(not my image. I just find these comical and incredibly dangerous)
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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.
See also
- Scythed chariot – An ancient, military counterpart
They aren’t. There might be places with shitty cops that tolerate them. (Quick search shows this is mostly a Texas thing)
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
Americans proving their inability to understand their country isn’t the world just never stops.
You’d ever only see these in the US, it doesn’t matter if they’re specifically illegal elsewhere because it just doesn’t happen (on normal roads, outside very rare shows etc.).
It’s so fucking tiring not being able to get away from 'Muricans like you who are so deep into their own shit that you’re unable to even start to understand anything else.Welcome to a post about the US on an US-based instance. Feel free to continue acting like a total asshole
What’s US-based about fuckcars? Most posts here are not about or from the US.
Maybe they are legal in a few places. There is more places in the world than just a couple of US states.
I’d be interested to hear where they’re illegal and what that law says
“It is unlawful to attach stupid dangerous bullshit to your vehicle.”
Australia, can’t protrude past the factory wheel arches. Also, a trailer can’t be wider than the vehicle towing it.
, just looked into EU regulations and it’s clear these are not outright prohibited
I don’t even know what are we talking about here. I’m 1000% sure you would not be able to drive more than 100m with rims like that in Europe. Someone would immediately call the caps and they would immediately immobilize the car and send the driver to jail.
Coming back to this, just looked into EU regulations and it’s clear these are not outright prohibited
No law expert either but the pointy figurines people put on the hub front in the 70s? They are illegal; not specifically but by endangering all the other participants on the street. Bet wheel spikes fall under the same rules.
Btw, this is something i observed recently: US tends to make rules reactively and case-specific, which is why it needs to also define wrong-doing or not specifically (“don’t dry your hamster in the microwave” warning label). While europe countries try to abstract general rules, just like in this case. I think the second approach works better for a healthy society.
In the UK you’d 100% get pulled over by the first police car you crossed paths with.
Every single European country. No moving part of a car can extend beyond the fixed bodywork. Even “open wheel” cars have to have the top 180 degrees of tyre covered.
I’m reading something different in the EU, that only the tire treads can’t extend beyond the car body
In Germany for example this is so unthinkable it’s like somebody saying “tell me the law that says I can’t steal vegetables from the super market”. Please do your own research, some things just are illegal without me needing to cite a law.
My thoughts exactly. “Show a me law that says I can’t attach two giant swords on each side of my car that will cut in half everyone that I pass by close enough. I’m sure you can’t”. American mind is sometimes hard to comprehend.
So you can’t cite the law, I knew it. I won the discussion /s
“It’s illegal because obviously”
You should become an attorney
It’s illegal because it endangers other people. People on bicycles, motorcycles or on foot are particularly vulnerable. People don’t expect literal whisks to stick out from the wheels of a car.
Without even knowing which law regulating vehicle specifications is violated, I am positive that the German §1 (2) StVO is already violated:
Anyone participating in traffic must conduct themselves in such a way that no other person is harmed, endangered, or hindered or inconvenienced more than is unavoidable under the circumstances.
I appreciate you giving an actual rationale for how they might be illegal
Even Texas has unsafe protrusions rule, but a cop would have to enforce it. No part of the vehical can endanger pedestrians.
what? they are a pedestrian hazard, how would these not be illegal in every state?
Simple, make your city unwalkable. Pedestrians are no longer a concern. Anyone dumb enough to be a pedestrian deserves it.
Obvious /s is obviousI see you have been to many Alberta towns
AKA Notth Texas.
i mean actual policy
bet money it is illegal and just not enforced
pretty sure the tire, including rim must be in the tire well (in Texas it’s to the length of the mirror specifically even)
apparently this is a moron red state kinda thing where because it is not specifically called out cops cant be assed to enforce laws for general vehicular safety
Well that’s definitely commonplace with pickups having low offset wheels. I’d be curious if there is policy to support that though!
