Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but those fancy rims that come to a point and stick out in the middle of the lane? What they call "swangaz"? Yeah, they're technically illegal in Texas, and the cops in some town have started cracking down on them...and people aren't thrilled about it.

I'll be the first to admit that it sucks when you drop a good chunk of change on something then are told shortly thereafter you can't have it anymore. However, slab rims and swangaz have been around for quite awhile. They're prominently used by custom car owners and are common in Texas car culture. If you've been to a car show lately, you've no doubt seen a lot of them recently.

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However, these rims can potentially be dangerous when on the road. Passenger vehicles in the state of Texas are required to be within eight-feet. If the swangaz cause a passenger vehicle to extend past that eight-feet, they're illegal.

Now, there ARE some variations that are allowed, because it doesn't completely ban them. Any rims on your car cannot go out past your side view mirrors. With that said, I know the majority of slab rims go out far further than that so there will need to be some adjustments made there.

Police started cracking down on these rims a couple of weeks ago, and it sparked one heck of a conversation on Reddit. From a personal standpoint, I have no issue with people expressing themselves. I'm all for it, but one thing I'll say is this...I'm not personally the biggest fan of the rims that go out too far.

I'm worried that I'm going to slightly veer over to the right or left and make contact with one of the rims, potentially puncturing my tire and send me spinning. I'm not saying it would happen, but I know I'm always a little more cautious of staying 100% completely in my lane when I see them.

Should these rims be banned and made illegal? No, I don't think they should. I can however understand the safety concerns that most likely led to the crackdown on swangaz.

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