How low should I go?
 

I'm looking to lower my car one of these days (maybe in the next 6 months or so when I save up some money), and I want to know how low I can safely go with SLP long tubes and a catted X installed.

Those of you that have seen my car in person know exactly what I'm talking about. (Dustin, Sean, Stephen, John, Ryan, Anthony.) I'm thinking of the Eibach kit which lowers it 1.3-1.4" or the Ford kit, which does 1.5". I don't really think the .2 or so difference will really matter so I may just go for the Ford kit. The thing is, I don't even know if I should to that low. I'm kind of paranoid of lowering it more than 1", being as how my 'tubes hang a good 2" or so below the framerails.

I don't drive on any treacherous roads, the roads here are pretty well maintained, no steep driveways, but there are some speedbumps and I already scraped my cats over a speedbump going like 2mph a few months ago. :mad: I don't care if I feel every bump in the road, so ride quality is not a concern of mine. I just want to be safe about it, is all.

Edit: I forgot to mention that I do not race the car at all. Not even at the track. So I'd need some decent street springs, nothing fancy.

I've got a 03 Vert with SLP LT's and catted X. My car might not be that same but I put on H & R super sport springs. If I had to do it over I would have just got bigger wheels to fill in the wheel space. It seems that I scrape everywhere and on everything.

+1 I have H&R SS's also and I scrape all over... it looks badass and rides like crap but I wouldnt change it.. LOOKS > COMFORT

Try going over the speedbumps faster, that way your suspension doesn't get cahnce to absorb the impacts and compress.

I thought you said you couldn't lower it because of your h-pipe or something like that?

I can lower it, I'd just have to be very careful with the amount that I lower it. I really want to, but I don't know if I should.

Lower it!!! Just be careful on speed bumps and gutters. Get the Ford Kit that 08GT got. Gave him a nice drop but not tooo low.

When you go over Speed Bumps do you go straight foward over it or do you go at a angle?

Why would you want to low it anyways if you only drive?

You beat me to it. Mine also dropped a little bit more after riding on them for a while. They're nice, not too rough either. I've already measured out the same exact set-up on mine and it still sits plenty far off of the ground.

Or you could get the Steeda Street Springs which lower about 1" I think and then not have to worry about the drag.

I go whichever way I can go. The particular speed bump that my exhaust scraped on is in an alley. I cannot go over it at an angle and I cannot go too fast because the road is pretty bumpy. I only went over it that one time and that one time was all it took.

I want to lower it to decrease the gap between the fender and the wheel.

Thanks for letting me know that yours dropped a slight amount more. I think I may go with the Eibach's then. I don't want more than a 1.5" drop. If you get a chance, can you measure from the bottom of your sideskirt to the ground for me? That would kind of give me a good idea about how low my exhaust might be to the ground.

Just because of personal preference and a past experience, I will never put anything made by Steeda anywhere near my car.

Ah yeah I wasn't sure, because I have to go over all ours at a angle. I want to lower mine, but I'm not sure if mine has been lowered or not and I don't know the stock height.

What's wrong with Steeda? Wont you have to get the C/C plates if you lower it?

To me, Steeda is all about the name. Just a big brand name that some people order just to have something 'Steeda' when they could get a much better quality part elsewhere. I ordered a part from them and it was one of the sorriest things I had ever seen. It looked like it belonged on a plumber's truck instead of on a Mustang. A lot of people love Steeda, so I know my opinion is in the minority and I may get flamed for what I say, but I couldn't care less.

If I do lower my car, I will get CC plates from Maximum Motor Sports.

you know my car was lowered 1.5" and i have a closed fingers width of ground clearance, so i think around 5" anyway, i dont think mine has the c/c plates because i wasnt the one that did the lowering, could that be where my high speed vibrations are coming from?

dont worry about bottoming out if the roads are well maintained where you live. i live on a dirt road and have to stop to move a stick in the road. ive only bottomed out once, coming out of the movie theater. my longtubes and cattys are the lowest point of my car

you should get some timeslips before you do more mods, we want to see some 3v action

Brandon, take one of your valves out and then we'll have 3V action. :p

Seriously, though, I have been thinking more and more about this lately. I don't want to lower more than 1.5" all around and I'd like to do shocks and struts at the same time, but I don't even know if that's really necessary. I'm thinking about doing that later.

Would it make sense if I did just the springs, CC plates, and LCA's, or should I just wait for the LCA's until later? I'm trying to think of the best route to lower the car, increase the handling, make it look better, and stop the hop. I can't do it anytime soon, though. I have to save up more money.

