Barracuda Ride Height?

-
68 A

68 A

FABO Gold Member
FABO Gold Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2006
Messages
630
Reaction score
84
Location
Auburn, NY
Hello,

I am wondering what a normal rear ride height is. I'm measuring for a driveshaft, car is on stands.

Got a 5.7, TR6060, 8 3/4 with RMS suspension and 26" tall tires. I have the rear jacked up so that there is 2.5" of clearance from the tire to the wheel well. It looks good there, not sure how it relates to everyone else. I'm not looking for wheels tucked in or jacked up like a boot legger. Maybe I can just set it where it looks good?

Thanks,
Steve

IMG_4485.JPG


IMG_4486.JPG
 
I have RMS front suspension and rear leaf springs. I set my front height first then did a -1 inch drop leafs from factory settings. Your drive shaft length should be the same for wherever you set it. If you have the street links rear you will be able to adjust your height front and back for whatever driving style you want. I would say start at front and adjust the back. It will travel up and down if you understand what I’m saying. What size rims are those 18s or 19s. For the Fastback to look really good in my opinion it’s better to have the wheel well full with tire.
 
08B4A61F-233D-4660-9D04-466D3A6A41FE.jpeg
E43CF727-9EF7-4991-A1FD-C807FF117B58.jpeg
This is mine with 17” rims. I like those rims you have. Set it where it looks good to you. That’s what I did.
 
Hyup, get the front end dialed in first. Get your alignment guy to cycle the suspension up and down, to see what the camber change is doing. If you happen to set your height too far from stock, your camber will change over every bump and pothole. Any camber change, changes the toe-in. And changes in toe-in lead to wandering, or a nervous hard-to-drive feeling, and/or a car that likes to follow "ruts". So get the front end dialed in first. Of course, the rear has to at least be close, as you are doing this. The closer to level the car is, the more caster it will have. Jack the back up and watch the caster disappear. This is fine for a streeter, but caster is nice to have on long road trips, not to mention at the big end of the track.
 
loganscuda said:
I have RMS front suspension and rear leaf springs. I set my front height first then did a -1 inch drop leafs from factory settings. Your drive shaft length should be the same for wherever you set it. If you have the street links rear you will be able to adjust your height front and back for whatever driving style you want. I would say start at front and adjust the back. It will travel up and down if you understand what I’m saying. What size rims are those 18s or 19s. For the Fastback to look really good in my opinion it’s better to have the wheel well full with tire.
Click to expand...

18X11" Rims, 26" tall tires. How tall are you tires? I like the stance on yours. What is the distance from the center of the rear axel to the fender lip?

I also have 3" tailpipes to fit, I'll have to get them in again. If I put it on the ground to get the stance I won't be able to fit under it to measure the driveshaft length.

I also have to pull the K frame and engine out again to get my trans tunnel finished up and swap cam and lifters, figured I would get front suspension adjusted next year once its all gonna stay together for a while. Definitely more to it than I realized. Thanks to both of you for the advice, and I love your cars!!!
 
Get your trans tunnel work done first that may change your angles when you put it in. After my 5.7 swap I did my drive shaft last. I will have to measure everything tomorrow.
 
Last edited:
I've seen the pics of the 2X4 stands before, haven't gotten to a point where I thought I needed them, maybe i'm there now.

I jacked the rear up higher and the distance only changed 3/16", slip yoke will have 1" travel, so it doesn't seem like a huge deal to have the ride height exactly where it will be to get drive shaft made.

The bumper height is interesting. If you crash different models from the same manufacturer and year together the bumpers might not even tough and will smash up body work on both cars...

Thanks
 
loganscuda said:
View attachment 1715605324 View attachment 1715605325This is mine with 17” rims. I like those rims you have. Set it where it looks good to you. That’s what I did.
Click to expand...

I agree with having the wheel well full looks better on the fastback.

what size tire you running?
is wheel well stock.?

I am looking at running biggest tire i can in stock wheel well. happy to use relocaters.
street occasional strip car
 
I have 18X11 Rims with 315/30/18 tires. Tires are only 25.5" diameter. Wish I had gotten something a little taller to fill the wheel well more. But it appears I am stuck with those as I can't find a taller 18" tire in that width.

I did minitub the rears and have a Reilly Motorsports 4 Link rear
 
The body is way to far above the tire/wheel in these pictures. I think having the top of that style wheel just at or under the fender opening would look a lot better. You may have to roll the fender lip.
 
Yea, I will drop it a couple inches to put the tire around the bottom of the fender. I don't think I'll have to roll the lip, seems to be clearance in there.
 
peterOZ said:
I agree with having the wheel well full looks better on the fastback.what size tire you running?is wheel well stock.?
I am looking at running biggest tire i can in stock wheel well. happy to use relocaters.street occasional strip car
Click to expand...
On my 68 Barracuda;
the tallest I have been able to fit is a 28", and
the widest in the stock tubs was a 325 on a 15x10,
but I had to run them at less than 24psi to keep the outboard treads flat on the road.
I have settled on a 295/50-15 that is a lil less than 27 tall, and on a 15x10 I can run 24 psi full time.

