how low can you go and still be practical

i know you'd want it to high enough that nothing hit if you had it just on rims.But what's a good height for the body to be low enough to get that super low look and not scraping it on the ground.I'm talking model T or A rpu,sedan,convert.No air bags or any of that stuff.

 

...You'd want it to high enough that nothing hit if you had it just on rims....

 

I found out that 3&1/4" is too low if you have 4" of suspension travel.

 

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I found out that 3&1/4" is too low if you have 4" of suspension travel.

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I think most Firebird Trans Am drivers found that out too, in the late 70s

Titanium skid plates make neat sparks!

 

I also learned that fenders make lousy skid plates

FWIW, I'm setting my 33 P/U up at 4" to the bottom of the cowl. The frame will be at the same hight.

 

Contact the dept. of transporation in you state and the states surrounding you to find out what the height of their speed bumps are. Two inches higher than the bumps is a good height.

 

A short wheel base car needs to be lower than a long wheelbase car to look low. A sedan at say 5" would look a lot lower than say a T bucket at say 3". its an optical allusion.
The wife's hooptie is about 5" under the rockers. With the length of the wheelbase (around 115") its just a little low for speed bumps.
But on a short ride like an RPU or roadster/coupe you can probably easily get away with 5" and drive it. A longer wheelbase vehicle is going to need to set up a little higher to clear stuff in the middle.
That said, we aren't going to raise the hooptie and its destined for the daily routine. She'll just have to avoid speed bumps.

 

Depends on the potholes, speed bumps, and driveways you frequent in your area. Buddy of mine lives in a trailer park and the manager put in huge speedbumps. I made a point of driving around the speedbumps across his lawn whenever I visited my buddy. So did everyone else. He finally had the tops of the speedbumps cut down. The scrubline thing doesn't work when you high center on speed bumps. I had to raise it up finally. It would knock over a pack of cigarettes sitting on it's side when I got it.

 

place the body high enough so you sit in the car not on top of it.

 

Road kill become's gruesome when ultra low. It has to be broken up before it passe's under/through like a meat grinder. Popping and banging, a biker buddy of mine became a 'mini-Mt. St. Helen's' when the skunk odor hit. I swear one night a racoon took 150 yrd's at 55mph before it passed under. BBQ anyone?

 

High enough so it doesn't hit or drive around and wear off the offending piece.

Frank

 

How low and still be practical?

.....hmmmmm.....lets see....

Since I did the suspension work on the Fairlane, I haven't had to use a jack to get under it. Its the first car I have had where the oil changes are a breeze. Heck, I installed all new brake lines without jacking it up at all.

I would say, raise the front about 8" and the back around 2 or 3" and you should be in the zone. 17" from the ground to the rockers should give you plenty of practicality.

VT.

 

Von T,

Without your avatar running, that last post just wasn't as funny as it could have been.

And I would think of a "safe" lowered car like this. If you are driving and you get a flat tire, you don't want your rear tires to be plowing your front fenders underground and taking the oil pan with it. This of course is the front flat scenario. Dragging the ass end and tearing up a freshly chromed rear bumper would suck too...

 

3" is too low on an A c-dan. My splash pan is low enough that it catchs slurpee cups lying in the road.

 

If it's low enough that you can just fit a pack of cigarettes face down underneath the rockers, now that's when your practical!!

 

my 1950 caddy with 3 people in it would drag the lake pipe cap at the smallest bump in the road. it is now worn down to the pipe and does not scrape as offen

 

Not that I always follow my advice-but 4" should be between the lowest component and ground.JUST AN OPINION.

