Why would my neighbor check the gap between my tire and my car?

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U2LN@reddit

Did he check more than one corner? Sometimes I investigate issues on other people's cars for the hell of it. Does your car look like one side sits higher? How's your tread, is the wear even?

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quotidianwoe@reddit

Yeah. I’d put up some cameras on your property.

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Hungry-Job-3198@reddit

Why not just ask your neighbor why he did it?

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alonethrone@reddit (OP)

He did it in a very strange way, trying to make sure no one noticed. He doesn't know I saw him do it, that's why it seems odd to me, but yeah, you're right

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spruce_turbo@reddit

I have a rule.. Never lend your car or wife to other people. Would you just let it go if he put 4 fingers in your other possessions?

I'd be like - Get your filthy fingers out of there pal and go do that to your own car!

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Exnoss69@reddit

No, you mever lend your car or your toothbrush. Because u dont know what theyre gonna do with them... your wife, you have a pretty good idea

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cans-of-swine@reddit

I've fingered another mans car before.

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mmmmmyee@reddit

Wheel fitment is such an underrated thing around here

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TweeksTurbos@reddit

Do exactly what he did to your car to him. Then watch how he reacts. Then you will have clues

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Meritad@reddit

So your neighbour fingered your car and you did nothing? Unbelievable !!!!

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ScoobyMcDobby@reddit

He was checking if your caster is bent...

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TankedUpLoser@reddit

Maybe he was planting or retrieving a tracking device?!??

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Lasat@reddit

Even more reason to ask him, just do he knows you’re aware that he’s being a weirdo.

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Tangboy50000@reddit

He probably thinks it looks cool and was measuring to see how much the gap is to compare with his car.

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Hungry-Job-3198@reddit

Got ya, I mean there’s alot of reasons why i do it on vehicles we are working on if we are doing suspension work or something. Even then it’s pretty rare that we would measure it often.

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DJScaryTerry@reddit

Either they wanna know what makes yours look different to theirs or they're an asshole checking if you have enough clearance so they can report the vehicle.

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JPhi1618@reddit

Is that a reportable offense somewhere?

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DJScaryTerry@reddit

Depending where you live yes. There is a minimum clearance between fender and tire to prevent people from lowering their cars "too much", as if that's a real metric for it.

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GoodGoodGoody@reddit

Care to quote one of these “minimum clearance” laws?

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I went to look it up and I found it was 10cm between the lowest point of the car and the road. That confused me as we had a number of people getting tickets and the cops were measuring from the fender flares to the rim. I even had a cop explain this to me about my completely stock vehicle.

As it turns out the local police, in their efforts to unfairly target any sports car, was intentionally misquoting the law. This isn't the only thing they did. There were multiple lawsuits from vehicle manufacturers against the department for all these things they did. All 4 cases were settled behind closed doors so you know it was bad.

So yeah, my bad. I was mislead and never bothered to check because my vehicle was stock.

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Intelligent_Gain6713@reddit

Damn thats messed up. This is why I always do my best to research a law and fight my tickets in court even if showing up isnt required because officers while they do understand some laws aren't trained in just how intricate law can actually be. My lawer/uncle always told me that law school was hard because theres no clear cut answer to any specific question, theres so many laws that contradict other laws and its fully about arguing your case the best you can. Im glad those people were able to settle those tickets because it sounds like that cop didnt know what they were talking about whatsoever

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DJScaryTerry@reddit

Only some people got them taken care of. Unfortunately most people didn't. Most people didn't have the option of not going for the required inspection, the most fucked up part is they were trying to force everyone to go to this one shop because "all the other shops must be lying, there no way your cat is legal". The only manufacturers that did anything were ones like Lamborghini, Porsche, etc.

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R2-Scotia@reddit

Big deal in Australia, watch one of their cop shows

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BJoe1976@reddit

Usually it’s done by bumper and/or headlight height, not fender gap. It’s also usually used on trucks with excessive lift as a lifted truck can be dangerous to any non lifted, and especially lowered vehicles it might collide with.

