going lower on a magnum

  Hey Guys, Jim at Air Lift here.               I just got out from under BodyDropped50’s 05 Magnum SXT 3.5 V-6. Here is the brutal facts about this specific vehicle.  In the rear, the axel shafts are literally sitting on the unibody when laid out. Can this be fixed? Sure, that is what we all do every day in the garage. Should this be fixed in our kit?  Probably not. This would alleviate the point of a bolt-on kit.

 In the front, the upper control arm is currently 1/16” of an inch off the strut tower. Again, Uni-body drops are nothing new, (that's our Body droped Cavalier in the forum header) but not the best answer for a bolt on kit. 

 Keep in mind that even if you went through with these modification, on a 3.5 V-6 the tranny x member is only about ¾” off the ground. You would have to address that before the rockers will hit.    Bottom line, this is as low as this vehicle can go and remain bolt on.  UAS, Slam, Hydro's, all will be the same unless you fix the issues in the pics. Thanks guys, keep pushing us to build 'em as low as possible.  This is good fuel for our bosses! Jim  

Edited: 4/16/2009 10:52:36 AM by AON-OFFDAHOOK

---------------------------------------------Originally posted by Biggz70  Hey Guys, Jim at Air Lift here.                I just got out from under BodyDropped50’s 05 Magnum SXT 3.5 V-6. Here is the brutal facts about this specific vehicle.  In the rear, the axel shafts are literally sitting on the unibody when laid out. Can this be fixed? Sure, that is what we all do every day in the garage. Should this be fixed in our kit?  Probably not. This would alleviate the point of a bolt-on kit.

 In the front, the upper control arm is currently 1/16” of an inch off the strut tower. Again, Uni-body drops are nothing new, (that's our Body droped Cavalier in the forum header) but not the best answer for a bolt on kit. 

 Keep in mind that even if you went through with these modification, on a 3.5 V-6 the tranny x member is only about ¾” off the ground. You would have to address that before the rockers will hit.      Bottom line, this is as low as this vehicle can go and remain bolt on.  UAS, Slam, Hydro's, all will be the same unless you fix the issues in the pics. Thanks guys, keep pushing us to build 'em as low as possible.  This is good fuel for our bosses! Jim   ---------------------------------------------               Okay, so let's say you want to raise/notch that upper control arm platform up front, and notch the unibody in the rear how do you go lower from there if the bags are collapsed?

---------------------------------------------Originally posted by UnusualFabrication---------------------------------------------Originally posted by bodydropped50Well my buddy from Airlift got back with me today and said the only way to get the car lower is to notch the unibody for the axles in the rear and notch up front so the control arm can travel up further. ---------------------------------------------

That seems odd, how do the universal air and slam kits get so low then? --------------------------------------------- You can get adjustable Koni struts with the Universal Air kit as an option when ordering.  This makes the difference in getting completely laid out.

just remember if you do juice it and do go for a streetcharger make sure you tell them its for gellcell type battery, i didnt do this and sold that thing cause it only charged to about %50 if that.  i just did the charge overnight once every 2 weeks if ive been switch happy or once a month, shit lasts longer then you would think.  juice it, you will never look back, its just the best option for most unibodys if not all. dont be scared like most the people on this site.

Great thread guys! Lots of.different options and no bashings, keep it up! I didn't realize the UAS kits had adjustable struts. From a lot of the pictures I see they set lower and wondered why. And about streetchargers, I had one on my car and loved it. If I do hydraulics on another vehicle I will have another streetcharger for sure. I also had accumulators and it had a pretty good ride, far from the days that I drove it with straight cylinders, hahaha.

well uas uses the stock struts, so konis are a lower strut,
jim actually emailed me and i gave him a call, i hope no one at all took anything i said the wrong way
yes i have some clunking in my front struts and jim is being awesome about fixing it with something they have in the new struts,
also with the trans crossmember i have a r/t so i dont know if the v8 trans crossmember sits lower
everything has been awesome for helping, didnt think people would be this helpful so thanks guys
some of the minitruck or magnum owners here arent very helpful so thanks

since im here talking about hydraulics kinda now well asking about them

who knows of what video is gumbys wagon in? just wanna see how fast it lifts and well to give me that itch abit more lol

Im running Konis from UAS on my 300 and its bagged with UAS bags up front and slams out rear with modified UAS cups. Hydrolics WILL NOT get you any lower unless you are cutting. I do like dros because they can handle more weight and will work better with a carload of people. My car now sits with the tires on the fenders and needs to be notched like Jim posted as well as either smaller tires or clearance added. I am also about 90% sure that I can go lower with the bags in their current config (assuming nothing other then the bag is maxed out).   My only concern with dros is using them in the winter as my car is a daily and sees snow and ice allllll winter long in new england.

thats why im looking at dros.if my kit sells its actually probably gonna go to tre5 to get done as no one up here in canada knows much about hydraulics

Here's Gumby's Magnum for comparisons sake.  It was in the premiere release of the LowLife dvd, btw.  Hydraulics do well in cooler climates as long as you use gel cell batteries.  It's also helps to change out to a thinner oil soon as the weather cools off as well.