Convince me that I’m all wrong about lifted pickup trucks. Change my mind and you just might see me riding high!