Brazil is not just a country famous for its football, tropical forests and carnivals. Sambacilar is also known for a different trucking culture. Brazilian truckers add a different dimension to the tuning world with their different modification styles.
But Brazilians do it not just because the car looks good, there are other reasons as well. What are these reasons, what are their pros and cons? Let’s take a closer look.
Brazilians, who lift the rear suspension of the trucks up to 2 meters and press the front, call this style ‘kangaroo truck’ or ‘belted truck’.
Drivers say they chose this method to minimize bad road conditions or accidents. However, the most important reason for modifying trucks in this way is “safety”.
Although everything seems like a daily rosy look from the outside, Brazil’s inside is not quite what it seems. Crime rates in the country are quite high. One of these crimes is theft. Trucks are frequently looted, especially on highways.
Therefore, truck drivers started to prefer using kangaroo trucks for the safety of life and property.
In addition, according to drivers, pressing the front of the vehicle and lifting the back increases the load capacity of the trucks and ensures better driving performance.
This style, which is nice for some and bad for some, is comfortable for the driver, but it can cause serious damage to both traffic and vehicles.
Let’s take a look at how the backs of trucks are raised off the ground before the damage they do to the vehicle.
This method works in two ways. In the former, and often preferred, a second chassis is added to the original chassis of the trucks so that the rear can be raised up to 2 meters. In the second method, various apparatus or additional scissors are added to the chassis.
This method, which is claimed to improve the stability of the vehicle, reduces the possibility of losing control and overturning the vehicle while turning. Of course, these are all drivers’ opinions. According to experts and other truckers who oppose this modification, the situation is quite different.
According to them, the main reason for removing the back of the truck is to cover up the illegal overloading of the truck.
In addition, this situation causes great damage to the vehicles. For example, when the rear is raised and emergency braking is required, it is easier for the load to eject forward; which means that the driver can always be in danger.
There is also the law of physics part of the work. As the truck’s rear end rises, the center of gravity shifts completely and overloads the front axle. This causes wear of the front axles and wheels, deterioration of braking performance and damage to many parts, especially the transmission, over time.
Contrary to what drivers say, according to driving experts, excess weight makes it harder to turn in corners, as the load will press on the front axle. This can cause the vehicle to become unstable and tip over.
As a result of all this, the Brazilian government passed a law to prevent accidents.
In 2014, the National Traffic Council (Contran) issued Resolution 479 limiting the flatness of trucks. According to this law, trucks can be raised up to 2 degrees.
In other words, the rear of the vehicle can be raised up to 3.5 centimeters per meter. In addition, the taillights cannot be at a height of 1.20 meters from the ground. Likewise, parking lamps or position lamps cannot exceed 1.50 meters from the ground.
However, it cannot be said that Brazilian drivers comply with this law. It’s still possible to see kangaroo trucks on Brazilian roads today.
You can find other content we have prepared about vehicles such as trucks and buses below:
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