I just dropped my car on the ground for the first time after finishing a steering/suspenision rebuild about an hour ago. I used all Moog parts... I'm a huge fan of buying parts made in the US! As I like to say, I don't trust my hands to Chinese tools, why trust my life to Chinese suspension parts!
The easy answer... using Moog front springs part #5606, there is about a 4" gap between the top of my tire and the bottom of the wheel well. These are the Rock Auto listed OEM replacements. 4" may sound like a lot, but read on, and there is a good reason I'm okay with this!
Let me start with my setup. I'm running Kirban's 16" GNX style (ARE) wheels with 245/50ZR16's up front. Shortly after I bought this tire / wheel combo, I knew I had a tire rub issue. Left front was rubbing the inside of the fender BADLY when I hit bumps! Unfortunatly, I found out too far into a 1k mile road trip. I knew my old coil springs needed replaced. We had to throw in coil spring spacers on the road just to survive!
Once home, I replaced the front and rear with Kirban's springs (variable rate in the rear.) At that time I also went to poly bushings all around the front end. I went to KYB shocks as well. After that install I remember thinking how much higher the car sat, but tire rub wasn't an issue.
Fast forward to now (50k miles, 15 years later) The car sat for many years waiting for a fresh motor! On the stands, and off the stands. I again had the same tire rub issue. This time it was even worse. In 300 miles it had literally rubbed all the paint off the upper left wheel well trim! Sorry, at $200 a tire, I don't need to take a chance! Especially since these were also new tires!
I have yet to drive the new Moog parts, but I know I can count on them. Yes, I liked the lowered look, but that only works for certain combos! I know with this wheel/tire combo, I can't drop my car.
I guess what I am saying is be cautious if you deviate from stock ride height. Yes, I have a 4" gap, but it won't rub and I won't have to worry about a tire blowing at 80 mph. Honestly, even though that sounds like a huge gap, it really doesn't look bad. It just looks stock!
Honestly, now I realize I have to replace the rears as well, I never realized how much they had dropped over the years!
I don't know what vendor Kirban's uses, I'm not bad mouthing them! I have a lot of respect for the company Dennis has created. I buy many parts from his shop! This was just a very long way of saying... be careful what you buy. Don't just buy a drop spring because you want the look. Make sure it works for you!