 

Ok the lowest part should be the grill shell at about 4" regualtion bumps over here were 100 mm but are now 75 mm which is about 4" and 3" respectivly now you need a couple of inches under the body for suspension travel i got mine set at about 2 1/2 " all up the cab is about 5 3/4 inches from the deck grill is 4" and the bed a little more at about 7 or 8 .This makes the truck hugly practical and look real low although it isnt real radical if i get a puncture at speed i have only to worry about keeping it in a straight line not how many 360* i do until i stop. The main thing to worry about is scrub line as i have seen a few cars that have been so low that when they got a puncture they took out the car and driver.so the Answer to your question is 4" at the grill shell and 5 3/4 at the cab/body ........Marq

 

LOL, trying to figure out what is "Traditional", would be easier then figuring out whats "Practical"

 

just make sure you drag the frame and not body or brake/fuel lines and it is all ok. I put a driveshaft loop on my fairlane to tie the torqueboxes together and it was no biggie until I put bags on the back. I have worn about 3/4" off it now so it don't drag as bad. making small skid plates for under bumpers helps. key thing is just slow down for speed bumps if you know you will scrape

 

I hear ya . On a date with a long time ago with my future wife, I hit a cat. My chevelle was reeaalll low and the cat took like 100 yards or better ta pass under.

She loves damned cats.


Make sure nutin hit the ground and from there make it look like ya want. Everyone will tell ya it is either too low or to high.

 

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Contact the dept. of transporation in you state and the states surrounding you to find out what the height of their speed bumps are. Two inches higher than the bumps is a good height.

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i just realized you are MYTLO56,the guy that had the yellow 56 ford and shipped it from new york(?) to washington that the paint got fucked up on its way there and you were looking for some one to fix it for you. do you still have that car?

ANYWAYS,...if it doesnt drag the frame then it isnt LOW...
my 56 CHEVY drags the frame pulling out of the garage and even worse pulling out of my driveway(a few HAMBERS have had experience with my driveway ),,people always ask why i dont put lifts or bags on it..not cuz i CANT,but cuz i just dont give a FUCK.

every ride i own gets slammed,it all depends on what you wanna do,,build a streeter,a tralier queen,, or something you can haul ass at boniville with.

 

I agree, I like ta build'em low, not park'em low. To me it has ta look good going down the road, and to look good it has to be low. I am also too cheap to use bags.

 

The rule of thumb used to be that you could stand a pack of unfiltered Camels under the lowest part.

That's LOW!

-slacker

 

[ QUOTE ]
I hear ya . On a date with a long time ago with my future wife, I hit a cat. My chevelle was reeaalll low and the cat took like 100 yards or better ta pass under.

She loves damned cats.


Make sure nutin hit the ground and from there make it look like ya want. Everyone will tell ya it is either too low or to high.

[/ QUOTE ]

I hit a pair of possums and they did the same thing....really kind of rough sounding.

 

I once met a midget Mexican hooker....I thought she told me her name was Cunts-way-low....seemed practical to me

Boy am I gonna get in trouble for that but I just couldn't resist.

It all depends on where you drive. Around here with the nice winter freeze and spring thaw the black top resembles hard packed mud roads with deep ruts in it. We have some nice sized rim bending potholes to boot so a pack of camels will not cut it around here. Maybe a carton of camels but not a pack.

 

how low can you go and still be practical

When did pratical become a criteria for building customs or rods?

 

If to you, practical is not scraping the road in front of your own house when backing out the driveway, back the car down the driveway till the wheels are in the gutter and stop and get out and measure how far it is from the bumper/frame to the pavement.
That's all you can lower it, IF that's your idea of practical.

I'm putting casters on the rear of the frame of my 60 elky because I have a steep driveway, a deep gutter and a high crown street, but I still want it low and without lifts.

 

Scraping on the road isn't all that bad, just make sure that the lowest point has some extra material to wear off. I welded a second layer on our Chevy Impala oil pan for a little extra wear surface. I have less than 3 inches clearance with no problem. Neal

 

If youhave fenders, the tires should tuck up into them. I think ground clearance is less critical than stance, and stance is all about filling the wheelwells. I like the edge of the rim to be real close to the top of the fender cutout for the wheelwell, but some of the tire has to be tucked up into it for me to like it. This varies dramatically with different cars and (more importantly) different wheel/tire combos, but if its done right, you can nail a killer stance without having to drag the chassis.

Scotch!~