GM Designed A Pickup That Can Empty Its Own Bed

General Motors may have finally found a practical use for the “Carolina Squat.”

The automaker has received a patent for an idea that would allow pickup trucks to automatically drain water from their beds.

The patent is titled “Water Drainage Systems and Methods For Vehicles” and was first highlighted in a GM Authority report.

The system is primarily intended to keep rain water form pooling in the bed, which could lead to corrosion and also pose issues for loading some materials.

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It is generically described, but is basically comprised of sensors that can detect when the bed is filling with water and a suspension system that can adjust the pitch of the vehicle to direct the water out of the bed.

It can also potentially roll the vehicle to the side for the same result, or do both simultaneously, depending on the angle of the surface it is parked on. An air spring suspension system, which GM already offers on several models, could easily achieve this result.

However, GM this year was also awarded a patent for a “Vehicle Lifting and Lowering System” that uses conventional shocks in concert with rotating actuators that can raise and lower a vehicle by changing the resting angle of its control arms.

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We hate to throw cold water on this cool stuff, but, as with many patents, GM hasn’t yet confirmed plans to offer any of these features on a production vehicle.