Looking to build something long and low and am curious what experience is out there on how much clearance there needs to be under the chassi/framerails in order to be street friendly. I plan on using mine as a daily driver to and from school. Thanks
I normally shoot for about 16" from the street to the rockers. ....but I would think 3"- 4" would work just fine.
Roads around schools and in supermarket parking lots are notorious for having speed bumps that could actually be classified as "Speed Mountains" and on many occasions I have scraped bumps on the bottom of my MGB and it has 4-1/2" - 5" of ground clearance. I had to weld a "skid plate" on the header pipe!
Back in the '50's they said that if you could get a pack of cigarettes, upright, under the lowest point in the car you could easily (?) drive it on the street but if you had to turn the pack sideways it was too low. Keep in mind there weren't may filtered cigarettes in those days.
I would not go any lower than the scrub line on a daily driver. Take the tires off the rims, or just put bare rims on the car and see what would drag going down the road. You would not want to go any lower than that in case you did have a flat tire. I have always heard 3" clearance under the car, but that would depend on how it was built. My .02 worth.
i would think that it would also depend on how good/bad your roads are. With all the potholes in the Midwest, a permanently really low car could be troublesome
yeah 3 inches is usauly the lowest you can go. keeping in mind that nothing hangs under your frame rails and you dont have a 90 deg driveway also if its a shoebox your fine but if its a land barg caddy you might want to reconsider with such a long wheel base it could change things up a bit, defintly pay attention to have far that rear hangs past the back tires as itll be scraping alot sooner now just some thoughts bags are for groceries
I did that with my Land Cruiser!!! Sat her right down on a set of bare rims. Then I crawled right under on my hands and knees to get a better look. Everything was fine.
my scrub line is real real low on my daily... i have just about one inch maybe a tiny bit more (4 in. blocks and 14" tires) i daily drive it and usually dont have problems i have been known to get stuck in potholes or in construction areas but otherwise im ok
I remember the upright cigarette picture as bragging on how low your car was. Of course they were unfiltered Camels and Lucky Strikes. Then again we actually drove those cars on the street.
my 1950 caddy was set with the rockers 5" off the ground and never scraped them. rear bumper would drag in and out of a steep driveway but it had alot of overhang from the rear wheels. with the lake pipes on it, it would drag them around any hard corner (2" lake pipes plus 1/4 for the caps)
i think i lost half of my car in a pot hole in detroit....hahaha i think it must be a requirement you to have a suv to drive in town ....that was nuts.....haha brandon
dude - first day of spring, there's friggin' hot dog vendors that set up inside of some of the potholes on I-96 down Livernois way.
sreiously... In Socal, the ride height limit is a function of overhang and the aprons from the street into local businesses. For a typical old ride with typical overhangs - figure 5". I'm runnin' 6+"in Detroit on the DD with occasional speedbump rub.
i went with the 4 inches is probably good rule... and honestly, i dont know if i like it or not.. the lowest point on my car is like 3.75 but more or less everything else is 4-4.5.. and it rubs on EVERYTHING, drives me crazy, i have to drive into and out of everywhere on rediculous angles, potholes kill me, have to drive slow on not perfect roads etc.. my bumpers do hang out fairly far past the wheels, but still.. it does look killer tho , so i deal with it, just because i love the look... if you want it to drive nicely and not worry about scraping everything, i would go 5 or so.
I had about 16" on my Falcon. Car looked a little too low, so I raised it to 18" from the rockers to the street. Also, now I don't have to worry about the infamous NY potholes,or anything that has blown into the street like a trash can, recycling box etc.. Better to be safe than sorry.
My '59 Ford wagon's lowest point was 2 5/8" off the ground. it rode like shit, scraped on EVERYTHING. Damn it looked cool....... drove it daily. My Current daily ride (50 Wafarer) is much more civil at something like 5" clearance, but it doesn't LOOK low. Sometimes ya gotta sacrifice comfort for the sake of style.
I also think it depends on the car.My 65 Caddy has a lot more over hang than most 50`s cars. Mine is about 6" off the ground and I still scrape on speed bumbs and driveways . I could not lower it anymore without bagging it and forget about any more passengers.Still on the fence on bagging it
Squirrel, I measured my Merc with a cigarette pack and could slide an upright pack under the side pipes but not under the bottom of the caps. My Merc is dropped 5" front and back. If I go over most speed bumps I clear except for the bottom of the caps. Caps have about 1/4" scraped off of the bottom edges.
My dailey driver '98 full size chevy had a 6-8 drop. Ran a little under 2" of ground clearance. The crossmember rubbed every once in a while but other than that, nothing else major ever hit the ground.
aint that the truth...my car sits around 10 (?) inches in the front from the bottom of the bumper to the ground,but the BACK one sits somethin like 14,so it looks STUPID until i get some new springs or somethin...or just fill up the trunk with shit..i'm gonna be runnin a permanently lowered suspension in the back and as for the front i'm already running one...even though i dont care for the look,i think i'm gonna have to pick up a set of curb feelers,though...corners love me...as for scraping up the back end..well,that's why people started runnin skirts! creepy
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