Technical How low?

Scrub line is important as most have mentioned but other than that, it really depends on what suspension you have. With a dropped axle for example, you really need to watch the oil pan to axle clearance as often that will dictate how low you can go (while still having suspension travel and a useable oil pan).

- EM

 

Back in the early sixties I had 57 chevy Bel Air 4 door hardtop lowered to the ground. Would hit a Marlboro pack lying on it’s side. Lowering blocks in rear heated springs in front. In 9 months I got 21 lowering tickets. They were fix it tickets that needed to by signed off by a cop when fixed. I forged a fake cops name and badge number on all of them. Nobody ever checked that shit.


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There are lots of factors to consider when deciding how low is practical. I like to drive my stuff pretty much anywhere I want to go and have had some situations of some OT lowered trucks that made me wish I had just a wee bit more clearance in certain areas... The main things I have smashed outside of being concerned with scrub line are things like smashing headers closed, dragging mufflers almost off, dragging a-frames on the ground hard enough to knock the bushings out and on my on-topic pu I have now, I can't back up to a curb or the spare tire carrier lodges itself on the curb or parking block. Specific to my pu now, I obviously can remove the spare or just not back up to stuff like that. I have also had a crew cab late model pu that was long enough that it liked to high center going into some parking lots, etc. It's all about how and where you want to drive and how much you like replacing stuff that might drag...

 

I worked with a guy that grew up in San Diego. Back in the day, ride height violations was a big issue between the local cops and the high school kids. He kept an unopened pack of Camels on the dash. The pack was "shaved" at both ends and carefully reassembled and re-wrapped with cellophane. He got an extra fraction of an inch bragging rights and saved him a few "fix-it" tickets.

 

Same name every time?

 

I had an San Jose cop tell me in the 80's that my super low OT car would become a "steel frisbee" if I lost a tire. There were two components of the front beam that would hit the road with a good bump.

 

I could fit a 12 oz beverage can under the lowest point, which happened to be the front edge of the running boards. The truck passed the scrub line test.
Even with careful driving, both front edges of the running boards were bent, and there were deep gouges in the bottom of the front bumper. I didn't like having to watch the road that much looking for possible things that could hit something under the truck, it sure took away from the enjoyment of driving it.
Everything I build these days is at least 6" off the ground at the lowest point.

 

We don't need no stinking rules.

 

Hello,

Back in the old days (1956-60), lowered cars were stuck in one position, low. Either the springs were cut or heated. (Some guys used the “c” clamps to squeeze the coils down…) The shocks usually bottomed out, while the tires wore funny, until a complete wheel alignment and balance was done, even on those funky bubble balancers. No wheel spinning versions as yet.

So, as one selects the amount of cut coil or one leaf less, etc, that is what it is until a ticket or a different set of springs is installed and the whole process starts again. For those dropped axles, the situation takes more involvement and adjustments. But the idea of a fixed level of drop is decided at that time.

Jnaki

But, how does one figure out how low? Well, most used the idea of safety. Others just said, “Joe, down the street cut his coils to get a 2 inch drop.” So, form follows function and despite the low height of each car, they looked the same when cruising. Unless, of course, several people were now in the car and the car just got lower and lower. So, the bumps automatically got higher. The dips in the intersections got deeper and sometimes, were actual safety hazards for the cars.

Then, out West, there was a time when even the owners of the very low cars put on skid plates under the gas tank for safety and to keep the CHP away. But, that created a new aspect of lowriding, sparks from the protective skid plate. Now, it was a show as to who had the longest skid plate spark trail under their cars when showcasing the event. YRMV
recent photo
But, over the years, new tech has come to light allowing those to raise the car to clear any angled driveway and slopes on the roads nearby. One of our old houses had an off camber sloped driveway that curved from the street into the garage, uphill. If the angle was not taken carefully, even on a stock level car/station wagon, there was a chance for a scrape or two.

The people that bought our simple house tore out the driveway and made the small house so large that there is no long driveway. It is a short uphill concrete pad that leads into a garage. The good thing for the neighbors is that no ugly cars can be parked outside on the driveway, as there is a short one. But, the length of any car sticks out on the community sidewalk.

