How Low can the J go?

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moreada

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I am curious how low the J body can go. I have seen the Nascar builds and presume that is a body on tube frame, but am curious how low the conventional cars can get. I notice there is drop spindles for the front, and am curious how low the rear can get. Anyone have pics of their car lowered? At what point does the handling go for a crap? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.
 
Never seen or heard of a lowered J. I'm sure like everything else with a little nip and tuck you could lay in on the ground. Id guess the torsion bar suspension would have to go, and the rear "frame" would need cut up for the axle to tuck up into. Probably why we don't see them.
 
On the Dippy forum this guy Spike has his Fifth Avenue on hydraulics and did a lot of custom work to lower it. Me? I drive in NYC a lot and want all the suspension travel I can get. While ride height affects handling somewhat, suspension design, parts, and things like roll center have a greater effect than pure height.
 
They do make drop spindles for our cars.
With them and some torsion bar tweaking, I would think you can get front pretty low.
With rear leaf-spring front brackets (offset) you could lower or raise the rear as well.

My main concern are:
. What allowable wheel alignment you will have available
. Keep things where they can be reversed – in case you don’t get desired results.
. Be sure to add/weld on metal shields to protect the engine and transmission oil pans from damage.


Another thing that could be changed to make front end of car lower – but suspension the same, is to reduce the height of the K-frame to body insulators.
Do not remove them entirely – though or you will have steering column angle problems. A person could get aluminum or polyurethane bushings and might be able to cut them in half (or so) – which would lower front down maybe ¾ to 1” – but then you would need to make sure you don’t have tire/fender interference.
BudW
 
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I agree, that blue one is pretty out of whack. It's a bit low for my liking even hah.

Spring Daytona Beach Car Show & Swap Meet - Mike Kelly's Cruise News

The linked car has a good stance to it, although with different motives than I have. I assume in addition to tubbing it, they may have employed other trick things, but Mr. & Mrs W have a nice ride there.

Who here has lowered their J ANY height then, and how low did you get away with comfortably? What was your lowering technique?
 
I dropped 1.5-2 inches on the front of mine with torsion bars and another inch running 235/60-15s. With 255s om the rear it had a nice rake. The alignment was done by a local tire shop, to compensate for the drop as well as possile. 95%of rhe time I had no troubles, but occasionally i would drag on a steep drive. It handled well because my alignment guy was outstanding and he balanced the camber and caster to maximize the setup.
 
BudW said:
They do make drop spindles for our cars.
With them and some torsion bar tweaking, I would think you can get front pretty low.
With rear leaf-spring front brackets (offset) you could lower or raise the rear as well.

My main concern are:
. What allowable wheel alignment you will have available
. Keep things where they can be reversed – in case you don’t get desired results.
. Be sure to add/weld on metal shields to protect the engine and transmission oil pans from damage.


Another thing that could be changed to make front end of car lower – but suspension the same, is to reduce the height of the K-frame to body insulators.
Do not remove them entirely – though or you will have steering column angle problems. A person could get aluminum or polyurethane bushings and might be able to cut them in half (or so) – which would lower front down maybe ¾ to 1” – but then you would need to make sure you don’t have tire/fender interference.
BudW
Click to expand...
Be carefull with changing body to k frame distance. You may have hood, trans, shroud, brake booster, and other clearance problems. If it were just the steering column you could put in some type of u-joint.
 
Thanks for the tips everyone. I am not sure how I will approach it but it is good to know what things to consider. One thing that bothered me about my mirada was how close I was to the dash and wheel. Since I have no more back seat, it would be interesting to see how mounting the seat further back would play out. The steering column would likely need some rethinking in that situation too. Was not even on my radar till this thread. Oh the cans of worms we open...
 
It's not a J, but my last Cordoba was pretty low. The front was just torsion bars and 60-series tires.
In the back I removed all the iso stuff and replaced it w solid plates. I removed a couple of leaves from each side (leaving 4 per side) and used some 3" blocks ripped in half (no 1.5" blocks available). I also used air shocks which a lot of people frown on, but I plated and gusseted the upper shock mounts for strength and they never carried much of a load. Rear tires are 265 60 16s on 16x8.
It's a little butch, I know... but it's what I did.

CordobaIMAG0202-1-1_zpsd0fa0b37.jpg
 
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