longtubes Vs. ground clearance

91notch5.0

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Apr 15, 2001

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warren mi

Jun 1, 2007

#1

• Jun 1, 2007

• #1

do they hang lower than a shortie equipped exhaust? i plan on lowering my car a few inches and just want to see if i should be concerned.

 

Darkwriter77

Resident Ranting Negative Nancy

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Jul 1, 2005

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Apache Junction, AZ

Jun 1, 2007

#2

• Jun 1, 2007

• #2

Generally, I've heard that longtubes will cut your ground clearance a bit, but it seems that ANY aftermarket exhaust will do that, really. Oddly enough, my buddy's '90 notch with longtubes and off-road H-pipe has MORE ground clearance than my '89 notch with stock shorties and an off-road X-pipe ... but then, he's running stock springs while I'm running Eibach Drag springs (which I think only lower the car just a teeny-tiny bit, but still...). Adding lowering springs to the equation would pretty much guarantee you're going to hate speed bumps and stuff.

If this is your DD, I dunno if I'd recommend messing with LT's. Myself, I'd sooner worry about banging up a cheap off-road H- or X-pipe that I can replace in an hour or so, versus banging up a set of pricey longtubes that are a major PITA to change out. That, and consider the fact that LT's really don't gain you all that much of an increase in power (especially considering the cost and install woes), you'll probably have heat soak problems with your starter, and LT's actually QUIET your exhaust down. (My aforementioned buddy's notch has the exact same mufflers as I do, and they're WAY quiet and mellow compared to my setup.)

Just some things to consider before clicking that "buy now" button ... unless it's already too late...

 

85_SS_302_Coupe

it sucks (I know) to be on the receiving end

15 Year Member

Nov 11, 2003

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Jun 1, 2007

#3

• Jun 1, 2007

• #3

Most likely they're going to scrape. Mine do. I had to raise my car when i got full lengths.

 

91notch5.0

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Apr 15, 2001

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warren mi

Jun 1, 2007

#4

• Jun 1, 2007

• #4

install is no problem....the engine is out. 306 going in. thanks for the input guys.

 

N

niklid05

New Member

Aug 20, 2004

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Kutztown PA 19530

Jun 1, 2007

#5

• Jun 1, 2007

• #5

Nope I have plenty of space. Everything is tucked right up in there. BBK long tubes, o/r h pipe.

 

85Vertible

New Member

Jun 1, 2007

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Jun 1, 2007

#6

• Jun 1, 2007

• #6

It depends on how low you are planning to go. On my last 2 Stangs I could have gone down 2" without any problems on street driving. I like longtubes but I have always had a normal ride height.

 

12Pack

Member

Jun 3, 2005

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CT

Jun 1, 2007

#7

• Jun 1, 2007

• #7

my car had LT headers and with was lowered, yes avoide big bumps or potholes. My work had speed bumps and no mater how slow i went over them it would scrape so much it would push the headers up causing the tranny to lift

 

91notch5.0

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Apr 15, 2001

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warren mi

Jun 2, 2007

#8

• Jun 2, 2007

• #8

i'm goinf longtube, i guess i'll be careful...thanks guys. i just needed to know if it was rediculous or not..

 

25thmustang

Mustang Master

Sep 5, 2003

2,021

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99

Montgomery, NY

Jun 2, 2007

#9

• Jun 2, 2007

• #9

My car with LTs doesnt have any ground clearance issues. I now have springs but cant see them being any worse than shorties (when looking at the side of the car). My friends BBK car, now those hand LOW, my Macs are much higher!

 

85_SS_302_Coupe

it sucks (I know) to be on the receiving end

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Jun 2, 2007

#10

• Jun 2, 2007

• #10

I'm actually thinking about going back to shorties next time i buy headers. I don't think my setup will suffer very much with shorties and i'm probably going lower than the car is now, and i'm not wasting the money on full lengths again just so i can trash them on speed bumps. When i ran shorties i had them tucked up so close to the car that you couldn't see them from the side of the car (like peaking under the car).

 

91notch5.0

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Apr 15, 2001

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warren mi

Jun 3, 2007

#11

• Jun 3, 2007

• #11

that is what i have noticed with logtubes....its like they are the lowest part of the car. with shorties the lowest part of my car are the subframe connectors.

 

5spd GT

"the 5.0 owns all"

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Aug 7, 2002

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Arkansas

Jun 3, 2007

#12

• Jun 3, 2007

• #12

I had shorties and now have longtubes. The longtubes hang lower.

 

85_SS_302_Coupe

it sucks (I know) to be on the receiving end

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Jun 3, 2007

#13

• Jun 3, 2007

• #13

91notch5.0 said:

that is what i have noticed with logtubes....its like they are the lowest part of the car. with shorties the lowest part of my car are the subframe connectors.

Click to expand...

Yep. Also, with shorties if you're really having issues with the H/X being too low, and you're REALLY starved for ground clearance (like if you're road racing or something) then you can cut an inch or so out of the "down tube" section of the H/X and shorten it enough so that it tucks up to the floor pan really tight.

Also i'll be putting new subframes on my car probably this year that my buddy made...they're something like 3/4 inch tall and 1.5 inches wide so they won't cause much ground clearance issues and they're stronger than anything on the market.

I dunno, i really love my full lengths but i figure if worse comes to worst then 1 3/4 inch shorties should just about make up for any loss in flow that 1 5/8 full lengths give me, i'll just lose out on the better scavenging you get with LT's.


OOOH something else i will add....i've never had a set of full lengths that didn't in some way or another interfere with the steering shaft!! I thought i had it made with this set of MACs because for the longest time i never noticed any problems, but here lately the steering shaft has been locking up on the headers quite often. I think it's because my car is running stronger now and it's pulling the motor over harder with torque and before it never did that....so i guess maybe solid motor mounts might solve that but it's at least something you never deal with if you run shorties.

 

ill advised

Member

Apr 29, 2003

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West L.A.

Jun 3, 2007

#14

• Jun 3, 2007

• #14

Yeah my BBK's hang pretty low, plus my front is slightly lowered. Check out the 2nd pic in my sig and you can clearly see the headers behind the front tire. Since that picture was taken I did manage to get the mid-pipe tucked up a little better.

 

85_SS_302_Coupe

it sucks (I know) to be on the receiving end

15 Year Member

Nov 11, 2003

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Northern KY

Jun 3, 2007

#15

• Jun 3, 2007

• #15

Here just for the hell of it, a really old pic of my car:

That was stock ride height...they scraped everything. Now with Eibach Pro Kit spings they scrape even worse..lol