 

Driveway aprons and speed bumps etc., don't give a crap about Newton's Laws Of Scrub Lines.
Back when I was young and dumb and full of cum, I once stuffed a bellhousing where the moon don't shine. (edit..... on my car, not my body)
It's been many a decade since but I now like being able to drive in excess of the speed limit anywhere I care to travel. If I have to slow down to clear anything that other traffic pacing me doesn't have to, I consider that the same as my machine is broken. If it can't clear, it's "broken" to me. So if it looks like it can't clear, it also "looks broken" to me........ nothing cool about it.
If we go back in time to when the first caveman "stanced" his 1951 Fordosaurus, a bunch of other cavemen gathered 'round to admire it. Sure as shootin', a few of those knuckle draggers said, "Well if y'all think that's good, I'll drop my 1952 Chevyosaurus even lower....... which means more is better......... Right?"
This following of a fad became ingrained into the DNA and was passed along until modern times which explains why dropping your pants as low as possible gets you coolness points.

Warning: This post contains humor and sarcasm and is not intended to resemble any person currently living or recently dead. ("Recently" means within the last three generations.)
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This is a static drop. The front bumper is 3 inches off the ground so we have to take it off to get it on and off the trailer. Probably too low for the street, but it works fine as a race car. Factory turning radius is unaffected, not that we turn all that much, but 10+ degrees of caster makes the steering effort fun.

 

Its all about the preparation, I've driven the "OT" vw in my profile picture 10,000 miles+ with the head of the pan sitting just under 2" off the ground. but it has a Flat bottom, and nothing sticks down from the pan. yes I drag on things, but not as much as you'd think, and its just a price you pay to look cool.

Just A Big Model T by BigJoeArt posted Jan 24, 2023 at 7:12 AM

The above picture is my T chassis, which has a hefty flat floorpan level with the bottom of the frame, and has all the vitals (oil pan, belhousing, radiator, ect) tucked above the bottom edge of the frame. It will be driven LOW.

My rule of thumb is that it's easier to set up your chassis Low, and then raise it as needed, than to make it sit too high and then try to lower it again. my T has a couple inches of adjustment at the turn of a screw on the quarter elliptical springs.

If I wanted to drive a 4x4 I'd build a pickup.

 

If you have a flat tire while driving naturally the car will be lower than the static height, so figuew that in.

I have had a couple of cars that sheet metal came into contact with the road, like the chin on a '40 Ford. HRP

 

From 16-22 I wanted everything as low as possible. Now, at 36, I'm a little more sensible when lowering things. Dragging everywhere isn't fun. I have an OT GM B-Body that is 3" off the ground static. The crossmember is polished from hitting the asphalt at bridge deck transitions on the highway. My 62 Bel Air is about 1.5" higher and is much more manageable, but you still have to be cautious of where you go. I want my stuff low and raked but also drivable, so there's a balance these days.

 

This is fact. When I first joined the HAMB I was screwing a '53 F truck together. Not just the vehicle in question but where you measure and rake, in either direction. I channeled it over the chassis and set the cab on a cinder block for channel depth. Cool beans man, it had perfect ground clearance, perfect rake, it had the look. Until you got fenders on it. I ended up sectioning the front clip and the rear fenders 2" to get enough ground clearance to drive it.

NOTE: THE NEXT PARAGRAPH USES AN OT CAR FOR AN EXAMPLE AND IS FOOD FOR THOUGHT ONLY!!!!!!!!!!!

Funny thing about ride height, do you plan on driving it? Do you ever have a brain fart when you drive it? Back in the '90s the missus had an OT T Bird. We dropped it 2" and it looked good. Then we put a set of Pirellis on it, the rubber band looking tires. It was the chit, she was styyyyylin'. Then she forgot how low it was and scraped the snout off on a parking bumper.

 

I helped my dad build a 52 Chev pickup just after I got my license. We built it LOW. Got it on the road and we had to raise it 1-1/2" because it was nearly undrivable.