MarcR94v6

For those of you who have a lowered F-body that you drive on the street often through speed bumps, dips, driveways, etc, a few questions (I didn't feel this was tech worthy, but move it if necessary) :

Do you have trouble going through obstacles mentioned above (speed bumps, etc)? And if so, how much is your car lowered? I'd like to have this done, but if I have to go 1/2 mph over every bump or dip in the road, turning sidways around them, not being able to go up a driveway, then I'll probably forget it. And what about passenger doors hitting curbs? Has that happened to any of you? I'm also concerned about that.

I don't mind scraping the air dam on inconsistencies in the road, but I am concerned about having a smaller gap between the ground and the air dam (less air?). I'm no engineer, but the 4th gen seems to rely fairly significantly on the air rushing under the engine.

If lowering both ends doesn't look suitable to me, are there any benefits to lowering just the rear?

For those who have done it, list some pros/cons if you can.

Thanks.

Skull Leader

Do you have trouble going through obstacles mentioned above (speed bumps, etc)? No
And if so, how much is your car lowered? I forgot, sprink kit in sig
I'd like to have this done, but if I have to go 1/2 mph over every bump or dip in the road, turning sidways around them, not being able to go up a driveway, then I'll probably forget it. And what about passenger doors hitting curbs? Never ever
Has that happened to any of you? I'm also concerned about that.

I don't mind scraping the air dam on inconsistencies in the road, but I am concerned about having a smaller gap between the ground and the air dam (less air?). I'm no engineer, but the 4th gen seems to rely fairly significantly on the air rushing under the engine. 0 impact

If lowering both ends doesn't look suitable to me, are there any benefits to lowering just the rear? it will look like shyte with 1 end only

For those who have done it, list some pros/cons if you can.

I scrape on sharp hills, but I don't know what part underneath scrapes. You will follow ruts in the street uncontrollably, but you can adjust. You will stick to the road, unlike ricers who retardedly bounce around when lowered.

blackrat

my car's an inch lower then stock with the factory eibach suspension. I have a front lip that hangs down a couple of inches too. I have no problems with curbs, although occasionalyl it'll look like the "jaw" of my car is just sitting on the pavement if I pull up to some high ones.

Occasionally my passenger door has been scraped on some high curbs or on roads with high grades. This is more due to the negligence of the passenger. Has happened several times and there is no visible damage, or at least any I care about.

Your front dam will be fine, it's flexible. And you have plenty of flow under there. I can go over some large speed bumps with no issues at speed. If they are really sharp speed bumps I have to go a bit slower just so it doesn't rebound and hit the tranny crossmember or my cutout, but that's about it. General rolling speed bumps are a non issue. The one problem I have is going into steep driveways and that is because of the front lip. Have to attack at an angle.

One problem I have now is that I JUST installed a larger air dam because my lip was blocking too much of the air hitting the stocker. This one hangs several inches lower and is stiffer, and I have already banged it several times. It might not last too much longer. You should have no problems though.

I would wager you can go an inch and a half and still be fairly livable. a one inch drop would be easiest though.

MarcR94v6

Sounds good, thanks for the input guys. How much would you say a full setup would cost for 1" or more drop (not including install which I may be able to do myself)?

Buttercup

I don't recall how much mine is lowered compared to a typical stock f-body but I'll guess it around 1.5" to 1.75" lower. Not slammed but a significant enough drop from stock.

There is only one set of speed bumps that I can think of that I don't want to attempt. My problem isn't the oil pan, headers, or anything like that. The only thing I ever smack is the driveshaft safety loop mount, which hangs down quite low. Never have too much problem otherwise.

No need to be concerned about the air gap between air damn and the road. You want to minimize this as much as possible. Aerodynamically speaking it would be best to have it always scraping the road. You want to minimize airflow underneath the vehicle, especially for cars like this that aren't too damn smooth underneath. The more air that goes under the vehicle, the more high pressure (and lift) and drag you create. You also typically want the rear to sit ever so slightly higher than the front (slight rake) for this same reason. The lower height of the vehicle also attributes to a lower realized frontal area, since the air space beneath the vehicle is essentially an inactive dead space.

The f-body is a bottom breather but all cooling airflow is taken from the high pressure area created just ahead of the air dam.

