How low is too low?

[Phil303]

Just got my new 14" Scala alloys sorted and I'm on the verge of buying a 40mm Boge lowering kit for my 89 Clipper.

I've  checked and found that the clearance between the current old 13" steel wheel and the arch is pretty narrow as it is and if i drop by another 40mm I'm going to potentially have problems.

Has anyone lowered their Cab by 40mm without using low profile tyres? If so, did you get any trouble from the body kit?

A mate thinks the car may have been lowered previously by the former owner, but the local garage has never mentioned it when replacing the shocks and springs over the years. Is the Cab a low car anyway, or am i being paranoid?

there are some pics of it in the gallery if its any help but i can;t seem to get my Mac to add pictures to this message.

Cheers guys.

Phil

[richard ellison]

If its got a clipper kit on you will have problems.

Mine was lowered on coils around 30mm and the front scraped. That was with 15s and low profile tyres.

Its a major problem if you shell out for fitting etc and it scrapes.

Without a kit the arches can be rolled, no problems.

[Phil303]

Nice one, thanks for the info. You've confirmed what I was starting to think.

I didn't plan ahead and thought that the lowering kit would go straight on no problems, and it's only when a couple of friends started saying that the car looked low enough anyway that it put the seed of doubt in my mind.

Just have to think of another way to spend the money then!

[AdamB]

I've got 14's with low profile tyres and at least a 50mm drop from the coilovers. I think we measured it at about 80mm lower than stock ride height.

See the sic pic below for an idea of how low you can go, and still scrape over some speed bumps (sometimes)!!!

[Phil303]

I did look long and hard your car Adam and wondered how you got away with it!

Trouble is I'm not running low profiles. I use the car every day and low profiles would be wasted on the journey so I've got some Michelins X38 something-or-others.

I spoke to the guy selling the kit and he said that I should be okay as long as i don't use anything larger than a 15" wheel (which i don't intend to anyway). The drop is 30mm, not 40mm as I first thought. I've gone over the car with a gauge and calibrator to try and figure out if i'd have any problems. The front is okay but it seems to sit lower at the back - maybe the springs are sagging?

I'll give it a go and keep an eye on the potential problems Richard E. pointed out.

I'll post some pictures when it's done.

[richard ellison]

I think the difference in drops from me and adam might be I was refferring to the drop on the coils, not from the std ride height. I think it works out to be a difference.

Put the alloys on (if your changing the wheels) and assess how low you can go with at least 1cm above the arch (thats with stiffer shocks or coils)

Thats the safest option.

[BobbyT]

Hi, droped my tin top 30mm all round! no probs at all! fitted a lower front spoiler now too and had no trouble! got 14" steel rims at mo, got some alloys on order, 15". Dont think i will have any probs with those either! not sure how different the cab is to the tin top mind! rob

[Phil303]

I think my rear springs are sagging and as I've only been checking the clearance at the back, that's why I was concerned about the gap. I couldn't say no the lowering kit (Boge kit just ?70 from the man Marcus - check ebay), so I'm going to press on regardless of any rubbing, chaffing, scraping exhausts and horrendous wheel alignment .

 

[whiteee]

I think my rear springs are sagging and as I've only been checking the clearance at the back, that's why I was concerned about the gap. I couldn't say no the lowering kit (Boge kit just ?70 from the man Marcus - check ebay), so I'm going to press on regardless of any rubbing, chaffing, scraping exhausts and horrendous wheel alignment .

 

all part of owning a modified car i thought?

[black_cabbie]

Your main concern should not be the lowering of the car but the offset of the wheel. Even with the wrong offset and standard suspension it will still rub as the suspension is working. Late cabs come with 195/50/15 from the factory and don't rub at all because the wheel has the correct offset.

And keep in mind that wrong diameter tyre will give you incorrect mile readings in your cluster.