presents...
What is a Sport Truck?

A Sport Truck is simply any truck which has been modified to enhance appearance and/or performance. Here's a simple analogy: Sport truck is to truck, as sports car is to car. One common factor among all sport trucks is lowering (also refered to as a "drop" or "slam"). A lower center of gravity provides better cornering and handling characteristics. You may wonder why anyone would want to lower a truck - you can't take it offroad anymore! One explanation is that you can have your true sport and utility in one package. Properly built trucks can haul and perform at the same time. Sport Trucks tend to be 2-wheel drive (The front-end suspension design of a 4 wheel drive truck prevents lowering).

Some more common factors among Sport Trucks are custom exterior and interior modifications. Perhaps the most common modification, after lowering, is the addition of custom wheels. These wheels are usually larger in diameter than stock (this is made possilble by plus-1, plus-2, and plus-3 sizing: for every inch added to the wheel diameter, 10 is subtracted from the tire aspect ratio, so that the overall circumference of the tire remains constant compared to stock.)

"The exterior of a truck
is a perfect canvas
for custom paint."

The exterior of a truck is a perfect canvas for custom paint. Many trucks feature a monochromatic paint job, most stock body moldings, badges, and other unsightly exterior items are either removed or painted to match the truck's body color. The long, flat sides, hood, and bed of a truck provide some great space for personal expression -- in the form of custom graphics.

No sport truck is complete without a custom living space, and the interior is often just as wild as the exterior. Expect to find a gigantic stereo systems and possibly viedo screens -- a surround sound moive theater on wheels. More common are simple interior modifications, such as polished billet aluminum accessories, wood or carbon fiber accents, and custom upholstery.

And because a sport truck is built to perform - it must have an engine to match. Sport trucks usually feature some type of engine performance enhancement. Some begin with new intake and exhaust, taking the theory that more air in and less exhaust restriction increase horsepower. Other modifications may include a supercharger, heads, camshaft, performance pullies, high-performance pistons, rods, valves... the list goes on and on. One alternative to modifying the stock engine is to drop in a whole new engine. That would surprize many a sports car.

Not all Sport Trucks are exactly custom machines -- Factory Sport Trucks are performance-oriented trucks available from truck manufacturers.

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