For some enthusiasts, modifying a car’s look is a great way to express a bit of personality, and to make a car really stand out on the road. Sometimes, though, drivers get a little too fond of their mods, and want to introduce changes to a car’s look and feel that are actually hazardous. As a future mechanic, it may fall to you to someday either help drivers make modifications to their cars—or to refuse on the grounds of safety (or legality).
Curious about which kinds of modifications can be risky to make? Here are a few examples.
Pros in Car Mechanics Training May Know “Hellaflush” Cars Can Be Less Stable
Take a lowrider car, drop it even lower, and you’ll have an idea of what “hellaflush” is all about. This kind of modification takes low profiles to the extreme, involving a lowered suspension, the installation of oversized and offset rims, and narrow tires. The result is a car that is very low to the ground—and which might have other issues, too. Wheel alignment may be thrown off, tire strain can be increased beyond safe levels, and the vehicle’s overall manoeuvrability and stability can be negatively impacted.
Because of its potential for danger, Hellaflush is currently illegal in Quebec, with other provinces doing research into the modification style to determine what (if anything) should be done about it. Regardless of legality in your region, if you want to err on the side of safety, you may want to avoid making hellaflush mods after finishing your automotive mechanic courses.
Headlight Modifications Can Be Dangerous to Other People and May Be Illegal
With a car’s lights, people are used to seeing white lights in front and red lights in back (and the law requires both, too). Positioning of the lights is also very important. Positioned correctly, headlights and taillights are great for increasing a car’s visibility. If lights are offset to an incorrect angle, they may be either too difficult to see, or blindingly bright in the eyes of other drivers.
For these reasons, modifications to the colour or positioning of a car’s exterior lighting can be incredibly risky, and mechanics may want to think twice about making them. It’s common for improper modifications to change the positioning of lights, and it’s also not unheard of for drivers to want to modify their lights to be different colours, not realizing that lights in blue or purple—or any other colour—can be confusing for other drivers. If ever you’re asked to modify lights, use your car mechanics training to figure out whether the mod is safe before making it.
Grads of Mechanics Schools Should Think Twice About Adding Scissor Doors to Cars
The automotive world is awash with really cool doors. From the Tesla Model X falcon wings, to the scissor doors you see on pricey models made by Audi, Bugatti, and other higher-end manufacturers, there’s plenty out there to make owners of cars with regular doors envious. Modifying a car to have scissor doors, however, is not a solution most drivers should seek out.
With scissor doors, the whole weight of the door is placed on the joint when the door is open. This can make modifying a car to have scissor doors something of an endeavor. On top of being more expensive and difficult to maintain, scissor doors can be quite dangerous. In the event of a rollover, it may be difficult or impossible for rescue workers to get into a vehicle and rescue the occupants if the car has been modified to have scissor doors.
Ultimately, this modification isn’t illegal, so it really is up to the discretion of the modifier whether or not they want to make it to a car. If you’re ever in a position where you’re asked to make this alteration, though, you may want to explain the risk potential to your client.
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