Header Ground Clearance

final5-0 · Oct 5, 2007

I measured the clearance between the ground and various points of the
exhaust system on my 95 GT

The car has not been lowered

The headers are Mac 1 5/8 LT's

From the ground to the lowest point which is the collector flange is 4 3/8"

From the ground to the bottom of that long channel rail that runs down
each side of the car is 6 3/4" and the measurement point was taken at
the extreme front of the channel rail

From these measurements you can see the lowest header point which
is the collector flange hangs 2 3/8" below that channel rail

All other parts of the exhaust system are higher than that flange point

Grady

Bosko5.0 · Oct 5, 2007

I know in the past that many people wanted to know how much ground clearance there was with Lt's. And there it is.

final5-0 · Oct 5, 2007

Bosko5.0 said:
I know in the past that many people wanted to know how much ground clearance there was with Lt's. And there it is.

It would be great to see others post up the same measurements
with shortys.

Notice the distance was given about how far the LT's hang below that
channel rail. This is the most helpful measurement

If others would give that same measurement .......

We would know the difference between the two types of headers

as opposed to

The amount of clearance to the ground which can be different from
car to car due to suspension sag and drop.

Grady

juiced_94gt · Oct 6, 2007

my car is lowered with eibach pro-kit's and has BBK 1 5/8" LT's and it doesent bottom out on ANYTHING.

final5-0 · Oct 6, 2007

juiced_94gt said:
my car is lowered with eibach pro-kit's and has BBK 1 5/8" LT's and it doesent bottom out on ANYTHING.

Mine doesn't either

Now ... get out there and get us some measurements

Your input here would give us the difference between Mac & BBK

Please

Grady

rj95svt · Oct 6, 2007

I'll measure mine as soon as I get home from work this afternoon but I bet my stock shorty's and flowtech O/R X pipe hangs down lower than that.

With the stock ride hight my car drags on everything!

rj95svt · Oct 6, 2007

The lowest point on my exhaust (exhaust clamp on front tubes of x pipe) is 3 1/4" off the ground. The same point is 3 1/2" lower than the pinch rail. The clamps are turned sideways as much as possible to get as much clearance as possible. If I was to weld the tubes on and loose the clamps I would gain about 3/4 of an inch more clearance.

My cars stock ride hight measured at the same point as Grady's is 6 1/2- 6 3/4". I had a hard time measuring the due to a small hole just behind the tire but I figured it was close enough.

I could actually gain clearance going to long tubes!

Note to anybody thinking of buying a Flowtech X pipe DON'T!!!!!

SublimeRT · Oct 6, 2007

I'll measure mine here in a few. I have BBK 1 5/8 LTs and BBK OR X pipe, the car is lowered with FRPP B springs also. I'll take a pic too I guess.

Edit: Ok, went and measured. Lowest part of the header was 4" from the ground. The channel was 6 1/2", if I measured it at the same place as you guys. We're talking about the channel at the rocker panel where you put the factory scissor jack, right? Not the front frame rails where subframe connectors would be welded on? I didn't get a pic but I guess it's not really needed, the measurements suffice.

Stanger007 · Oct 6, 2007

Channel: 7"
Mac 1 5/8 LT Flange: 4.5"
Convertible X-Brace: 4"

Anyone sitting higher than me?

final5-0 · Oct 6, 2007

Stanger007 said:
Channel: 7"
Mac 1 5/8 LT Flange: 4.5"
Convertible X-Brace: 4"

Anyone sitting higher than me?

Our results are very close

Wow ... that vert brace is actually lower than your exhaust

Grady

Bosko5.0 · Oct 8, 2007

final5-0 said:
Our results are very close

Wow ... that vert brace is actually lower than your exhaust

Grady

Wait till you hear mine I,ll take measurements later today.

Iam confused of this channel rail???? the subframe rail??? the jacking rail????( I know someone will take that out of context, eric)

final5-0 · Oct 8, 2007

Bosko5.0 said:
Wait till you hear mine I,ll take measurements later today.

