Just a thought on the dreaded "R" word

Man,I thought I would never say this,but after lurking on the "other" site,I can see why people hate the term "Ratrod" so much.It has become a generic term,used to describe anything with flat paint,some pinstriping,and some painted stock steels.It's become a joke.Now mind you,I never considered anything I owned a ratrod,but I knew that some people actually had a clue.Hell,I don't even consider what half the people call a ratrod to be a ratrod.I see a lot of hotrods,and customs,but no ratrods.I now see ratrod as a derogatory term.Let's break down the word shall we:Ratrod consists of two words,Rat and Rod.Now,Rat could be short for Ratty,but in both cases it's a negative thing.Rat is defined by a few meanings,one being a disease infested dirty vermin,the other being a snitch.Neither one of those are great meanings,both very negative.And ratty,well,ratty means beat up,haggard,decrepit,run down,and dilapidated.See,neither one of those is good.Then you have Rod,as in hot rod,which is not even on the same side of the spectrum as Ratty or Rat,so it's an oxymoron.

Now,I see a lot of cars being built safely,and then left unpainted to rust.Here's what I don't understand about that:If you're going to put all that work in to something to make it function safely,then why neglect something like painting the body to protect your investment?Why leave it to rust just so you have to do all that work again?I don't see the point in that.Slap some damn primer on it at least.What most people fail to realize about letting the body rust is that the rust is damaging a vital part to the vehicles structural integrity,the body.You ride inside the body,do you really want to ride in something that became paper thin because you thought the "patina" would make your car look cool?Sorry,but that cool rust that turns in to rot won't save your ass when you get in to an accident and the car that hit you tears through your car like a hot Ginsu through butter.

Also,I hate seeing people use shit on a vehicle that was never intended to be on a vehicle,like saw blades or wrenches as tie rods or bones or steering linkage on cowl steering.Wake up,that shit wasn't meant for that kind of stress,and by using bullshit like that,not only are you putting yourself and the people that ride in your car at risk,but also the people around like other drivers and pedestrians when that shit decides to give out or fall off.

I'm also tired of seeing half assed weld jobs and fabrication jobs from people building shit but have never welded before in their life..Take your time people,don't rush shit,the project isn't going anywhere.Did you know that if you do shoddy workmanship and sell the vehicle,and the person who bought it from you gets injured because of your half assed,cut corners workmanship,they can sue the high hell out of you.Welcome to California's Lemon Law.

Speaking of cut corners,one thing that bothered me was shit like the other sites' "Under $3000" club.What is the point?To see who could build a car for under three grand?What I see is people cutting corners on builds to make that under 3K mark,which most of the time ends up in unsafe builds.I'm not a traditionalist by any means,but this shit all bothers me,and the one post on KB that made me think about this was the following:

i.abomination's Avatar
i.abomination i.abomination is offline
Member

Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: DeRidder, LA
Posts: 36
Default
Metric or not, what's important is if looks cool. I don't even give a **** about safety, as long as it looks badass, sounds loud, and goes fast haha


If I ever ran in to this guy,I would lay five across the mouth for that,because obviously the jackass thinks it's okay to build something unsafe as long as it looks cool,even though it could kill him or people around him.

Just had to get this shit off my chest and out somewhere where I could rant.

 

Do I smell popcorn?

 

Nah,no popcorn,just my thoughts on it.I had always wondered why people hated the word so much,and when I was on another forum,I came to this conclusion.See,I see cars for sale that aren't even close to being unsafe and junky,but they put them up for sale with the ratrod name attached so people will look,and some of the one's I have seen were $60,000 cars,or S-10's,VW Jettas,Ford Rangers,all kinds of crap.I use to not mind the word,but now I hate whenever I hear it,it's like nails on a chalkboard to me.

 

Dammit us insomniacs and the Austrailians are put to the test first. Popcorn for sure Choppintops. Airmail it from the Lake to me down in this oil-filled land.-Weeks

 

This is going to be interesting.

 

I really agree with the safety portion of this thread. My unit is in flat primer because I wanted it that way. It has 4 wheel disc brakes and radials. Welding was all done by pros But I assembled it my self. Used all High quality HotRod parts. It is upholstered and Striped. I can drive it anywhere.
There is stuff out there that I would not drive across the street much less on the Highway all in the looking coool frame of mind. I am not saying that these units are bad I just think more should be thought about in the safety issue. The unsafe part is what caused HotRodding to be put in a bad light in the 50s&60s.
Just my .02
Fuzzy

 

What is this site you speak of, I want to see this stuff for myself.

 

I see no reason to try to see how shitty you can build a street rod/Hotrod. A guy once told me that's how they did it in the 50's. I said not no but hell no or at least not in my neck of the woods. We didn't have a lot of money in the 50's and most of us built a street rod safe but for the most was in primer.It took me a couple of years to save the $35.00 for a real paint job but eventually it got done.Any spare money was spent on more goodies to go fast and on Friday the old hot rod got washed and if painted got a polish job. I never looked in any hotrod and saw the drive shaft or engine from the drivers seat. What we have today is builders going out of there way to make a shit box and for what? I just can't see it. We were raised with a little more pride than what we see today.

 

The R word? Rage? Rent? Republicans? Racism? Retardation? Oh, Ratrod.