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GoodGoodGoody@reddit

Yup. I was calling BS on them.

Any law I can think of says tire cannot touch anything. That’s it.

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Smart_Table6455@reddit

In most european countries theres very specific laws how big the minimum clearance has to be. At compression depending on the stance etc etc. A quick on the go way for cops to check it is the two finger rule. Happened to me on multiple instances and is a well known thing to do quickly before taking your car in and having the state expert check it based on the technical specifications independently

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HowsMyBuddy@reddit

Might be an HOA.

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MeyersonAdam@reddit

Calculating how big of a speed bump they need to build to slow you down in the driveway 🤣

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outline8668@reddit

Karen's going to Karen.

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hatenamingnames@reddit

I'm uh, I'm going to throw in that I'm a lube tech/glorified American trainie mechanic, and I'm still finding myself in an internal dialogue of: "Hey that doesn't look right, let me just get a closer look, the owner would want to know right? Oh wait that's actually just fine and I look like I'm molesting a random car, I'm gonna leave all stealthily like."

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chinesiumjunk@reddit

Does he drive the same car? Maybe he thought you modified the suspension.

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HowsMyBuddy@reddit

Yeah but you’d think if he drove the same car, he’d just ask. There’s already something in common to talk about! If I had a neighbor with a 1st Gen truck like mine, I’d definitely want to talk about the lift, tires and clearance. But I’m in my 40s, so I would just ask. But some people just get home and then never step outside their house again for days, so I guess at some point I might just measure for myself. But I’d also want to know what gear ratio they have, so I’d have to slide under the rear and look on the tag on the differential. Would really just be easier to talk about it.

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TactualTransAm@reddit

You'd be surprised how much car culture has changed these days. People won't tell you their modifications. They gatekeep because they think it helps them look cooler. I wish I was joking. But I've seen it plenty of times in the fitment scene and the performance scene. In the performance scene I can almost understand, because you could win a race and maybe money when somebody doesn't know how fast your car can go, but the people who refuse to tell others their wheel specs are just ..... I don't know, it doesn't make sense to me.

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One_Evil_Monkey@reddit

Maybe they won't tell you their modifications not because of "gatekeeping" but because they just don't want to talk to you. 🤷🏼‍♂️

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Jacktheforkie@reddit

Does he have the same vehicle? Could be comparing something between his and your vehicle

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alonethrone@reddit (OP)

He does not, he drives a 2014 Hyundai, nothing similar to mine

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Jacktheforkie@reddit

Does he have the same vehicle? Interesting

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Ch4rlie_G@reddit

Bad boy

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Jacktheforkie@reddit

Not a bot

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GoodGoodGoody@reddit

The most likely. He or someone he knows has a similar car.

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Jacktheforkie@reddit

Does he have the same vehicle? Yeah

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WhyNWhenYouCanNPlus1@reddit

he's courting your car. make sure to check the exhaust next time to see if it's pregnant

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ProfessionalSpinach4@reddit

No update from OP, neighbor must have kidnapped them

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allbsallthetime@reddit

You're in a 1970s detective show and he placed a magnetic tracking device in your wheel well.

Or a remote explosive device that will go off at the end of the first part of an exciting two part cliff hanger.

My approach would be...

HI neighbor, I noticed you were poking around my car, what's up?

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2_minutes_hate@reddit

Or you're in an 80s detective movie and he's trying to distract you from the banana he just put in your tailpipe.

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navlgazer9@reddit

No

He nicked the brake line so the next time they are driving on a curvy downhill mountain road the last little bit of fluid will escape and after the driver frantically pumps the brake pedal 8 times , the car will strike the weak guardrail , burst through it and tumble down the cliff , come to a rest , and …. Explode .

Or possibly for a plot change the driver will crawl out , start walking and get stuck in some quicksand .

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ironicmirror@reddit

The wheel well is the best place to put a GPS tracker.

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AlternativeAdagio164@reddit

Maybe he has the same car and wants to compare?

