Hello all...

I don't post on here much, but I lurk quite often when I'm getting ready to do something new to my car. This seems to be the best place to find good, technically oriented info without much bias.

First off, I have a 2002 SS with the following: T56, full exhaust (Kooks LTs, catted y, Hooker catback, CME tips), lid, FTRA, Diablo tuner. My rear end is already making some funny noises, and I won't even attempt to launch on DRs because of this. When I get the fundage, I've already decided to do a 9" with a locker (I don't mind the noise, and I don't want to shatter a posi or have to daily drive on a spool), but I'm not sure how well the pumpkin will fit on a lowered car. I do have a fully adjustable Ground Control setup on my car, so I can raise it/lower it as needed, but I like the way it sits right now (about an inch lower than stock), and don't want to have it look like a 4x4 again. Are there going to be any clearance issues with the housings offered by various manufacturers? I'm looking into Billingsley, Moser, and Strange at the present moment.

Any and all help is appreciated. If you need anymore info on my setup, feel free to ask.

Oh, and another thought...I'd like to do a new driveshaft at the same time. Is this going to need to be a custom length, or will a stock length DS work?

- Steve

 

My Moser 9" raised the back of my car up like 2 inches.

I removed the spring cups from the top of the coil springs and sleeved the top most coil with radiator hose.

But I have a set of custom cut springs I am going to try.

 

Yup the moser 9" will do that..happened to me,too. I did the same thing John mentioned with the spring cups and when i put Hal shocks in the back it slammed it down nicely..no idea why that is but the Hal's dropped the car like an inch compared to the 3 way drag shocks i had before, still using stock springs so its the shocks that did it..looks nice now

 

oh i guess to answer your Q..you won't have any ground clearance issues i wouldn't think..the pumpkin is a lot bigger than a stock diff of course but i never have had any problems at all

 

the newer 9in don't have the larger axle tube diameter mine only got raised 1/4in and i left the spring cups in.

 

well I got the sway bar relocation kit for my 9" and that thing looks like it is going to be very low to the ground... but I guess that actually lowering the car wouldn't make a difference on that one.

 

Are there going to be any banging issues with the floor pan though? Seems like a bigger pumpkin would be a recipe for some serious banging under hard acceleration if it starts hitting the floor...

 

Depends on your torque arm. At a little higher then stock height my RT torque arm mount has beat a pretty good sized crater in the floor (never really heard it hit though but with rod ends on the LCAs one more clunk isnt noticed). The moser really moves the torque arm to the drivers side, the front of the torque arm also rubs on the trans tunnel.

It will probably be OK with the stock torque arm though but if I was planning on lowering the car a lot I would probably stick with a 12 bolt..

 

Since it raised, does that mean it is lighter than the stock rear by chance?

 

Nope

The rear axle could weigh 300lbs or 10lbs and the car will still sit at the same height. The axle tubes are bigger diameter then the stock rear and since the spring sits on top of the axle tube the car sits higher.

 

The only thing that will hit the floor pan is the torque arm mount. I cut a hole in the floor pan where it hit, and welded a box over the hole. The box is about 1.5 inches deep, but it really allows more clearance than that because it's on an angle. This area is behind the rear seat. As far has the pumkin hitting, it will never happen because the bump stops hit first. I lowered the rear of my car about 2 inches by cutting the springs and removing the rubber donut above the springs.

 

That's what I was hoping to hear Cal...I'm sure I could find some way to keep the TA from hitting.

 

Meent, the best way to do it is install the rear and let it bottom out a few times. This will make a mark so you know where to modify the floor pan. The box I put in is hardly noticeable from inside the car, and the rear seat back still goes in place over it. It's possible you could just make a dent in that area with a big hammer, but I didn't have any luck with that approach, so I went with the cutting and welding.