Best bet would be the Steeda springs. So stop bitching about one part you ordered and just get their springs. They have the drop you are looking for, and I'm pretty sure they are the only company that offers a 1" front drop and 1 1/4" rear drop to level the car out. I would not want to go much lower either if I was you.

I have the Eibach ProKit and it lowered me about 1.5" and I dig it. I scrape from time to time and try to avoid speed bumps but can do it if I have to. I lowered mine for the same reason, to decrease the gap for appearance.

Yeah after seeing how low her midpipe is to the ground, I wouldn't want to go much lower.

just take the midpipe off and run open headers then

Totally off topic.. Why the hell don't you race your car?? I need to send Sheri down there to whoop some sense into you. You have a 3V GT! As Dustin says, "GO DO WORK DAMNIT!" :D

That's just sad.. Hell, even my Fiance' races her V6 @ the track. :eek:

I was thinking about the Steeda Sports. Hopefully, their springs will be better quality than their 05-09 intakes.

Hahahaha! Polluting the world!

No, there's nothing sad about it. I don't have any set direction for my car. I just want it to be something that I like, the hell with everyone else. I don't have the money to make it a baby-eating monster or a jaw-dropping show car. I really don't care what kind of times it runs or how much power it puts out. I basically just wanted a little more get up and go than it was when it was stock and I wanted to change a few things. Racing it is not on my agenda because I am not comfortable with it. I may change my mind one day, but that day is not going to come anytime soon. For now, I will keep doing what I'm comfortable with and that's customizing the car to be the way that I want it to be.

You have to remember who you're talking to. I don't give a damn if everyone who had Mustangs raced them. If I'm not comfortable doing something, I won't do it.

LOL! It's a good thing I don't live anywhere near you.. You get angry so easy, I would torment the living shit out of you.. :p I'm just a smartass by nature, I was born with it.

It's ok, I'm just pickin' on you.

PS. I still think you should race it.. IF you made one pass, you'd be hooked. You should see Sheri out at the track, she's so fun to watch, excited about every single pass. Either way, it's your baby, do with it what you like! :)

Let me know when you change your mind, ill be first in line.....

I don't get it.. why is your midpipe so low to the ground being stock height? Is it not installed properly or are the pipes just not a normal size

wtf, i thought you had a sixxer sunshine

I'd go with the Ford kit. I did a post about their K springs recently, and people said that they were much better than the Eibachs. BTW, some of the headers/mids that I looked at were designed to give more ground clearance on S197's, so maybe those would be an option if bottoming out becomes a problem.

I am not really familiar with the Steeda springs, but I know the Roush springs lower it 1" in the front, and 1.25" in the rear. I like them, and after about 100 miles and a couple weeks, it settled 1/8" inch. A good spring will not settle much at all. I know theres alot of choices, and most would probably do fine, but I am satisfied with them.

The Ford Racing springs are 10x better than the Eibach's. The ride on the Eibach's suck. Worse than anything I've ever felt. The K-Springs are amazingly good, they feel about like a Termi if you've ever rode in one. I have LT's and i hasn't rubbed once, not sure mine hang down 2" but even so.

I would go ahead and do struts as well so then the issue of bottoming out won't be such an issue as the struts will help with stopping compression.

Hope that helps......

I apologize, Evan. I didn't mean to come off as angy, because I wasn't. I was just being blunt with my answer and I didn't know how to give my reason any other way. :p

You know as well as I do who would win that.

I have SLP long tubes which are some of the longest tubes on the market. Since they are longer, they connect with the X further down than other pipes would, hence the reason why my pipe hangs below the frame rails.

Hell no. Shitttt, son! Did you think I put a GT body kit on my V6? Excuse me while I go have a heart attack! :p I had my heart set on a V8 and that's what I have.

I don't know what you mean about some of the headers that were designed for more ground clearance. I already have headers and there is no way I'm changing them, haha. I can't afford to change out parts like a mofo, so I've got to stick with these. I might be confused by what you mean, though. :confused:

@ Blue and 08, thanks for the input, guys. I really do think I'm going to go with the Ford springs. I've heard a lot of good things about them.

What all do I need to safely do this? Obviously the springs, CC plates, and I'm going to get a panhard rod, too. Anything else?

Yeah, I'd go with either the Ford or the Roush.. They're both going to be high quality products and can both give you a nice look.

I'm not sure about the S197's, but my car is lowered a good bit in the front and it doesn't need C/C plates. I'm not 100% sure, but if you're just going an inch or 1 1/8" in the front, I don't think you'll need them.

You should get a good Strut tower bar and a Panhard bar, stiffen up the ride for some corner carving! :p