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Seamonsterlilman@reddit

Watch that guy. He starts by inspecting the gap between your tire and the car. Next thing you know, he’s inspecting the gap between him and your wife!

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JegErJakobSkomager@reddit

Did he do it in both sides? Have you tried it yourself? Was there a difference between the sides?

It is a long shot, and not nearly as entertaining as the GPS tracker theory, but your car could have a broken spring in one side, causing it to be lower in that side. Perhaps your neighbor saw that and wanted to verify it by checking the clearance with his hands. I have done that on my own cars.

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G-shrek@reddit

Are you screwing his old lady? That's a good way to get deleted, just saying.

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Salavar1@reddit

Best case, he was checking to see if your cars stock or lifted. Worst case he was measuring to see if his homemade car bomb fits.

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TactualTransAm@reddit

What kind of vehicle do you have and is it modified any? He could like it and have been checking your suspension setup

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Junior_Ad_3301@reddit

I bet it was just the result of an inner dialog that made them wonder, probably nothing more than that.

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Halibutoxide@reddit

He's getting nosy.

Time to put the kibosh on the shebang.

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T00luser@reddit

I believe he was being “handsy”

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fluteofski-@reddit

How worn are your tires? Maybe he noticed something?

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SchroedingersWombat@reddit

Perhaps he finds your car sexy and wanted to see if it fit.

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ontheleftcoast@reddit

he thinks you are smuggling something.

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jblaze_39@reddit

Ever, you know...thought about asking them? Since they're your neighbor? I'm pretty certain they would know the reason better than a bunch of random people on reddit

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heyitsmewaldo@reddit

My first thought is he ran into ykur csr.. but maybe theres a chance he was just checming what the fap was suppose to be.. i do that with cars im working on, oll find one in a parking lot and check to see how much panel gap they are supposed to have.. but all guesses7

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Dependent_Pepper_542@reddit

Holding your hand flat and sticking it between the tire and body is quick way to see if wheel is pushed back from damaged suspension components.

I work on cars for a living and if I notice one wheel looks like its closer to fender than opposite wheel I put my hand in there. If I can get 4 fingers in easily on one side and 4 is super tight on other side I will probably recommend an alignment.

Either way I would ask him.

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d3m01iti0n@reddit

Go ask him. Say you were reviewing your cameras and noticed. And now, even if you don't have cameras, he thinks you do and won't fuck around in the future.

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Loveschocolate1978@reddit

Maybe to see if the suspension had collapsed? Or, a broken spring?

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Oshabeestie@reddit

He suspected your spring had broken ? Was your car lying at a funny angle?

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Galopigos@reddit

Simple questions, Are you a female? Single or alone a lot? Yes- have a cop look over the car to see if something was placed on it. There are some real nuts out there.

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Nearpeace@reddit

He was replacing the GPS tracker/battery. Not the best location but quick.

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Academic_Anywhere183@reddit

Tracking device planted.

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KissYourAss69@reddit

Putting a tracker on you.

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cream-of-cow@reddit

Maybe he was in a community group where someone asked for that measurement, and he thought, "there's a 99 CRV right around the corner!"

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deconstruct110@reddit

Looking for a spare key?

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cocoblue9@reddit

Checking to see how many fingers fit between tire and gap. If you got it modified maybe that was the reason

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AnxiousReward1715@reddit

beat the shit out of them for touching your car? I'd say pew pew but your can't spell tire so you don't have freedom even though my people liberated europe.

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Thugmeet@reddit

I feel like a young me who watched way too much mighy car mods would laugh at huge tire gaps

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FutureHendrixBetter@reddit

What state are you in ?

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IntheOlympicMTs@reddit

The only thing I can think of is he thought it looked strange front to rear compared to the other side and he’s trying to determine if it’s not even like it was wrecked at some point. I do that sometimes with my car on the top of the tire to the fender if it looks like it’s sitting lower on one side than the other. But never to see if the tire is centered in the fender.