hey all, i have a 55 bel air and i was wondering if anyone had any advice on lowering my ride. id like to give it the slammed look and i know air ride tech. is an option but im 24 yrs old and a struggling carpenter with this recession goin on moneys kind of tight, i have all the parts to complete this project the bodywork is almost done,next step is blasting the frame so any and all advice would be great,possibly pics? or links? considering im pretty useless on a computer thanks all!!!
Here's an idea, go to search, and look up "Tri fives - lets see em" plenty of pics to look at , pm the guy with the car ya like and ask what he has done to achieve that particular stance.
Kulkay, The H.A.M.B. is an awesome place with a lot of great information. No doubt you will read plenty of both serious and smart *** answers, but there is a ton of knowledge here if you are patient. That being said, for your specific question, I would recommend you register at Chevytalk.com also and go to the modified tri five section of the forum where you can likely get a large group of guys to post pics and explicit instructions on what they did. By the way, for reference, if you follow my fotki link below and go to the El Diablo 55 section (The same car as the avatar), you will see pics of our 55 that is lowered on the front using ART Shockwaves and stock front spindles. The back is lowered using modified mounting points for an 8.5 inch rear (no C-notch). It may not be traditional, but it allows me to get the headers and cherry bombs up and over speed bumps. Good luck with your build. Do something every night or at least every weekend and it will come together.
I have the 2" drop springs in the front of mine and I have 1 leaf on each side in the rear taken out. The new front springs ride alot better that cutting them. It sits good for me and I can still drive it without worrying about airbags popping.
Lowering blocks in the rear are not expensive. Personally, I wouldn't overdo it the first time. 3" blocks sound extreme, 1 1/2 would set it nice. I don't like to see spring leafs taken out, that will weaken the rear suspension and diminish side to side control. As for the front I have seen one coil clamped together with SS hose clamps, that squeezes the spring about 1/2" lower which in reality will lower the front end 1". This would drop your car 1-2" for less than $50 and not hurt driveability.
Yes, cause I shot it when I worked for the magazine. I think the owner is a member of the Road Rockets.
I cut about 1-1/3 coils out of the front of my 55, it sits kind of low, I can still put a floor jack under the crossmember, and it rides ok. It's not slammed though. btw nice picture!
You can do a regular air bag setup in front (not ART) for under $800. Probably cheaper if you supply alot of your own stuff but bags would be about $80 each and the brackets would be about $100 for the set for the front. Then use blocks or dearched springs in the back. thats what I did on my 55 Delivery. Here is a pic for ya.
just a question re: cutting coils, doen't that compomise ride quality as in choppy? Would'nt lowered or "drop spings" springs be better overall fix?
YES!!! cutting coils makes it ride stiffer because you are reducing the springrate. When the spring has less coils it does not compress as easy and therefor makes it stiffer. Originally thats what I had done to my car but hated the ride so I did the bags.
I would cut the coils! Its the traditional way! $300. to $800. must be pocket change for some. Spending more isnt always the answer. http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/225211/fromsearch/1/hl/cut|2|coils/tp/1/
3 inch blocks and cut coils. rides ok but is closr to the snubbers, so if you hit a big bump its a little rough.
Here is a pic of my old 57' before I sold it to "boones" as a street machine.. I used posies dropped leafs and a 2" block.. and I cut (2) full coils out of the front. I liked it..
Lowering springs and cut stock coils do the same thing...they both have fewer coils so the sping rate is increased, and the ride is stiffer. But lowering springs are made with the correct spring rate for the reduced travel, and will probably be even stiffer than cut springs....not as likely to bottom out that way. How much you can go with cutting springs kind of depends on how low you want the car, vs how much ride quality you're willing to sacrifice. Cutting coils worked fine for me, but it might not do the job for you.
for the front you have 3 options, bag, dropped spindles, cut coils. (i cut 2 coils out of my 57 because i had a ****ty spring compressor and couldnt get it to work other wise) it rides pretty well actually. for the rear you could bag, do lowering blocks, or change over your rear suspension like what i did. i didnt do it to lower the car, but it ended up lowering it about 1.5 inches. it allows for more tire to fit under the car 8) and lowers it apparently. because i didnt like the lower stance, i put air shocks in it.or you do my suspension set up and then add another 1.5 inches of lowering blocks thats 3 inch drop in the rear, then cut coils in the front! i dont have access to my pictures right now because im in my machine shop cl*** but ive got 2 threads on my 57 and i have pics of both the exterior of the car and some under car pics on the other thread to show you what i did( you can buy the suspension kit but thats over 200 bucks, i just made it out of 6 inches of 1" I.D. pipe and about 3 feet of square tubing. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=399849 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=400992
the second link has the under car pics on the second page oh and dont forget simply getting smaller tires! but remember, the car gets lowered only half the difference in the tire sizes, i mean thats kind of common sense i guess, but just throwing it out there
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