hey guys, I recently finished up working on a 62 impala and it got me wondering about a few things on the 64 Malibu. On the Impala, the customer had it on airride shockwaves front and back and when the car was aired down it was impossible to turn the car, the wheels would just rub into the fenders and you couldnt turn at all. Now since I would like to have a nice low stance with coilovers not bags I was wondering how low you can actually set the car down and not have tire to fender issues. My rims are 17x7's in the front with stock offset so Im not stuffing a huge tire up front but I do know there is a limit without a continuously adjustable suspension setup. I was hoping I could get away with a ground clearance of ~5"-5.5" to the bottom of the frame at the rocker with little to no rake so a level ride height front to back. My rear suspension needs to be built with a final ride height established and I dont wanna shoot myself in the foot setting the rear end up for a ride height that is totally unuseable thereby compromising the geometry to get it back to a useable stance. I considered bags myself and I dont have alot of the issues other guys have other than the added weight of the compressors and tanks, the fact that I cannot stiffen up or soften the spring rate without effecting the ride height of the car and the fact that there are multiple possible failure points in the suspension due in large part to all the fittings and airlines running everywhere. I know you can take precautions to avoid the failures but the other two cannot be worked around. So I do plan on sticking with a coilover which will give me the adjustabilty I need but Im just wondering if Im dreaming if I think I can get away with my car down that low and still be able to drive it normally.

We have a 64 wagon with 15x7 ralleys up front and 60 series tires (can't remember the actual size) with B-body spindles, cut hotchkis springs, and regular shocks and the crossmember is only 3.75" off the ground. It is very low and believe it or not we have full steering at parking lot speeds. I would be leary of auto-crossing it, but rides very nice for the cruiser that it is.
Tom

On my car I had to roll the front fender lips and trim & reform the plastic inner fenders as the top outside edge of the tire was rubbing the inner fender on bump and barely rubbing the fender lip.

It was fine turning side to side at low speeds but if I was hard into a corner and hit a bump the outside tire which was already well into the fender from body roll would rub the fender lip & inner fender on compression.

My front crossmember is at about 4.75" off the ground now, 26" tall tires.