I was watching a Sacramento news channel last night. It was airing a story about two Cameros racing on Hwy 99 some days ago, crashing and killing an innocent driver. In response to that the police is going after "modified" cars.

The news footage showed the police pulling over cars, like a VW Jetta or Golf and the cop measuring the ride height, which, to me looked normal. Yet, he declared the car to be "too low" and issued a citation.

Other pictures showed the cops opening hoods, looking for aftermarket parts in the engine bay. The program mentioned that in a short day or two they issued close to 200 citation for modified cars?

WTF???

I thought modifying cars were as American as apple pie! I am obviously ignorant of the law but, what laws exist to specify ride height? There are some exotics (Ferrari, Lamborghini) that come from the factory with ride heights set lower than most modified FD. Are they all to receive citations?

It is unfortunate for anyone to get hurt in a speed related accident. Yet, I think the police is going way too far in this case. This crackdown on modified cars seem to be in line with police state tactics that I had last seen living under Communism when all modifications to one's personal cars were strictly forbidden.

What do you guys think?

Albert

 

wow....yet another reason CA sucks these days

the most regulation happy state in existence

 

I heard about California Police enforcing ride height for some time now. They were even giving people a hard time on the height of their spoilers (rear wing), especially STI's and EVO's . I guess it sucks to have a modified car in California.

 

The actual law in Cali states that no part of the car's body may be below the height of the bottom of the wheels. If you are running 18s, you can get away with some pretty low ride heights...

Albert, the po-po has been cracking down on "modified" cars in this state for a while. Of course, they tend to only go after imports.

Bottom line though, is if you are driving "responsibly" and you are "older" , you probably won't get harrassed. Stock looking cars are much less likely to get pulled over as well. The only visible mods I have from the outside are my Stoptech front brakes. To an uneducated observer, my 18" Enkeis, 99-rear brakes, and RB dual-tip exhaust look stock. And I don't have A-pillar gauges to draw attention either.

 

have you heard about the smog dyno

i found this in another forum

"OK THIS IS IN MODESTO!!!

CHP smog dyno in my neighborhood!!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've seen in old threads awhile back where CHP set up smog dyno on the streets in the SoCal area, but I've never thought it'll ever come to the Modesto area.

Today(5/23/06) at around noon, I was coming home from school...I took hwy 99 and exit the Tuolumne Blvd exit to get home and I see a bunch of orange cones set up on Tuolumne Blvd. I thought it was road contruction, but I looked closer and I see the ramps laying on the street. I just continued on to my house (which is a block away) and it just popped into my mind that it might be a portable dyno set up by CHP. So, I bust a U-turn and went back to take a look at it...and IT WAS A SMOG DYNO. They haven't started busting people yet, but I'm not sure whether they're aiming for the tuner crowd, beater cars, or both! I pulled out my camera phone and started taking some snap shots and then pulled to the side of the road and got more pictures.

Anyways, I thought I'd give the local supra guys a heads up on this...

You guys know if there's a way to get out of this if you get flagged down to go on the dyno? Any legal issues behind this, etc? I'm sure it ll be beneficial for other members of the forum to know about this.

 

Damn, sucks to be in CA.

 

the mobile smog is a voluntary thing, but people who've been pulled over for it thought it was mandatory. Even if your car does emmit as a gross polluter they can't cite you. The idea of it is to get a general idea of how the cars in the area are doing smog wise.

 

Damn....I just seen a story on the news the other day, on how Law Enforcement in NorCal is going to start citing modified cars in an attempt to deter people from attending side shows. What a joke !!

 

ca laws suck ***
that reminds me..i had a ride height correction on my dd civic

 

ride height of the car should have the tires under the fender outline
in other words the tires tucking in will also be considered too low.

as for the smog dyno on the spot, as stated on the supraforums, you can deny to have it done (for now at least)

 

**** im always in modesto ....Chan dangles you got an fd?... i got a friend up in travis air force base ... you might now him hes from patterson ...
so its not mandotory .... thank god my seven shoots out raw gas from the exhaust and sound like a turbo diesel truck.... ha ha

 

man i wish i had a fd maybe in the near future

 

Thanks Tyler for reminding me the law. I knew that....

I'm relieved that I pass the ride height test even with my 17" wheels.

You are right, they are cetainly will not bother the real modified crowd; the hotrods. That is too American to screw around with.

I still have the underhood to worry about, watching the cops popping those hoods. My car is really not stock looking. I always liked my sports cars FLASHY. Why else would I have owned two Lamborghinis???

Albert

 

You kids have nothing to worry about. The tests do not involve law enforcement at all except for the fact they are there to direct traffic. These roadside tests have been going on for years now.

Read this link, it explains everything.
http://www.smogcheck.ca.gov/stdPAge....y-Sep_2001.htm

 

unless i am mistaken, ride height is measured to by the headlights. pop-ups FTW!!

 

There are a couple of ways. One is by no part of the car can be lower than the bottom portion of your rim. The other way they can get you is, the headlights can't be lower than 23'' or 24'' from the ground. It's measured by the center of the lens. Doesn't matter if you have pop-ups or not.

 

Good stuff, and easy for anyone to check how at risk they are.

 

Pop ups are so high that I think you could have a FC sitting on the frame rails and it would still pass the height limit.

 

yeah like cops dont have cars of there own that r lowered

 

Who said we didn't? My car is around 1.5'' lowered but it is within the limits of the law.

 

i'm above the law!
mine has a 2" lift ,.....................................and above the law.

 

wow. you're way below the national standard.

 

Thanks for the info on the height law Fu!

But seriously, this is one of the reasons why I originally didn't want to move out to Cali!! They are so rediculous about the laws they pass concerning cars. I would have to sell my FC if I ever had to register it in Cali. There is no way in hell it would ever be legal here.

What really worries me is that other states might start adopting some of the same laws soon. That would be really shitty!!

 

Everything is legal until you get busted. so dont get busted.

 

Fixed for you Wacky. At least that's what I do with the two 7's we own.