I have an 84 Fiero with stock 14 in tires on it, and have the chance to get a set of springs that will lower the car 1 to 1.5 inches. Would this look ok? I don't want to go bigger on the wheels/tires but as we know the car looks to high at stock heights. Or maybe I'll just use the front springs as the front is a bit higher than the back. What do you think?
Here's the best pictures I have for now of the car.
Nice Fiero. I've always been a fan of white cars with white wheels. If it were me though, I would wait and save up until I could get a fully ride height adjustable suspension via coilovers so I could hit the exact height I wanted. Actually I'm in that situation myself right now. I have coilovers on the back, but the front is stock on my 87. I'm eventually going to get the Arraut motors sport front suspension though and then I can set the height where ever I want it. Looking at your photos though, I would say a 1 inch drop would be an improvement in the aesthetics department. New springs by themselves can drastically change the ride and handling balance though...
The drop will help.. but unless the photo's are showing it wrong, the tire looks like it is either past the the fender or at least out to it.. a 1.5 drop.. and then a bump could put the tire on the fender
The drop will help.. but unless the photo's are showing it wrong, the tire looks like it is either past the the fender or at least out to it.. a 1.5 drop.. and then a bump could put the tire on the fender
With stock 14" tire size, I doubt it. I've got a ~1.6"-1.8" drop (don't recall what it is exactly but somewhere in that range, with the ST springs), on my 87 GT with stock 15" tires and never had a problem with fender rub.
Originally posted by E.Furgal: The drop will help.. but unless the photo's are showing it wrong, the tire looks like it is either past the the fender or at least out to it.. a 1.5 drop.. and then a bump could put the tire on the fender
those rims are not stock items that I've seen. Rim w/ wide tires and/or rim w/ wrong offset will push out tires. Look like used big springs etc to stop hitting the fenders.
Many 84 used 13" tires, 185/80-13. Some got 215/60-14, Indy maybe SE if GM made SE for 84.
------------------ Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. (Jurassic Park)
With stock 14" tire size, I doubt it. I've got a ~1.6"-1.8" drop (don't recall what it is exactly but somewhere in that range, with the ST springs), on my 87 GT with stock 15" tires and never had a problem with fender rub.
look at the placement of the tire, those non stock wheels have pushed them out
Thanks for the compliment jediperk. It would be many a moon before I upgrade to coil overs though. The wheels are American racing wheels in 14 inch with 215/60/14 tires. I've had the wheels so long that I don't remember the offset, But when I got the wheels I told them to stay as close to stock on the offset as they could. Told them I didn't want the car looking like Mickey Mouse going down the road. The tread of the tire is well with in the fender with the widest part of the tie, in the letter area is 3/4 of inch beyond the fender in the front and 1/2 inch on the rear. The gap between the top of the fender opening on the front is 4 1/2 inch and rear is 4 3/4.
It's an 84 with the WS 6 suspension, and the springs weren't changed when I put these wheels on. I have KYB shocks on the front and KYB struts on the rear. The car did sit pretty level until I put the shocks on the front, then it sat higher in the front. I don't know if the back came up as I never measured the car. I know many say that shocks don't raise the height of a car, but in this case it did. I put them on myself and saw the difference right away. I hoped the front would settle in as the shocks broke in but it didn't. I have a new pair of Monroe shocks to put on the front in the hope of at least leveling the car out, and a forum member is selling a set of lowering springs so I wanted to get opinions before I buy them.
With 215/60s your tires are over a half inch shorter than stock 185/75s. That's a pretty big difference, and the increased width is probably making them look like they stick out so far. Your wheels actually look like they are very close to the stock 14" wheel offset. Any particular reason you went with fat tires?
Anyway, if you're going to stick with those, I wouldn't worry about fender rub too much unless you're going to go for the slammed look. I think going back to a narrower tire that's the stock size would make it look a bit better though, and the drop too of course.
Here's what my car looks like with the ~1.6-1.8" drop and stock GT wheels/tires:
The 215 60 14 is the stock size for the 84 Se, I stayed with that size with the new wheels. I was thinking of going with a 65 or 70 tire to fill the gap some but these are non stock sizes. I'm not sure how these would look.
I don't want to really slam the car. The springs I'm considering have a 1" to 1 1/2 " drop. I'm just hoping to fill in the gap.
[This message has been edited by johnt671 (edited 02-22-2015).]
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