The Quest for Ground Clearance

Never had any problems at all in my previous '89 notch with clearing speed bumps and the like, even when I rigged up my own side-exit exhaust; however, my current notch (especially as of late) makes me nervous as hell that I'm going to rip the entire exhaust out from under it on a friggin' overzealous street hump someday. I can actually get a hard scrape from going over a sharp dip on the highway sometimes!

I've tucked everything up as high as it can possibly go, so much so that the X-pipe is 1/4" away from the tranny crossmember (which I had to notch just to make the stupid cats clear ... grrrrrrr) and the tailpipes only allow for so much adjustment before you start rattling against the frame rails or fuel tank and stuff. Makes me sick that I can stand beside my car and see my exhaust hanging so friggin' low; makes me even sicker that I can't clear even the lowest of speed bumps without getting a horrible scrape sound that turns everyone's head. Sure, it sounds badass and all, but it feels like such a beater when if feels like your equipment is dragging on the ground everywhere you go.

I'm not sure if the Eibach Drag springs play any role in this matter or not. Anyone else have either a CAT-EQUIPPED UPR X-pipe (I know the off-road version would fit 10x better) and/or Eibach Drag springs, and have the same ground clearance problems?

What really irks me is that my buddy's '90 notch with friggin' long-tube headers gets better clearance than my POS!

The cats on mine really don't have any sort of heat shield - well, not like the stock ones, at least. It's the front of the X-pipe, itself, that scrapes, rather than the cats. Drives me nutty. Trying to save my bucks because of school and all, so I don't wanna have to throw down another $300 on a different X-pipe or H-pipe if at all possible, but thus far I don't see myself as staying sane for much longer with this current arrangement.