LETTER: Pseudo-conservative trucks

I have a question.

I see increasing numbers of lift kit-equipped pickups, all nice and shiny with huge new-looking mud-bogger tires.

My mind compares them to pickups of old: dented faded things used to get stuff done, capital investments that earned their expensive keep with hard use. When I was younger, if you wanted something fun to drive you got a Mustang, CRX, or something comparable you could park easily that relished winding back roads — something fun. A truck was something used simply to haul stuff.

I appreciate the efficiency of vehicles sized just right, the perfect tool for the job. Downsized maintenance costs are helpful, and lower vehicle weight helps lead to a fun ride!

And then there’s these lift kit-equipped pickups. Up that high, you’re making it hard to load the bed, they can’t be for hauling stuff. So what are they for?

An internet search shows F-150 mpg as around 17, excellent considering what the machine can do. But with huge tires and an anti-aerodynamics lift kit we’re surely talking less than 14. I get 60-65 mpg in my 290,000 mile 2000 Insight. Most vehicles are used to haul one person for most of their use. My Insight does that comfortably and safely while being radically easier to maneuver than a lift kit-equipped truck while burning less than a quarter the fuel money.

I gather many lift kit-equipped truck owners see them as a personal conservative credential. I was Republican until Dec. ’06, and I swear on the good names of Thornburgh, Heinz, Shultz and Bush Sr. that I see nothing conservative about these shiny toy-looking things. Wasting money is not conservative.

Would someone please write a letter explaining what they are for?

ROGER TWITCHELL

York City