Yes, I moved the springs and narrowed the rear to make it work, but the tubs are factory, and the tires are up in the tubs and never rub. And for the 325s I had to slightly bend upwards the lips of the wheel openings at the top, to lower the car.
My car is All Street, but I fit the 325s to track it one time.

BTW
A 295 branded tire, only measures about 295 on a 70% checking rim which is 206.5mm rounds to an 8" rim; it could be 4/5mm either way so from 290 to 300.
But on a 10" rim, a 295 is no longer a 295.
The section width on my 10s, IIRC, is 13.25inches and that would make it a 336, and since the tire height is still 27, that makes the profile to be 45.3% .. So in metric, my 295/50-15 on a 10" rim actually measures 335/45-15....... but the tread of course, has not changed, and is still around 10 inches. Really, 10" rims are barely wide enough for 295s, as witnessed by the low tire pressure I have to run, to keep from burning off the centers.
I got used to the rear "side-shift" at 24psi when ripping around corners, when not spinning. . In fact, I learned to use it as rear steer, and now consider it a feature! rather than a failure. When the tires are spinning, I don't feel it.
 
Last edited:
AJ/FormS said:
On my 68 Barracuda;
the tallest I have been able to fit is a 28", and
the widest in the stock tubs was a 325 on a 15x10,
but I had to run them at less than 24psi to keep the outboard treads flat on the road.
I have settled on a 295/50-15 that is a lil less than 27 tall, and on a 15x10 I can run 24 psi full time.

Yes, I moved the springs and narrowed the rear to make it work, but the tubs are factory, and the tires are up in the tubs and never rub. And for the 325s I had to slightly bend upwards the lips of the wheel openings at the top, to lower the car.
My car is All Street, but I fit the 325s to track it one time.

BTW
A 295 branded tire, only measures about 295 on a 70% checking rim which is 206.5mm rounds to an 8" rim; it could be 4/5mm either way so from 290 to 300.
But on a 10" rim, a 295 is no longer a 295.
The section width on my 10s, IIRC, is 13.25inches and that would make it a 336, and since the tire height is still 27, that makes the profile to be 45.3% .. So in metric, my 295/50-15 on a 10" rim actually measures 335/45-15....... but the tread of course, has not changed, and is still around 10 inches. Really, 10" rims are barely wide enough for 295s, as witnessed by the low tire pressure I have to run, to keep from burning off the centers.
I got used to the rear "side-shift" at 24psi when ripping around corners, when not spinning. . In fact, I learned to use it as rear steer, and now consider it a feature! rather than a failure. When the tires are spinning, I don't feel it.
Click to expand...

thanks...do you have any photos on how it is sitting? i really want to acheive the tire tucked in the guard look. currently looking at shortening diif as well to acheive end result.if it helps you can send here peter@autotransmissions.com.au
 
peterOZ said:
do you have any photos
Click to expand...

no pics, but the 325s had only about 1 inch vertical clearance from the outboard shelf above the quarter lip, to the closest part of the sidewall. My car is lowered to 5.75 between the lowest part of the K-member, to the floor, and then raked up a lil towards the back,not much. If I was to measure from the rocker pinchweld to the floor, Ima thinking, I might get 1/2 inch higher in the rearmost part than to the frontmost.
325s just barely fit in there on 10s, which in all honesty are too narrow for anything but straightline work.
and you will have to do quite a bit of massaging on both the inner walls, cutting or bending up the outer lips, rolling them, and moving the axle back, and moving the springs.
Not to mention custom wheels, or narrowing the rearend. I narrowed my 8.75 far enough to use 4.5 backspace wheels

Around town, 295/50-15s fit right in there, are the same height, but have enough clearance that they have never rubbed.
 
AJ/FormS said:
no pics, but the 325s had only about 1 inch vertical clearance from the outboard shelf above the quarter lip, to the closest part of the sidewall. My car is lowered to 5.75 between the lowest part of the K-member, to the floor, and then raked up a lil towards the back,not much. If I was to measure from the rocker pinchweld to the floor, Ima thinking, I might get 1/2 inch higher in the rearmost part than to the frontmost.
325s just barely fit in there on 10s, which in all honesty are too narrow for anything but straightline work.
and you will have to do quite a bit of massaging on both the inner walls, cutting or bending up the outer lips, rolling them, and moving the axle back, and moving the springs.
Not to mention custom wheels, or narrowing the rearend. I narrowed my 8.75 far enough to use 4.5 backspace wheels

Around town, 295/50-15s fit right in there, are the same height, but have enough clearance that they have never rubbed.
Click to expand...


Thank you for the detailed information
 
275/60-15 rear leaf springs have 1 inch more arch over stock.

new springs.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top