I don't hang out on the only "other" site I can think you must mean because too many of the people there are assholes. Dumbasses who rave about too high prices on old cars and say they should be scrapped, then pay $100 for a set of driver hubcaps you can buy for $2 each if you actually get off your ass and go to some shows and swap meets.


Save yourself the hassle, it ain't worth losing sleep over.

 

Don't post sh*t about "other" site by name, even if you use there iniciales.
Unless they offer free popcorn.

 

"old school HAMB ban"?

 

Quick question-what year did the HAMB start up?

 

What makes me laugh is he posted it here. Kinda like posting a complaint about the western world on an Al Qeda web site......
Pointless.

Post it over there. We don't want it dirtying up our pretty and clean site.

 

Sooooo.... rat rods are traditional then?

Just kidding he says running for cover. For the record I don't endorse any thing I wouldn't let my 7 year old son ride in. He's pretty important to me so that's my safety metric. I also don't know why anyone would want rust of any kind on their vehicle. It's a diesease not a design.

 

Nothing wrong with the "R" word as such it is just the losers who have disgraced it with all their below any standard builds and poor respect for good engineering.

Popcorn anyone, its my buy.

 

Rat Rod!

viola! now about those "OTHER" sites!!

 

I do understand and agree about safety...You should not go out and put yourself and others at risk. I am a big fan of flat black cars and trucks...I love the look. I think that in some cases flat black looks better on certain cars and trucks then if they went and painted it a pearl color or something along those lines.

 

​

This thread is sounding like a script for Oprah or Dr Phil. Lets see, we got r****ds, trad*****al, and Al Q***da here, why not add politics, religion and every other politically correct word to the debate? I'm surprised it's lasted this long before the Moderator Marines land and kill it.

Bottom line - making somebody do something (ie build a safe rod) is one thing. Making 'em WANT to do it is the hard part. Layin' 5 on them is NOT the way to convince 'em to build a safe ride. Educate the infidels. ​

 

I've yet to see a ratrod crashed thread.For all the broke back rusted out phobia I read here you'd think the carnage would be daily.Tirades against ratrods fuel the fire.The sooner WE get over it the sooner it will go away.

 

My thoughts exactly Doc. Kinda like preaching to the converted. What he should have done was post that on the "Other Site".

Now, where's the butter, the popcorn's dry.

 

While I agree wholeheartedly with the safety aspect, the anti rust thing coming from someone in Southern California seems to be a bit of an oxymoron.

However, for all your preaching about the terminally dumb/ignorant, note that medical science has yet to find a cure for stupidity. These retards wouldn't know safety if it hit them in the face, and neither do they give a damn. That's the way it always has been and always will be. You can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink.

Do I see an imminent traditional HAMB thread closure?

 

I'm good with the whole safe part but I'm not sure where you draw the line on safe. I mean does it need to have air bags and door bars?

If it stops and the lights work is that safe enough? Or does it need to pass the NSRA saftey inspection. Are we worried about scrub lines or if I get a flat and it tears my muffler off is that OK as long as its my muffler.

Sorry just being the devils advocate here.

I'm not really thrilled with junk rods myself. But a few years back I went in a reliability run with a bunch of the fellas. One of the rods was put together with spare parts laying around. It was or is a testament to inginuity. Did it look safe or smooth, well hell no but it never missed a beat (other than running out of gas once) and I wouldn't have given a second thought to jumping it it with the other fella and driving to the beach (either one we're in the middle here).

Ya gotta leave room in both directions I think. I'm not a big high zoot fan and I'm not a junk rod fan either but as long as its not running me over at a stop light or tossing a tire on the big end of the 1320 its really not a bother to me.

Call it what you want, I drive beaters because I'm not as old as my dad he drove jalopies. I'm not young enough to drive a R rod. Sorry its just a matter of semantics.

Oh and those fellas that are stuck on being cool, well they'll never be cool. They just don't get it.

 

I myself don't see why people cry at the term. It is just a word that most people(who are not into cars) use to describe a look. If people think primered cars and the like are rat rods then who cares. That is like crying over how people classify music or something.

I think it is funny when someone uses the term here and half the users start crying like a school girl with a skinned knee "It's not a Rat Rod it is a traditional Hot Rod"......... cry, cry, cry.......who cares, it is just a term people use.

 

hotrods are dangerous "period" always have been and always will be, especially one built with all original and traditional parts

 

Hmmmmmmmmm respond to this thread or work on my 51 Merc........See ya!

 

When my son and I started with our project we were calling it a ratrod but as I learned more about what they were about I realized that this is not what I am building, it is going to be safe to drive at highway speeds, reliable and most of all a hell of alot of fun to drive, It is staying tradational with the straight front axle but with the upgraded parts.
The best description I have found for it so far is maybe a Bobber Truck, Rudy style truck, I don't care what they call it, it is what it is. Flat green paint and all

 

He kicked the jap bikes off jockeyjournal why not kick off all the s*** box "RR" off the jalopyjournal...do it to it

 

Bottom line, let's hope RRs go out of style sooner rather than later.

 

My cousin called my car (even thought its not done, or started) a "patina rod" right after i bought it. I like that term.

It not gonna be a rust bucket with cobbled together parts, but its not gonna be a "pretty" show winner either. It will look old and on a budget without being a complete turd.

Just my $0.02

-Brad

 

If i want to leave my car rusty then i will
my daily drivers rusty so why shouldnt my Fun car be?
if my kids aint driving the pos that some of these morons build then i personally don't give a crap.
Now onto religion