A bunch... and please do not make it lean towards the rear like a dog dragging its butt on the carpet.
Here's a picture of my '32 pickup showing the scrub line. My camera was sitting on the ground. You can see the grill is too low (I think about 2-3/4" off the ground). I made the home-made nerf bar bumpers so they hang down a little low too, but they clear speed bumps and they're above the scrub line. The transmission and oil pan hang down a little below the frame, but they're also above the scrub line. I've driven over dozens of speed bumps and haven't scraped anything yet. But I have to make sure that both front wheels hit the speed bumps to make sure the grill doesn't hit. The picture is a little deceiving because the ground is lumpy there, but my transmission pan and oil pan are above the scrub line. If you try to make your frame the lowest thing on the car by raising the engine and transmission way up, you're going to sacrifice some much needed legroom in the interior. I don't think getting any lower than this would look good anyway. When I'm driving, I'm always looking for junk in the road because I don't want anything to nail the grill. If I did lose a front tire, I think the grill might survive, but it might get munched too. At least the grill isn't strong enough to hold the front end of the car up, so I think I'd still be able to steer and brake fine -- even though my grill might get crushed and bent back (I hope not because I spent about a month working on that grill). Those are the prices you gotta pay I guess to be low, but I don't think you'd want to go any lower than this thing. Some cars or trucks just don't look good anymore if you get them TOO low to where they just look like unsafe deathtraps.
If it's too low you're too old. Just kidding. Where you live and how you use the car make a huge difference. As has been said, scrub line is a safety issue. Beyond that, do whatever makes you happy.
Looks like it definitely would, at least in the photo. Why haven't we seen more of that beautiful truck???
As far as how low is too low to drive, when I was 18-20 and into mini trucks, I had a truck that would knock over a beer can, would even squish one on it's side if I hit the brakes while rolling. I drove it every day, on horrible Pasadena roads, delivering pizza for a couple years. I wouldn't want one that low anymore. Did I mention I had no reverse for several months?
I have 2 inches from bottom of grill shell to ground and its way to close, Im raising it for next summer.
Dick How did you lower the front, are you running a droped axel Or lower springs?? Nice Truck.. Mark, NC
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=306997 I asked this same thing awhile back. Im leaving the front of mine just a bit higher and going with 4-5 inches at the lowest in the rear, especially since its a heavy truck. Also I see more people with a regular rake in my style truck so trying something different. Good luck with yours though...
Just read my old post and everyone tells me to watch out for the roads and dont go too low and then tell you to drop the shit out of it, drag your balls and what not...not sure what to tell you now hahahaha. No seriously drop the shit out of it.
To clarify this, the scrub line is illustrated by drawing a line from the ground at the bottom of the driver's side tire to the lowest part of the wheel rim on the opposite side and a coresponding line from the passenger side. Everything below the lines from the rims to their intersection is in danger.
The main concern is safety. You don't want to have any steering component that will hit the ground and lose steering if you have a flat. Exhaust and stuff like that will rip off, but lose steering and you have big problems.
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