Of course there is always a tradeoff. "Slamming" the car is not going to make for improved cornering performance on typical roads since suspension travel will be limited and it most definitely won't help the ride. If it's for image, than I guess do what you want. If it's for performance I'd keep the drop to a minimum and invest your money in the shock absorbers and tires.

blackrat

strano's got some of his own springs he's selling for pretty cheap.

http://web.camaross.com/forums/showt...ghlight=strano

here he's says $270 shipped, might be a little more expensive. We all know how well regarded he is when it comes to handling so I would trust these, and they are roughly a 1 inch drop too, give or take. He says 1.25 but I have seen a few thread where people said it was an inch drop. You can probably pick up some eibach pros for cheaper, but they might not handle as well, plus mine sagged in the rear.

One thing though is that you need the shocks too. Stock shocks won't be able to keep up with those springs, or any lowering springs actually and the ride will be crap and you will eventually blow them. You cna pick up some re-valved bilsteins through him or some other type of shock. skys the limit there but at least $400 I figure.

rear spring and shock replacement will be easy but the fronts are a bit more difficult.

Klypto

hell

Buttercup

The stock shocks aren't even good enough to control the stock suspension! Don't even think about running the stock shock absorbers with higher rate springs.

Now would also be a good time to consider your overall suspension goals. I would seriously consider what you need in terms of stabilizer bar, spring, and shock absorber. Especially for a street car, the heavy bar/lighter spring combination works very well. You can keep plenty of suspension travel and still gain roll resistance. This gives excellent cornering performance and good ride. About the only thing it won't do quite as well at is preventing brake dive and maybe a bit of initial turn in response.

Springs are cheap and easy, I wouldn't make them the focus.

MarcR94v6

Sounds like this is something I'll be able to do pretty soon(cost wise), if all goes well. I actually wish I had done this much sooner. Will my tires wear out quicker?

gun4hire

Starting to sound like tech in here. (but I agree you need to do shocks/springs at the same time)

MarcR94v6

Yea, wasn't meant to be, but got carried away with technical questions .

ReNxWar

My convertible was lowered 1.5". Potholes were a major issue, and I tried to completely avoid speedbumps. For those that snuck up on me, taken sideways I only scraped alittle bit. Parking on the street is a good recommendation as far as certain driveways go. I wasn't able to make it in my Uncles.

I personally think it was worth it, though. I loved being so low.

shock6906

My Z has the eibach sportlines, which I think is a 1.5 inch drop. It's also got 17 inch wheels with 275-40 tires, so I'm not sure what the total drop is. I do take it slower over speedbumps, because it will scrape the exhaust if I go too quickly. I think you should probably slow down for them anyway. As far as getting into my driveway, I go in at a slight angle but it only rubs the airdam. If you just lower the back of the car, it will look like crap. The biggest benefit I've seen from the lowering springs is that the car looks much more aggressive.

Would I reccommend you lowering your car? Yes. Would I reccommend you lowering your car if you have ground effects....NO.

formulaofsuccess

i'm not going to read everyone's reply but here's my two cents.

both my f-bodys were lowered, a 94 Formula and a 97 Formula, each having a 1.5" drop. both of them sucked *** too! speed bumps were a bitch unless crawling and just the slightest of dips in the road would cause that big *** nose to rake the ground in the most god awful of "crunch"es. if i were to ever own another 4th gen i would NEVER lower it. granted they look a hell of a lot better without that GM trademark grand canyon fender gap but not worth it.

oh least i not forget, parking was a PITO with it lowered as well. Fbods are such boats as it is and then add to the fact that you can't pull up all the way to a curb and you're suddenly sticking further out in the lot than the guy in the suburban next to you.

the current car sits lower than the previous ones but do to it's much decreased length and very short front overhang it's not nearly as big of a problem.

#2

my mustang was lowered around 2.5"-3". you couldn't fit a finger in between the front tire and the fender. anyways, it was a ****ing pain in the ***. it scraped on everything (couldn't even run cats), got high centered a few times, rode like **** and was just generally difficult to deal with as a daily driver. it did handle really nice on smooth pavement though.

you could barely fit a cigarette pack sideways under the exhaust. don't go that low, do an inch or so and you should be fine.