Low T/A

[band1t]

Hey all,
I need some Info on 2 gens.
I have a 1979 trans am riding on 17s and on thing I hate is the gap in the wheel well showing.
so instead of buying a 18 or 19 in the rear I was thinking of lowering it.
Here are my questions if what can I get away with??
If I went a 1 inch or 2 inches would I have to cut the tunnel in the floor for the drive shaft?
Also would I have to change to a glass pack style muffler?? the ones I have on the car scrape when I drive through a "dip" in the road or up a
steep drive way.

If you got pics of your bird or camaro lowered please share them.

[SR71]

can you run a taller tire? it will reduce fender gap AND increase your ground clearance at the same time.

[opnwide]

I've got mine lowered 2" and it drives pretty well. I tried 3.5" before and it was way low. I tore up tires and sheet metal and scraped everything! I was basically running on the bumpstops.
For a 2" drop, I recommend lowering spindles if you're not going to change front springs. If you're gonna buy performance springs, ie hotchkis, get the ones for small block. If its not low enough then maybe add a 1" drop spindle. The spindle idea is nice because you keep your original suspension travel.

Also, there are some companies selling low profile mufflers that are only 2.5-3" thick.

[79-TA]

You could try the larger wheels option if you want to increase unsprung mass, increases the wheel/tire's rotational moment of inertia, make your gear ratio effectively taller, buy more expensive tires, ford rivers, and raise the entire car's center of gravity.

You can lower your car 2 inches easily. I have (stiffer) Eibach lowering springs on the front of my car and it drops it quite a bit, about as far as I dare go. I think Eibach springs are generally more aggressive with drop than some other companies. A spring spacer is always a possibility if you need to raise the front a bit after installing such a spring. This (Eibachs in particular) does put the control arms past horizontal, however. A modified spindle would be worth looking into. You can get lowering leaf springs and then tune the exact height of the rear with lowering blocks if it is still too high.

Drive shaft clearance is not an issue. Tire clearance is.

[band1t]

I am running a 45 series tires not sure what a 50 or 55 would look like on a 17inch rim on a F Body Ill have to look at some pictures.

As for lower profile Mufflers that would help these super 40s. If I drive over something just right they scrape

does the Pinion angle change much on a 2 inch drop??

[SR71]

Band1t, why don't you tell us a little bit more about your car. like intended use, suspension condition, wheel and tire size and is it already lowered any?

I mean if your muffs are dragging that usually means....

lowered already

suspension too compliant or worn

poorly engineered exhaust system.

I am somewhat familiar with 2nd gens as I used to have a VERY low 2nd gen pro-street car.

[band1t]

My car is all stock for the most part.
I have done some mods.
I put a 3.73 gear in the rear. I had the muffler shop put dual
exhaust on it. The latest thing I have done was put 17s on it

the suspension on the car is 4 years old and was set to stock ride height.

Here is a Pic of what bugs me.


I dont know what it is but the wheel wells make the 17s look tiny

And here is a pic of the mufflers


they look tucked in there nicely but like I said if I drive over something just right they drag.

[SR71]

the factory tires were 27.5" in diameter. it looks like you have the garden variety 26" tire on there now. if so, you are adding .75" of extra fender gap. also, if you add an inch larger diameter wheel to the rear, you will have to add an extra inch to rear tire diameter to avoided the dreaded shorter rear sidewall syndrome. this is where the rear tire sidewall is shorter than the front and looks like crap.

you can lower the car a couple of inches and be fine if you tighten things up. of course stiffer shocks and springs are the norm for lowered vehicles to reduce bottoming out.

as for the exhaust, you always have the option of a transverse mounted muffler behind the rear axle. you can get these in dual in/dual out configurations. that should buy you an additional 1.5" at the current muffler location. that may not sound like much, but it is alot when dealing with lowered cars.

[band1t]

I appreciate the help,
I have on the car nittto 275 45 17 because everyone one here said they fit great.
They were right, they do.
But like I said the wheel well make it look tiny.
you have got me thinking instead of lowering the car.
would a 50 or 55 size tire fit under there and eat up the wheel wells.
Kinda give the car a rake look.

[79-TA]

Is your tire a 275 45 17 or a 275 45 17? The first is a very common size and the second should make for plenty of diameter, though not as much as the original 225 70 15 tires.

[SR71]

so is the front fender gap acceptable or is it 4x4ish like the rear?

[band1t]

so is the front fender gap acceptable or is it 4x4ish like the rear?

the front looks great. the fender hugs the tire every nicely and doesn't rub

[reedld]

Check out my car via the photobucket link.

It has DSE upper and lower control arms...and the suspension parts came from pro-touring fbody



http://www.pro-touringf-body.com/Suspension_kits.html

[SR71]

I would get the pipes up with dual in/dual out transverse mounted muffler, put a nice set of handling oriented shocks all around the car and put a 1.5" block on the rear springs.

if done properly, the exhaust should gain you about 1.5" and the blocks should put you back right back where you are now as far as total ground clearance all while closing the fender gap 1.5". now here's where the stiffer shocks come in to play. they should firm things up nicely and solve the bottoming in dips problem.

[band1t]

Hmm I checked out the muffle you said works
I dont know how it would flow with my engine

Pontiac 455 punch to 468 pushing 530 ponys
the exhaust is true dual and mufflers dump in front of the axle
2.5 pipe but if I am going to re do the exhaust
I am going to see if they can stuff a 3 inch pipe under it
cause the dyno shop said it would help the engine flow better.

[SR71]

455???...yikes.

as someone stated before flowmaster does make a 3" thick low profile muffler.