2.5inch Drop?
Thread Starter
TECH Junkie
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 3,265
Likes: 1
From: CHITOWN
2.5inch Drop? Im not looking for sportlines, Im looking for a even lower drop. Maybe even a set of coilovers, Ive seen this drop in person and I must say it looks great. Not great for drag but makes the car look really good. Anyone have pics or know what will rub etc? 
Last edited by slick1851; Dec 13, 2005 at 04:20 PM.
You can do it without rubbing by using the stock tires and wheels, but the car will be riding hard on the bumpstops. Basically you will not have a suspension, and the car will ride bad and handle bad. You could even damage the car's frame. This is what is called slamming a car. You could do it with coil-overs, or by simply cutting the spring of your choice.
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Thread Starter
TECH Junkie
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 3,265
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From: CHITOWN
Originally Posted by SIK02SS
you could always bag it? if your lookin for the look and not so much the performance....but they are becoming more and more performance aimed
I am not a fan of airbags or cutting the springs, I really hate everything about airbags and would never go there. Im going to do it with a good set of coilovers, possable GC with custom rate springs and then some revalved bilstons.
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On The Tree
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 109
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From: Land O' Lakes, FL
Originally Posted by slick1851
I am not a fan of airbags or cutting the springs, I really hate everything about airbags and would never go there. Im going to do it with a good set of coilovers, possable GC with custom rate springs and then some revalved bilstons.
Originally Posted by slick1851
I am not a fan of airbags or cutting the springs, I really hate everything about airbags and would never go there. Im going to do it with a good set of coilovers, possable GC with custom rate springs and then some revalved bilstons.
Thread Starter
TECH Junkie
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 3,265
Likes: 1
From: CHITOWN
Originally Posted by Cal
Well at least if you do it with coil overs you can raise it back up if needed. I suggest you go no lower that 25.75 inches to the fender arches; even that will put the front end on the bumpstops, but not compress them all the way. And you will need at least 750 lb/in front springs and 250 lb/in rear.
I think I should have said, How low can I go without destroying the cars handling but still being a lil lower than a 2 inch drop. Im thinking of going like 2.2 or somthing like that. And then at the track raise the car etc and around town or on weekends lower it or raise to what Ill need.
Originally Posted by slick1851
I think I should have said, How low can I go without destroying the cars handling but still being a lil lower than a 2 inch drop. Im thinking of going like 2.2 or somthing like that. And then at the track raise the car etc and around town or on weekends lower it or raise to what Ill need.
Originally Posted by slick1851
I think I should have said, How low can I go without destroying the cars handling but still being a lil lower than a 2 inch drop. Im thinking of going like 2.2 or somthing like that. And then at the track raise the car etc and around town or on weekends lower it or raise to what Ill need.
Changing ride height will throw off the aligment, although you can ignore all of that except the toe change. You will have to reset the toe, but it isn't that hard to do yourself. You really would not want to be jacking the ride height, caster, camber, and toe around for every racing event. But you might be able to do that twice a year, once at the begining of the racing season and once at the end. This is what I do. It will pay off to learn to do your own wheel alignments.
Thread Starter
TECH Junkie
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 3,265
Likes: 1
From: CHITOWN
Originally Posted by Cal
I'm not sure how much drop it would be, since different cars have different stock heights, but 26.5" from the pavement to fender arch is considered by most to be the lowest you can go without making the car slower on a road course. For this ride height, the best spring rate would be somewhere from 500 to 600 lbs/inch front and 150 to 175 lbs/inch rear.
Changing ride height will throw off the aligment, although you can ignore all of that except the toe change. You will have to reset the toe, but it isn't that hard to do yourself. You really would not want to be jacking the ride height, caster, camber, and toe around for every racing event. But you might be able to do that twice a year, once at the begining of the racing season and once at the end. This is what I do. It will pay off to learn to do your own wheel alignments.
Changing ride height will throw off the aligment, although you can ignore all of that except the toe change. You will have to reset the toe, but it isn't that hard to do yourself. You really would not want to be jacking the ride height, caster, camber, and toe around for every racing event. But you might be able to do that twice a year, once at the begining of the racing season and once at the end. This is what I do. It will pay off to learn to do your own wheel alignments.
Thanks alot, yes Im only going to raise it and lower it only a few times if its needed. Great info you gave me
Teching In
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 7
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Originally Posted by slick1851
I am not a fan of airbags or cutting the springs, I really hate everything about airbags and would never go there. Im going to do it with a good set of coilovers, possable GC with custom rate springs and then some revalved bilstons.
What is new or socially taboo due to lack of inexperience or knowledge is automatically concidered EVIL and not to be spoken of...whats the matter with a bagged suspension, REAL racers dont do those kind of things?.one guy thinks cutting springs is ok, another thinks FUN/necessity for the cause is to jack up the car, crank on collars, which regulary jam/ stiff turning...to try to accomplish the right load/ height, if not, jacks up AGAIN,(sound like fun yet?)when in doubt, ask....Air Ride Technologies web page.1/4, autocross, canyon running, bags immediate adjustment, might have to reach behind the wheel for a strut/ shock. dampning/rebound adjustment have installed for about 7/8 months now, had the bitch'n springs/revalves,yada yada,never got what i paid for. did my research, full air sus. with 12 way adj shocks/ struts, adj. pan bar..ect. NEVER GOING BACK. handles on rails....and can look good too. a dip, driveway, 1/2 set push on the controller, problem solved, then tap the button, all back...too easy....yeah, isnt that what everybody wants.full removed suspension pieces weighed against full replacing air system W/comp. and tank...around 10 lb., price worth paying for versatality and handling...priceless
Staging Lane
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 93
Likes: 0
From: Laredo, TX
I use qa1 ajustable coil overs all around and my ride hight from the pavement to the top of the fender is 24 1/2' on the front and 25 1/2'' at the rear all i do is set the shocks at 2 and rides smooth all day, but you do have to wacth out for speed bumps or big pot holes to keep your car from bottoming out
Originally Posted by cbracing
What is new or socially taboo due to lack of inexperience or knowledge is automatically concidered EVIL and not to be spoken of...whats the matter with a bagged suspension, REAL racers dont do those kind of things?.one guy thinks cutting springs is ok, another thinks FUN/necessity for the cause is to jack up the car, crank on collars, which regulary jam/ stiff turning...to try to accomplish the right load/ height, if not, jacks up AGAIN,(sound like fun yet?)Coil overs are a bit of a pain to adjust up and down. You'll probably go through that once and decide it's not worth the hassles.
Originally Posted by cbracing
when in doubt, ask....Air Ride Technologies web page.1/4, autocross, canyon running, bags immediate adjustment, might have to reach behind the wheel for a strut/ shock. dampning/rebound adjustment have installed for about 7/8 months now, had the bitch'n springs/revalves,yada yada,never got what i paid for. did my research, full air sus. with 12 way adj shocks/ struts, adj. pan bar..ect. NEVER GOING BACK. handles on rails....and can look good too. a dip, driveway, 1/2 set push on the controller, problem solved, then tap the button, all back...too easy....yeah, isnt that what everybody wants.full removed suspension pieces weighed against full replacing air system W/comp. and tank...around 10 lb., price worth paying for versatality and handling...priceless
You say 12 way adjustable shocks. If they are Hal's or QA1's or similar, those generally don't have enough damping to really do the job in most applications. Actually, I can't think of a single adjustable shock for an f-body (besides Koni's) that is really properly valved for a handling application.
However, with that said, since he wants the car so low that any handling is going to go out the window, it probably won't matter what he uses and the air bags are probably as good as anything else (assuming they don't rupture and are durable).