I love low that looks drivable ,lower only looks broken too me too! I'm sure it depens a bit on your local roads,but in High School in 1960,my own an few others were getting away with, near too 3inch + a little frame up off road clear. Any one going lower, would just high center stick coming in to parking lots=Look really stupid stopped n stuck on driveway lip.
The car needs to be at least 1" higher than the suspension travel to not be s****ing on every little bump.
The pics of the OP's cars can be taken as an illustration of how to apply the scrub line rule properly. The thing about air suspension which bugs me is that people see it as a way to vary ride height, and nothing else. There is a lot more to it.
Adjustable suspension is for those that fear commitment Blocks on the back and whatever the previous owner did in the front . Drives great .
Here's mine static dropped about 5 in front and 6 in back, drives fine. When we were kids and got a new to us car the first stop was Cohea Muffler Shop in San Fernando they heated your springs for 10 or 20 bucks and cut them in the car for $30. We were "Ashamed" to go anywhere in a stock car, if you did and pulled in the drive-in you would get "Is that Mommys' Car?" Cohea's gone now they were there for 50+ years. JW
Late '60s, radials just starting to catch on. 2 coils & 165-14 front ... 3'' blocks & 205-14 rear. One of the best driving Chevrolets I ever owned.
This '51 runs Fatman dropped spindles & 3" lowering blocks. Rides smooth, corners better than stock...
I am just glad that Folks still build rides that they like ... My 65 F100 has a rake, big an littles...... Ricky.
Great Thread! I'm a Rod, and Custom Nut. So I love anything from a Low, and Slow Low Rider. To a Fast, and High nose bleed'n G***er!!! But the first time I saw a frame on the ground?? I thought that it was broken too. lol
Being lower doesn't mean being cooler. The laws of physics don't give anyone a free p***. If someone wants to live in fear of every bump in the road, every speed bump, and every driveway just to impress others........then thats their choice and they can live with it. My personal tastes .........I think a car looks best when its just high enough to be driven most anywhere without s****ing, or slightly higher than that. Extreme lowness is a downer to me.
My current truck project I'm building around air ride. Love the look laying on the running boards. It is specific to this truck and would not want this look on other cars I've built or will build. Wanted to try something different this time. Getting tired of people asking me if it will bounce. LOL
A guy needs about 3" of ground clearance just to get to the street from my driveway, unless it has a really short wheel base. The bottom of the running boards on my truck have about 5" of ground clearance. The truck is channeled over the frame to get it that low.
I like stuff about as low as it can be and still be driven anywhere I need to go. I work with a bunch of farmers that think I break all my stuff even though I wouldn’t consider any of it that low as compared to lots of cars that aren’t static dropped. I remember the first day I drove either of a couple later model pickups that I static dropped getting comments about how it was going to be hard to drive across the pasture (which I didn’t do before I lowered them either…). Anyway, all a matter of preference I suppose.
On the other hand...I will walk past a 'broken' vehicle and smile looking at this. Good thing there is room for ALL styles in the hobby.
Funny that most guys I've talked to that have air suspension in the last couple years have stated "every air suspension leaks". Which essentially means they are tired of chasing leaks. I like my stuff to be reliable and not have to worry about an extra potential failure point. Static drops do that for me. The thing too is that a lot of vehicles on air ride either don't look good at ride height or don't look good at full drop. It's hard to get wheel fitment to do what you want in both cases. I prefer a nice static stance so it looks good always. My stuff has anywhere between 3" and 6" clearance to the lowest point (usually crossmember). Here in the land of frost heaves, you need to watch for those pesky manhole covers. My 3" clearance car has a polished crossmember from s****ing on overp*** transitions at highway speeds. Now that I'm a bit older and wiser, there's definitely a balance between peace of mind and looking good. It's about 4-6" off the ground for me.
"every air suspension leaks"? Practically anyone who has driven an air-ride truck tractor would take issue with that. The system should have a compressor large enough to keep the correct pressure in the bags. Unless there is a broken air-line or fitting, or the regulating valve is out of adjustment, the system should work as it's supposed to. I'm speaking from a few million miles driving air ride truck tractors.
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