5 foot tall hoods are also a pedestrian hazard, but fashion trumps safety.
again that just sounds like lazy cops
Texas is just a fictional place. Doesn’t really exist. (/j)
If only
Didn’t mythbusters or top gear do an episode on this type of stuff? Iirc they had two cars do something like this and it ended very poorly for the car with the spikes. I think the wheel ripped itself apart.
What happens if you throw a crow bar in there?
Not a lot until they start to drive away, then you have a DIY crowbar launcher
Haha I chuckled at this.
Or tire iron?
It undoes the lug nuts on the cars beside it, giving the driver an unfair advantage during street racing.
This is why they’re illegal in most states
Or a chain where you drop one end in the front and the other end in the rear.
Attach a couple monkey fist knots made of fireproof rope soaked in lighter fluid to the end of each chain and you can exibit the car at burning man
Herbie!
fun fact I learned, when taking the wheel off of antique or fancy cars you have to hit this part with a lead hammer that deforms with each hit so it doesn’t get scratched/damaged. Eventually it gets so deformed that you have to melt it down and mold it back into a hammer shape again.
idk why a rubber mallet wouldn’t work but I assume car guys have thought of that before me and there’s a reason why they’re not used
I’d like to see what happens and someone mounts a long steel rod on their own car, and drives close to that one.
Mad Maxxing
Oh that’s easy! They’re not :)
Cite the law
I am guessing most states have a law about “unroadworthy vehicles” that pose a hazard
Sure, but they they also define “unroadworthy,” and this isn’t it. To be clear I think these are awful and would prefer they were illegal, it’s just that they genuinely aren’t a lot of the time
In South Carolina the law text is broad.
It shall be unlawful for any person to drive or move or for the owner to cause or knowingly permit to be driven or moved on any highway any vehicle or combination of vehicles which is in such an unsafe condition as to endanger any person or property
And yet I still see Carolina squats on bigass trucks. Their front blind spot has to be hundreds of feet at least.
I see squats riding around, too, and there is another explicitly written law against that. My impression is that SC cops don’t enforce traffic/vehicle laws at all unless you are doing something especially egregious.
something especially egregious
Like driving while black?
common sense?
But seriously, nothing can stick out beyond the body of the car (expect mirrors), not even wheels.
Not a law.
I am not a lawyer but EU Regulation No 1009/2010 on type approval requirements for wheel guards states:
2.1.1. In the part formed by radial planes at an angle of 30° towards the front and 50° towards the rear of the centre of the wheels (see Figure 1), the overall width (q) of the wheel guard shall be at least sufficient to cover the total tyre width (b) taking into account the tyre envelope as well as the extremes of the tyre/wheel combination(s) as specified by the manufacturer. In the case of twin wheels, the tyre envelopes and total width over the two tyres (t) shall be taken into account.
In short: Nothing is allowed to extend beyond the wheel guards. Now, look at the image above again.
Deviating materially from the type approval makes your car not street legal as far as I understand. But this is a matter for a lawyer. Surely there is a reason why these psychopathic car mods are impossible to find in all of the EU on public roads.
Well written! But it misses my point entirely.
Common sense is not a law.
I did not quote “common sense” I quoted relevant law. If you want a full legal analysis rather than seeing relevant law, you need to pay a lawyer.
Then you replied to the wrong person. I didn’t ask for a law citation :)
Common sense is not a law…
Also the laws are different in different jurisdictions
nothing can stick out beyond the body of the car (expect mirrors), not even wheels.
That might be true for civilised countries.
But then it’s also the main reason why cars brought over by US military staff fail the inspection for road worthiness here.
Various US states have fender coverage laws:
- Fender Coverage Laws: States like California, New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania require the vehicle’s fenders or mudguards to completely cover the width of the tire and wheel assembly. If a rim protrudes past the body of the car, it is a ticketable safety violation.
Ultimately, the “slab” culture that popularized swangas remains highly localized to Texas and small pockets of the American South precisely because the rest of the world has closed the legal loopholes that allow them.
The mods in “GTA Texas” are becoming ridiculous!
Swangas are among the most fucked up modifications you can do with your car. It’s literally not just a “fuck you” to other road users but actively hostile to everyone around you.