Iam confused of this channel rail???? the subframe rail??? the jacking rail????( I know someone will take that out of context, eric)

Yes ... You Know ... THE RAIL

I would have worded it more clearly but just did not know how

I was reluctant to use the word frame as we don't got one

But it kinda looks like a frame rail, it is long,and runs down each side

Just get under there and you will see it

Grady

bmac50 · Oct 8, 2007

final5-0 said:
Yes ... You Know ... THE RAIL

I would have worded it more clearly but just did not know how

I was reluctant to use the word frame as we don't got one

But it kinda looks like a frame rail, it is long,and runs down each side

Just get under there and you will see it

Grady

It's sorta like a rail, almost, kinda!

Now I get to see all these measurements after I chickend out on the LTs and ordered shorties.

Oh well I won't miss the extra five HP

One of mine already lowered about 3/4 to and inch but just for the heck of it I'll measure, it still has stock headers. The other is not lowered, has LTs and never hits speed bumps, speed tables is another story.

rj95svt · Oct 8, 2007

My measurements are off then. I was thinking you took the measurement from the pinch rail not the front subframe. I'll redo my measurement this afternoon.

Stanger007 · Oct 8, 2007

Whoops, I went from the bottom of the JACKING rail.

Wes

final5-0 · Oct 8, 2007

I took two measurements and ascertained the other

I first measured from the ground to the lowest point of the exhaust system
which was the header collector flange.

Then I measured from the ground to bottom or lowest point of that rail
at the front just before it bends at an angle and attaches to the bottom
of the floor pan.

I then use the difference to know how far the header collector flange
hangs below the lowest part of that rail.

Grady

Pokageek · Oct 8, 2007

final5-0 said:
I measured the clearance between the ground and various points of the
exhaust system on my 95 GT

The car has not been lowered

The headers are Mac 1 5/8 LT's

From the ground to the lowest point which is the collector flange is 4 3/8"

From the ground to the bottom of that long channel rail that runs down
each side of the car is 6 3/4" and the measurement point was taken at
the extreme front of the channel rail

From these measurements you can see the lowest header point which
is the collector flange hangs 2 3/8" below that channel rail

All other parts of the exhaust system are higher than that flange point

Grady

So.. why don't you just make it simple and say how high it is from the ground at the lowest point...isn't that the "bottom " line?

final5-0 · Oct 8, 2007

Pokageek said:
So.. why don't you just make it simple and say how high it is from the ground at the lowest point...isn't that the "bottom " line?

Well ... Not Really

You got everything from the ride height of my Stang which is OEM
to
A Stang that has really been slammed down in the weeds

So that would obviously mean .......

The lower the stance ... the more you are gonna drag stuff
thus
The ride height is the biggest contributor of the problem

The lowest point is not the focus of this thread

The intent of these measurements is to compare the distance
the various kinds of exhaust hangs below a common point.

In this case ... the front part of that rail thing

I press on and state the obvious
but
I strive to make it very clear

We have all seen it said "LT's hang too low and scrape on stuff"
I'm not disputing that at all.

I am wanting to get some hard data and compare
Putting the ride height aside ...
We hope to see the difference

I will say ... When I ran shortys and a Bassani cat x-pipe
They seemed to hang lower than my current Mac LT's

I scraped them a time or two on stuff
but
I've never scraped my LT's

Grady

Bosko5.0 · Oct 9, 2007

Thank you grady for clarifiing that. Thats what I thought you meant just wanted to make sure.

Heres my measurements:

3 3/8" from right before the collector to the ground.
5 1/2" from frame rail end to ground.
Hangs 2 1/8" lower than frame rail.

And
2 1/2" from the lowest point on the x brace to the ground.

These are BBK LT's And Steeda Sport springs.

final5-0 · Oct 9, 2007

Here we have what appears to be a valid & fair comparison

My 95GT
T-5 trans
Mac LT's

4 3/8" lowest point
6 3/4" rail distance to ground
2 3/8" header hangs below rail

Bosko5.0 95GT Vert
aode trans
BBK LT's

3 3/8" lowest point
5 1/2" rail distance to ground
2 1/8" header hangs below rail

Notice the Vert frame rail is 1 1/4" lower than my GT
which
is obviously an indicator of his lower ride height

Notice the Vert lowest point is 1.0" lower than my GT

The critical measurement as I see it is ........

The Mac LT's hang 1/4" lower than the BBK LT's

One would wonder if the difference is ......
BKK's hug the floor pan tighter
or
BBK's collector flange might be a tad smaller in diameter

1/4" ... its not a make or brake a decision between them IMHO

Lets see some more that use shorty headers

Grady

Header Ground Clearance

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