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Technical Would you risk it?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by 0NE BAD 51 MERC, Dec 20, 2022.

  1. 0NE BAD 51 MERC
    Joined: Nov 12, 2010
    Posts: 1,782

    0NE BAD 51 MERC
    Member

    Was checking out a Facebook page about 49 to 51 Mercs and a guy post a picture of his 51 with the front bumper sitting about 2 inches off the pavement. The bottom of his front wheel was 2.5 to 3 inches above the line of the bumper bottom. His remark was how low is too low. I see this all the time and it scares the hell out of me. I have been building custom cars and hot rods since the early 70s and was always taught to set the scrub line no less than 2 inches above the bottom of the wheel. and on the rare occasion that I would use air ride or hydraulics that that same clearance needed to be set with everything bottomed out. Blowing a tire or suspension component at speed even with that clearance level could be deadly. So, my question is, would you risk your ride and Family or friends in the name of Kool! Larry
     
  2. Boneyard51
    Joined: Dec 10, 2017
    Posts: 6,440

    Boneyard51
    Member

    Not me! But I don’t like that low look anyway! I like the way my avatar car sets, up in the front and higher in the back!




    Bones
     
  3. lowrd
    Joined: Oct 9, 2007
    Posts: 405

    lowrd
    Member

    As a former auto crosser the car I ran, which was very low with the right springs and sway bars, looked cool and handled great but I couldn't drive into the parking lot for the event if the street had speed bumps! Sometimes hitting expansion strips was also very exciting at freeway speeds. Make 'em low enough for good looks and stop.
     
    0NE BAD 51 MERC likes this.
  4. raaf
    Joined: Aug 27, 2002
    Posts: 762

    raaf
    Member

    Scrub line is gospel. Blasphemy could get you or someone else on the road killed. The extra inches aren't worth it.
     
    54delray, Just Gary, Spooky and 6 others like this.

  5. stanlow69
    Joined: Feb 21, 2010
    Posts: 7,348

    stanlow69
    Member Emeritus

    Installed hydraulics 34 years ago on my avatar. I`ve got 70 thousand miles on it since then. Only had an a-arm snap at the speed of 10 miles an hour while turning a corner. I have had a few flats. But the car was up.
     
    A 2 B and 0NE BAD 51 MERC like this.
  6. Squablow
    Joined: Apr 26, 2005
    Posts: 17,388

    Squablow
    Member

    That wouldn't make it into my driveway, and the stuff has to be usable, so I would say no.

    I like adjustable suspensions on lowrider type stuff, it fits well on those cars, but I'm not as big of a fan of it on customs. Customs by definition have no rules, but it's not for me. Just low enough to still be usable/comfortable/not a death trap is good for me.
     
  7. partsdawg
    Joined: Feb 12, 2006
    Posts: 3,503

    partsdawg
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Minnesota

    Half the stuff I see on the street and online that people think are cool I wouldn't ride in if you paid me.
    The way that Merc sounds by description I wouldn't follow it down the highway.
    Others opinions may vary.
     
    A 2 B, loudbang and 0NE BAD 51 MERC like this.
  8. gene-koning
    Joined: Oct 28, 2016
    Posts: 4,040

    gene-koning
    Member

    I built a truck where everything was 1" above the scrub line. to put it in perspective, the bottom of the running boards was 5" above the pavement, the front bumper as 6" above the pavement. All real suspension, no air or hydraulics. The truck looked Soooooo cool!
    The truck actually got driven, a lot! We put 40,000 miles on the truck in 4 years, but the truck was parked 4 months of each year, over the winters.
    The bottom of both running boards were bent slightly and were gouged up from contact with the pavement! There were also pretty deep gouges in the bottom of the front bumper from hard contact with dips, parking blocks, and poor quality roads. I really had to pay attention to the road surface, but there were times you just couldn't avoid scrapping something. You learned to cross into most driveways at a slight angle, the front bumper might be ON, but the odds were against both running boards clearing the high pavement on the other side of the dip.
    I hit a deep chuck hole one time, no way to avoid it, the truck coming at me from the other lane prevented me from swerving around it. The chuck hole broke the threads off the ball joint stud! The lower control arm was on the pavement, so was the front bumper, the front edge of the running boards were about an inch above the ground. Everything scrapped going up on the roll back to get back home, then scrapped coming off the roll back once at home. I'm pretty happy I was only a few miles from home when that happened.
    I sold that truck to get a car I thought I had to have (should have kept the truck). Nothing I've built since that truck has been that low. Been there, done that, ain't doing that again. Gene
     

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  9. Tickety Boo
    Joined: Feb 2, 2015
    Posts: 1,610

    Tickety Boo
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    There are a lot of roads in need of repair from neglect, Registration fees used for rounda bouts round here :mad:
     
    blue 49, das858, WalkerMD and 3 others like this.
  10. TrailerTrashToo
    Joined: Jun 20, 2018
    Posts: 1,289

    TrailerTrashToo
    Member

    20211012 Rocky road - cropped.jpg 2 blocks of unimproved dirt road - Sometimes you have to play the hand that was dealt to you.

    p.s. This was before the rainy season.
     