Just reflect for a moment what kind of culture can be so deeply submerged in toxic displays of hostility as a form of “swag”, “coolness” or “masculinity” as to create something like that. How insecure do you have to be?
New term for me. Looking it up, found this though.
This is fucking gold
I’m okay with this. Gotta appreciate the creativity.
Zooming in, appears to be tinfoil and cardboard… So, much like those caterpillars that mimic a snakes head, it’s a false protective threat display. Wise technique if you have to ride a bike in traffic with assholes rolling real swangas.
Looks around at my death metal albums and shirts… well shit 😳
Don’t worry too much. It’s becoming more common for people to realize that in reality metal fans are generally more calm, considerate, and helpful than your average human.
In a lot of regions metal is the official theme music of white nationalists so I can’t say this is true
Classic pop fan thinking.
Total hatersRap and house music and I used to lead sing in an alt rock band. Just a fact in certain parts of the US that metal fans have to live with.
Oh, did you sing in an alt rock band? As someone who has played and presently plays in actual metal bands I can tell you that there are racists in every type of music but there is no region where metal is music exclusively for racists.
Shit, what type of metal? You get different types of fans whether you’re into the thrash metal, death metal, black metal, power metal, numetal (and the thousand subgenres) scenes.
You dig into this even a bit and your argument straight up falls apart.
When I fell down at a “not-metal” concert, the nice and friendly and approachable people around me nearly stepped on me. Nobody cared.
When I stumbled and fell at a metal concert, multiple people were helping me up before I even had time to realize I’d tripped. They looked scary and not the kind you’d approach for a chat. I’m still in contact with one of them. He likes to hear black metal while he knits. It’s absolutely like out of a badly written comic book.
I know this is not representative and I’ve met my share of racist fellas over the years that wore the cut-offs. But I swear most were big teddy bears in black clothing, and accompanied by some tiny goth goddess in the highest heeled combat boots.
What harm does an album cover do to other people?
Gramma rocked her head right off 🤘😔
The term used was ‘hostile’, not ‘harmful’. There’s a difference IMO.
But anyway I would argue some album covers could be considered propaganda, which is potentially harmful to society.
And then there’s stuff like the original cover of Virgin Killer by the Scorpions. A lot of folks would call that directly harmful in some way.
There’s a difference here that’s important about what it means to be actively hostile.
Yes, some types of art in general have a hostile face. Some metal, some gangster rap, some pop even.
The difference is that nobody but the most fucked up people is going around forcing it on me. I don’t have to fear getting to close to the cover of Mayhem’s “Dawn of the Black Hearts”. I can ignore it if it’s right next to me. Ignoring Swangas is detrimental to my health. Album covers don’t amputate my legs when they come to close.
Sure, I can definitely agree with that.
I was really just making a joke in the first place.
It makes them feel things. That’s offensive. Feeling. Absolutely disgusting.
Masculinity in 2026 America is doing rude or harmful shit to show you’re beyond the reach of consequences, or just dont give a fuck. It’s Nietzsche’s discharge its strength quote turned into culture-war ideology.
The recent examples I use are Hokit’s comments about Michelle Obama at the White House UFC match, or Trump getting a World Cup red card penalty cancelled because he wanted it.
There are probably more recent examples. Renaming Lake Ontario comes to mind. Bombing Iran or Gaza are particularly grotesque examples.
Insecurity poisons your life and that of those around you until you do something really stupid or you deal with it in a healthy way.
How does one fit into a parking space?
If I drove a clunker and spotted one of these I’d make sure to drive past him, because it’s probably a man, as close as I could so I’d rip these things to shreds.
IRL wacky races?
Im sure the driver has absolute zero in social skills.
They are not legal in the civilised world.
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.
In the US, what is street legal depends on the locality, most of which is decided by the different states. I heard that in one state, the rule was that tires and rims couldn’t extend farther than the side mirrors, and so these people made their side mirrors stick out a lot farther too.
Cars with these rims usually have outdoor external speakers on the bottom. So they weaponized the wheels and sound.
It’s illegal here in the US too people just don’t care.
