Ride height-non-factory-custom builds

[MoparCar]

Several of you are building "custom" projects with aftermarket suspension/coil over set-ups, etc. I'm doing the same except I'm just getting to the suspension decision process. Everything I research starts with the statement "set your car to your desired ride height and level car", then you can start making measurements for suspension set-ups.

Other than stock, what are you guys starting at for ride height if you are building custom? I know the basics and how this also affects tire clearance and a whole lot of other items, but it would sure be helpful to have a starting point. Also would this be rocker to ground or fender lip to ground? Any insight from experienced builders would be very helpful.

Thanks in advance!
Wes

[elitecustombody]

I believe the first thing is to get the wheels and tires,if you don't have them,you cant do much,I'm tinkering with idea doing 22"x12 in rear and 20x10 up front on my 71 Cuda

[MoparCar]

I believe the first thing is to get the wheels and tires,if you don't have them,you cant do much

Yes I agree about the wheels everything does happen from there, but first I need to set it on stands at approximately the finished height to measure for clearances on the wheels and tires also.


wes

[miketyler]

I thought about that in setting mine. Truth is, you get so much more of the picture with wheels and tires under the car. Affecting your final decision for ride height will be budget, functionality/driveability.

I wanted my car with WIDE 17" wheels and wanted it dropped 3". In my mind the car would ride at a level so that the top of the wheel opening lip sat right at, or just above the top of the rim. All sounded good until I actually got the wheels and tires on and drove it. Lowered with a 2" block and an additional 1" using the top hole in the DrDiff spring relo kit looked sweet sitting parked. Pulling out of the driveway though my drivers side header tube would drag. I wasn't willing to sacrifice functionality for looks so I took it back up an inch. Now with a 2" drop and the rocker lowered in the front to level up with the rear I am happy.
 
Below is what I was targetting, and below that is what I finally ended up with      

[nivvy]

 2 1/2 lowering blocks and spring mouted on upper hole with 28" tires.... I need tires that hook......

[Confederate Cuda]

It all depends on the suspension that you want to use. I will run 18 inch wheels and since I have air bags I can adjust the height to any setting I want. I think the setup on Mike Tylers car looks great.

[Bruning Auto Design]

replied to your question in my build thread as well..

5" at the rocker in the front (lowest point of the car) and 6" at the rear at ride height.

~49" at the roof.

20x12's and 19x8's. 

[HP2]

It also depends on how "custom" your build is going to be. If your retaining the full stock floor pan, then this limits you to how tight you can tuck up items like the exhaust tubing and transmissions. If your suspension is an air ride that can be easily adjusted, it doesn't much matter, but if it is a fixed ride height you need to consider your under carriage items, locale in driving and conditions when driving.

You can approximate tire height pretty easily with any wheel/tire combo so long as the diameter is close to what you want to end up with.

[MoparCar]

Thanks for the comments. I'm planning on doing a coil over rear (4-link, 3-link, watts, etc.). The air ride/air bar seams to be the simpliest out there, but I was looking at other options such as this:

http://www.cachassisworks.com/cac_library_Billet4Bar.html

This is Chris Alston's canted billet 4-link system. They have this in full frame version/back half (which I won't do) or.....a cut to fit/weld to your frame rails version.

What I was after on the ride height question was a basic starting point to level the car and make measurements to see if it would even fit effectively to the stock "tapered" frame rails of a e-body before persuing it further. If you click around on that link they have full scaled dimensioned drawings of this set-up and I'd like to scale this out to see if it's a working system for an e-body.

Any opinions or comments regarding this rear suspension ----besides that it offers a ford Fab 9 rear ? The price is right in there with comparable options such as the air ride with coils, XV, etc.

Thanks, Wes