  11. A 2 B
    Joined: Dec 2, 2015
    Posts: 490

    A 2 B
    Member
    from SW Ontario

    I like the look of some slammed rides but draw the line on cars being driven on public roads without consideration for other folks safety. I wouldn't risk compromising scrub lines while in motion. Too old and wise 'nuff not to be driving a rolling 'pole-vaulter',
     
    Last edited: Dec 20, 2022
    loudbang likes this.
  12. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,861

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    In reality, the "scrub line" is the line between the bare rims and most states say that nothing on the chassis can be below that line. As was explained to me by a Washington state patrol officer, "I I don't care how low it is as long as nothing is below that line and with four flat tires I can push it off the road with my patrol car.
    My 400 ft driveway matches TraierTrashToo's photo in post 10 pretty well as far as being rough. It's a hundred and twenty year old driveway that never had a proper crushed rock base and the 5/8 Minus that my grandfather would have spread that would sink into the dirt in a year or two and hasn't been spread since the early 70's. I like low rigs but would have to do some serous work on the driveway to get down to where I have to worry about scrub line.
     
  13. WB69
    Joined: Dec 7, 2008
    Posts: 1,958

    WB69
    Member
    from Kansas

    Personally never have liked the low look. Just my opinion. Often wonder how some can even be driven as low as they set. But to each their own. Enjoy your ride.
     
  14. twenty8
    Joined: Apr 8, 2021
    Posts: 2,318

    twenty8
    Member

    The safety aspect should be looked at as "probability versus impact".
    The chance of a critical failure would be relatively low, but the potential impact of such a failure could be catastrophic.
    The stakes are too high. Taking yourself, or others out in a "too-low"ride is not cool.
    Hope for the best, but plan for the worst. Scrub line should be a no-brainer.......
     
    Last edited: Dec 21, 2022
  15. Had a friend that found a road plate that had been overlapped with another............with his front crossmember. Lucky it moved before the crossmember did too much.
     
    A 2 B likes this.
  16. While there is a "bumper height law" in this state, there are always exceptions and ways to work around it. My builds have always had this philosophy- put bare steelies on and with it sitting on pavement, have at least 2" clearance for everything underneath including exhaust.
     
  17. Tow Truck Tom
    Joined: Jul 3, 2018
    Posts: 1,879

    Tow Truck Tom
    Member
    from Clayton DE

    When I was active and in pursuit of fancy rides, Rod & Custom mag had a feature called 'Hiboy Of The Month'.
    I like them maybe an inch up from stock.
     
    leon bee, chryslerfan55 and A 2 B like this.
  18. '29 Gizmo
    Joined: Nov 6, 2022
    Posts: 766

    '29 Gizmo
    Member
    from UK

    Rule of thumb... nothing on the car should touch the ground if a tyre deflates. If it does you lose control.
     
    A 2 B and indyjps like this.
  19. indyjps
    Joined: Feb 21, 2007
    Posts: 5,377

    indyjps
    Member

    Dropped on the ground doesn't do it for me.
    Lowered stance with correct suspension mods, wheelwells jammed with max amount of rubber they'll hold is a timeless look - that performs well.
     
    0NE BAD 51 MERC and A 2 B like this.
  20. In my younger hotrod days my motto was "if somethings not scraping it's too high'. I've bent, beached, and broke 'em. I liked the look and paid a little more attention when out driving. I had to approach driveways sideways, avoid speed bumps (was dragged off quite a few times) and watch for potholes. Never had a hotrod as a daily driver. I had plenty of old cars for DD's, and they weren't that low. My daily drivers had to earn their keep while my hotrod just had to take me to my happy place. Kinda like the difference between hamburgers and prime rib. One will keep you going while the other makes you 'want' to keep going.
     
  21. woodiewagon46
    Joined: Mar 14, 2013
    Posts: 2,269

    woodiewagon46
    Member
    from New York

    Wouldn't work for m in my Deuce roadster, trying to get off Long Island. The Cross Bronx Expressway has tractor trailer divots that are about 4" deep.
     
