Here sometime in the future I am planning onto lowering my car about an inch or 1.5". From there I will decide if 18" rims would look too gaudy or just go w/ the 17" rims. When I lower the car w/ the lowering springs and then install the KYB shocks & struts would I have to install any other type of suspension component? I don't want my ride to be absolutely rough and horrible. Will I rub against the inner fender walls or what? O should I just save my money? It looks damn good right now and my dad thinks that I'm nuts even trying to attempt this. Let me know what problems that I would run into and if it would be worth it and if I can somehow get a nice ride out of it? Thanx

- Mike Harvey -

 

I'm planning on doing the same thing myself. the only things I've picked up on the subject so far is LCA relocation brackets for the rear lower control arms to keep the wheels on the ground $65 from spohn performance,shorter bump stops,and the rear end may shift 1/4" to the side correctable with an adjustable panhard rod. please let me know how it turns out!

 

I was trying to get as much info as I can about this b/c I will be saving money for this if I hear the right things about this. If I hear too much crap about it like all the things that I need to change so they won't rub or how I would make the ride twice as rough then it would not be to my benefit personally. But if all goes well then it would be an early Spring project.

- Mike Harvey -

 

As long as you get the right sized tires, upping the rim size wont really make the overall tire/wheel diam larger because you will have shorter sidewalls on the tires. Most problems occur with the tires width. But if you lower it and cut the bump stops, your tires will rub the wells going through dips, but they prolly would have under the same conditions with the stock size.

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-Justin-
T-Top '86 5.0L LG4 700R4 WS6 Now Bilstein equipped!
T-Top '92 5.0L TBI 700R4
My '86 Firebird Homepage
The F-body Model Kit Pictoral Archive (updated 9/18/00)

There can be only one!!

[This message has been edited by Justins86bird (edited November 13, 2000).]

 

Well I still have a couple of questions. 1) Would my ride be rougher and how much. 2) If my ride resulted to be rougher how could I change this to be a smooth ride to where I hardly feel crap on the road? Thanx

- Mike Harvey -

 

putting 18" rims alone will cause a rougher ride, not to mention it depends on how wide the tire is as well. so if u add rims you might not want to go to extreme on your drop. If your just want to lower without adjustability go with springs their cheep and easy 1.5" will look nice and ride better than stock. 2" will look really nice but ride pretty stiff unless you go through all your suspension options. if your on a budget biltech makes spindles that will drop only your front for about $245 but you will need to get some springs for the back other wise it might look funny to you. whatever you do will be fine depending on the look you want, just save money to get your wheels aligned when it's all over!

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candyred 91z (why do u ask officer; doesn't it sound stock?)

 

1-it would be rougher, hard to tell how much, but hey, the new Vettes have 18"s in the rear
2-unless you install the soft factory springs and get soft shocks, your not gonna ride like a Caddy. If your worried, get something like Jamex springs and 16" rims, along with some KYB GR2s



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-Justin-
T-Top '86 5.0L LG4 700R4 WS6 Now Bilstein equipped!
T-Top '92 5.0L TBI 700R4
My '86 Firebird Homepage
The F-body Model Kit Pictoral Archive (updated 9/18/00)

There can be only one!!

 

17" in front, 18" in rear. PolyEurathane all around. Eibach Pro Lowering springs. Still need another 1" drop in front. KYB shocks and struts all around. Tubular LCA's and Adjustable panhard bar. LCA lowering brackets (not installed yet.)

Ride is rough and you feel every pebble in the road. My opinion is DON'T go with PolyE; stick with rubber. I think these did more to add harshness to my ride than anything else. The lower profile tires will add some as well, but if you've got rubber in there it wouldn't be as bad. I'll be going back to OEM rubber the next time my stuff needs it. I occasionally bottom out - but it's because my 275's stick out of the wheel well by about 1/2". When I bottom out it's doing it on the lip of the wheel well - not the inner well. I bent the lip back and haven't had any problems since.
Just my two cents.

Steve

 

The first thing i did was lower my car. That god awful clearance from the tire to the fender lip was terrible.

I choose to go with Bell Tech lowering spindles up front and springs in back. I got a direct 2 inch drop in front and about 1 1/2 in back. There was some alighment probs up front but the ride never changed.

I too had some fender rubbing problems, These were all solved with a little friendly grinding.