I am looking to buy and element, but I have an extra low garage.

Never doing any mods to cars, can I still buy one?
The car on the lot appears to need 72"
I think I need to loose 2 inches off the height.
Can this be done with wheels and/or tires?... and if so...any suggestions?

What might complicate things is that I also live in the North where we use real winter tires...I've always had an extra set of winter wheels for my civic.

Thanks...new subscriber, eric

I think the E is only about 70 inches, without a roof rack, but don't quote me. Are you serious that your garage door opening is less than 6 feet high? Did you buy a clown house? What's up with that? Go measure it again.

Suspensionmax.com is selling lowering springs that will take an E down 2 inches.

[quote:44ba5abc7a="lon777"]Suspensionmax.com is selling lowering springs that will take an E down 2 inches.[/quote:44ba5abc7a]

...and you can let the air out of your tires for another 2 -3 inches. :D

...and I don't buy into needing piles of clearance on my vehicle as it is unlikely I will ever be doing any ditch crossing.

i assume the E has enough clearance that loosing a couple inches is not a problem and may actually help decrease the highway rollover factor.


(I hope your kayaks fit inside so that you don't have to remember where it is when visiting underground garages :? )

the service manager at the dealership i go to said that he saw an E with low profile tires. between that and the lowered suspension, wouldn't that take care of the clearance problem? isn't taking air out of the tires dangerous?

i live in SoCal and don't deal with snow, so i'm not sure if that would work for you. good luck!

Eric,

I live in anacient building that garages were added to sometime after 1917 with really low doors (and a really low metal handle in the center). I actually test drove an E to my garage to check for fit--I had the saleperson and a friend watching closely as I pulled in to make sure the low door handle didn't hit. Because the sides of the E are higher than the denter I ended up with plenty of clearance but wasn't sure based on the measurements (I was actually suprised it fit with enough space to spare for peace of mind).

See if your dealer will let you do the same thing.

I will bring one home for a test-fit.

Do lowering springs as recommended do anything for improving ride or will it only be cosmetic/garage fit? I assume they void some warranty issues.

talk to your service manager. i think that the low profile wheels and the springs issue will not affect warranty--at least that is what other people have reported. but double check and get it in writing to be sure...

hope you love your E as much as I do!

[quote:1a2e6d2436="eric"]
(I hope your kayaks fit inside so that you don't have to remember where it is when visiting underground garages :? )[/quote:1a2e6d2436]

Oh hell no, but there ain't a whole lotta parking garages out in the woods, thank gawd. With my Yaks on top, I'm looking at about 8.5 ft, so I'm not fitting anywhere with them on top. I do have a little mirror mounted on top of my garage door, lest I ever "forget" I got 'em on too...I just couldn't believe your door was that low. I like the idea of test driving it home. - Dan

[quote:06a2b54082="eric"]...and I don't buy into needing piles of clearance on my vehicle as it is unlikely I will ever be doing any ditch crossing.

i assume the E has enough clearance that loosing a couple inches is not a problem and may actually help decrease the highway rollover factor.[/quote:06a2b54082]

Losing 2" puts you into the sub 5" range. How good are your roads, and are there any speed bumps?

yelapa

smaller wheels and tires will throw off your speedo have ya thought about re doing the garage door to a standard size if possible or air bagging the E just remember to hit those switches to the down position