  22. jnaki
    Joined: Jan 1, 2015
    Posts: 9,291

    jnaki





    Hello,
    In So Cal and elsewhere, low is relative to how the local police or CHP sees the car as dangerous. Some lowered cars are illegal in the sense that the lowest part of the car is not the rims of the car. There are other parts like the gas tank, the frame and other metal parts. So, if a flat or blow out happens, the lowest part, gas tank, scraps the ground and sets off things we don't like to imagine.

    In the early days, the local police in So Cal and the CHP did pull over lowered cars to measure or at least check out the lowest part of the car versus the rims. In our 58 Impala it looked lowered with 2 to four teenagers inside. But, when stopped and measured, everything was above the low rim height and deemed legal. We all got out and the Impala rose to the normal legal height.
    upload_2022-12-21_10-41-59.png Thanks to @themoose
    Even at stock height and stock wheels, the extra weight of teenagers added to the lower stance. Thus, from far away, it looked illegal height to the police/CHP folks. Their concern was a blowout causing a fire from the gas tank.

    We have seen it happen in a simple 4 door 55 chevy sedan loaded with beach paraphernalia and people coming home. It was sitting on the side of the road with the rear area in flames and black smoke. The tank exploded and started the fire. The CHP had it under control.

    Jnaki
    So, wherever you get your information, it is all for show. No daily driver has a car so low that it cannot cross any dip in the intersections that most cities have. So, for show, and low to the ground, has to have some apparatus to lower it for just that, a show and not practical driving. No, as it stands, the ride is not as good as a good suspension system for those long road trips. No, I would not risk it…



    upload_2022-12-21_10-49-14.png
    or, old school anti -theft...
     
    caprockfabshop and chryslerfan55 like this.
  23. BamaMav
    Joined: Jun 19, 2011
    Posts: 6,709

    BamaMav
    Member
    from Berry, AL

    There’s low and there’s stupid low. Stupid low is when it’s so low something is going to drag when a tire goes flat.
     
  24. Model A Gomez
    Joined: Aug 26, 2006
    Posts: 1,695

    Model A Gomez
    Member

    My 60 Thunderbird wasn't extremely low, about 4 1/2" to the bottom of the rockers and a unibody so basically flat on the bottom but couldn't back out of my driveway with two people in it without dragging. My approach is slanted and just barely cleared with just me in it, never had problems anywhere else. I like them low but drivable and don't think bags belong on a traditional custom. bird 106.JPG
     
    0NE BAD 51 MERC and williebill like this.
  25. Guys that like them that low should plan for worst case scenario, not best case. Too many unforseen variables.
     
  26. That can be said for pretty much anything that has to do with this hobby. And a bit more if it's really HAMB friendly. Adequate is our buzz word when it comes to brakes, ride, handling, reliability, and to a certain extent performance and safety. We pretty much plan around all that shit everytime we get behind the wheel of our hotrods or customs.
     
  27. Moriarity
    Joined: Apr 11, 2001
    Posts: 30,775

    Moriarity
    SUPER MODERATOR
    Staff Member

    I had this 55 chev from 1972 thru 2000. I think it was 1982 when I changed it from a jacked up street machine to a tail dragging custom. I had 6 inch lowering blocks in the back, c'd frame, raised driveshaft tunnel and yes it would not pass scrub line. I put over 100,000 miles on this car in 20 years and I never had a problem. Some people worry and others just have fun with cars. was I just lucky? maybe....

    555555555555.jpg
     
    Last edited: Dec 21, 2022
    slim38, Robert J. Palmer and 54delray like this.
  28. theHIGHLANDER
    Joined: Jun 3, 2005
    Posts: 10,245

    theHIGHLANDER
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I had long shackles and reverse eye springs on the 39. Looked good sitting there but had no travel and I live in Mich. We have roads in some areas that are roads in name only. I put stock shackles back in and kept the springs. Low enuff. It ain't worth a bent dick if you can't drive it.
     
  29. ^^^^^^^^^
    Your 39 see a lot of winter driving with the shit they put on the roads there?
     
  30. jimmy six
    Joined: Mar 21, 2006
    Posts: 14,799

    jimmy six
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    The hydraulics (3 wheels, stink bugs, rear bumper sparklers) the low riders of today ride like sh*t even at normal height. Any irregularity in the street hits them hard if you ever watch them at posted speed limits.
    Most of us came from a time of “where you put it...you drove it.” 2” or so all around or just in the front suits me fine and works with roads and parking lots of today. Taxifornia had the best roads once and the lack of snow and rain helps.
     

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