PICTURE.. what are my options on lowering my T?

[TType84]

hey guys.. i wanna lower my 84 t a little bit..

id LOVE it to look like this:

http://home.attbi.com/~nbx23/dropped.jpg

is that possible with just springs? or would i need spindles and other things to fix camber and what not?

oh and just incase shocks matter, i have bilsteins all around..

 

[1QuikV6]

Whos car is that? Looks very similar to mine. I would like to lower my car as well to achieve a stance like that. Maybe just a little lower.

My guess would be that that car has drop spindles.

 

[TType84]

noo thats my car photoshop'd

i went outside and measured 26 3/8th and 27 3/4 front/rear
what it looks like now is here:

http://home.attbi.com/~nbx23/claybar/

 

[rking]

How much lower than stock.

That look can be accomplished with either springs or spindles. Depends on the ride quality that you want. Springs will give you a stiffer ride whereas spindles will keep stock ride quality. Problem with spindles is that since the car is now lower, and the springs are still assuming normal height, you will have more bottoming out.

BTW, how much lower than stock is that. That looks amazing.

 

[1QuikV6]

That car is GORGEOUS!!

Great photoshop work

 

[Cakes]

My car has been lowered 1" with springs and I can definately tell the difference in height over a stock GN. You can see some of my old pictures here:

http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/chechile12/lst?.dir=/Grand+National&.src=ph&.view=

If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me! I hope this helps!

 

[Buick Beginner]

Hi Nick

I lowered my 87 about 1.5" all the way around, now I've just got to get out and take some pictures. In the mean time if you go over to my website: www.outintheshop.com and scroll to the bottom of the page, look for the link called, "suspension rebiuild info" and click on the link. It'll tell ya about how NOT to get killed while removing front coils, LOL. - BB

 

[Tom87GN]

Hey, I know it's a sidenote, but damn! Bada$$ black GN's look SOOOOO GOOOOOD waxed up and all shiny!

I like the lowered look too. There's a guy in Ohio that lowered his GN quite a bit and has bunch of custom gauges in his car. Anybody know him?

 

[NJTurbo]

Originally posted by TType84
noo thats my car photoshop'd

i went outside and measured 26 3/8th and 27 3/4 front/rear
what it looks like now is here:

http://home.attbi.com/~nbx23/claybar/

One bad ass ride. Is that the car that got stolen

If not how do you like the leather seats

 

[1QuikV6]

Nice web site Buick Beginner. And great write-up.

 

[TType84]

Originally posted by njturbo
One bad ass ride. Is that the car that got stolen

If not how do you like the leather seats

yea it got stolen in january and we got it back in feb a few days later. but yep, the same one.

we got the seats done by this lady sort of around here, she lives off in the country somewhere, did a pretty good job.

a question for the spindle people.. i suppose drop spindles would prevent me from ever using the 12" brake and spindle upgrade? any way to make them both work?

 

[TType84]

Re: How much lower than stock.

Originally posted by rking
BTW, how much lower than stock is that. That looks amazing.

not exactly sure, id love for the tires to just completely fill the fenderwells, as in maybe you could slide a thin ruler between the fender lip (i have no wheel well trim) and the top of the tire, but nothing more than that

 

[bruce]

Originally posted by TType84

i went outside and measured 26 3/8th and 27 3/4 front/rear
what it looks like now is here:

I'm at 23 3/4, and 26.

12 front discs. Using the 700lb/in front springs and trimmed Fbody rears, with bilsteins.
Stock front sway bar and ATR rear.
Yes, it does handle...........


We tried the dropped spindles, on my neighbors car and they weren't low enough, so wound up trimming the springs but with big tires was a PITA not to have tires rubbing, the oem chamber curve sucks, so your better off using shorter springs, IMO..

 

[Buick Beginner]

Thanks

Appreciate the pat on the back, updates to follow. - BB

 

[GS70350]

http://insanelyquick.20fr.com/images/jacob_on_bags.jpg

go there, thats how i want my car to sit, maybe a tad higher in the back, like half an inch, and half an inch lower in the front. but i like that level, Bruce, do you have any pictures of your car you could send me? i wanna see how 23 inches or so looks up front, i think i want 25 inches in the back.

 

[Donald McMullin]

Bruce is correct, when using stock spindles, the OEM camber curve makes the tire lean out at the top when tire is in bump (outside tire in turn). This causes tire to rub. When lowering front you have two options:

(1) Use B-spindle setup (like Bruce) which changes camber curve so tire leans in in bump creating more tire clearance. This setup has two downsides, (a) you have to make changes in tie rod connections to get bump steer corrected, (b) B-spindle pushes wheel hub out by about 1/2-inch so you need to change backspacing to have improve outside tire clearance and to minimize the scrub radius.

(2) Modify stock metric spindles with longer B-body ball joints. This lowers the car an extra 1/2-inch and also results in a chamberr curve almost like the B-spindles. You still have to work on tie rod ends to correct bump steer with this setup, but the wheel hub is in stock location. This setup does have a down side in that the stock top A-arm has some clearance problems now with the down pipe. With the same springs, this setup will result in a 1/2-inch lower front than the B-spindles unless you use dropped B-spindles.

Regarding the rear, lower springs are your only option. One caution regarding lowering the rear, do not lower the rear so much that the front mount for the rear arms is lower than the rear mount. This will not help the already pronounced problem of rear squat under load. If you do have to lower the car so that the rear trailing arm mount is higher than the front, I would modify the rear mount so the connection is the same height as the front. This in conjunction with the increased angle of the upper mount will reduce rear end squat. You need to check your rear instant center to confirm this.

I have modified my rear instant center to add anti-squat and my 60-ft time have been reduced and my control using power has also improved (I do not use air bags). I have less power overstear coming out of a corner.

Just my experience to date. Lots more to learn about setting these cars up.

Deep Enough

Donald McMullin

 

[TType84]

jacob i already have that uploaded on my website @ http://home.attbi.com/~nbx23/bagged.jpg

so... with b spindles, GTA rears will fit on the front without spacers?

 

[UNGN]

Originally posted by TType84
so... with b spindles, GTA rears will fit on the front without spacers?

They look like they will. I have to get some tires mounted on mine, but the rears seem to fit pretty good with the 12" conversion.

Use springs to lower the car. With drop spindles, you will need springs anyway to keep the tires off the inner fenders, so why not just use springs.

 

[Donald McMullin]

GS70350, any closeup pictures of your front air dam?? Also, the GN in attached picture appears to have side air dams installed, if so did you make these also??

I have been looking for 1984 GN stock side air dams but no luck. I think 84 was the only year the factory installed side air dams.

Would like to see more of your fabricated air dams.

Deep Enough

Donald McMullin

 

[TType84]

none had factory 'side air dams'

he bought his off jc whitney

thats a pic of his car i also photoshopped to the ground.

what would you guys say is the best route to go spring wise?