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Thread: Speed bumps and type 65 clearance

  1. #1
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    Speed bumps and type 65 clearance

    I'm putting the final touches on my car, and ride height ground to chassis will be 4". don't want to go higher because I don't like too much gap in the wheel well.
    What am I looking at with speed bumps? I'm a little concerned the car would be scraped or hung-up on anything larger than a really low one, but I'd rather look cool and have to change my routes- haha!
    What are y'all finding out there in daily driving?

  2. #2
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    I am at 3.50" chassis to ground in front and 3.75" in the rear and have not had any issues with speed bumps.
    I did hit a large raccoon and it hit that hard, needed about 14" of clearance

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rsnake View Post
    I am at 3.50" chassis to ground in front and 3.75" in the rear and have not had any issues with speed bumps.
    I did hit a large raccoon and it hit that hard, needed about 14" of clearance
    That low to the ground, did you just take its legs out from under him?
    My Type 65 Coupe: Ordered May 27, 2021. Arrived November 19, 2021.
    I would like to treat my gas pedal as a binary operator. It would be nice to get the cooperation of everyone in front of me.

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    I ended his life unfortunately. Raccoon entrails all over the underside of the car. Big mess.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rsnake View Post
    I ended his life unfortunately. Raccoon entrails all over the underside of the car. Big mess.
    Ouch.
    My Type 65 Coupe: Ordered May 27, 2021. Arrived November 19, 2021.
    I would like to treat my gas pedal as a binary operator. It would be nice to get the cooperation of everyone in front of me.

  7. #6
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    When I had my GTM I hit the biggest wood chuck I've ever seen dead center with half going under the car, the rest of him/her going up into the air intake opening. What a mess to clean up!

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  9. #7
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    OK, that's great to know about the clearance and speed bumps - thank you. Sorry about the raccoon. In spite of the mess, I hope none of the car was damaged!

  10. #8
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    Ugh I hit a raccoon while in the coupe one morning as well. He was already dead, but I could not go around him due to an oncoming vehicle. The sound he made was sickening, bent up the bottom of the sheetmetal for the radiator ducting, but otherwise no damage (and luckily no mess other than some hair).

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    Someone(they will remain nameless) was driving my coupe at night on the interstate to the Bat Cave while behind a semi tractor trailer. The truck hit a deer and the coupe followed over it (the coupe actually bounced)! When the Bat got under the car he wondered what all the fur was doing under there!

  12. #10
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    Bob,
    You win the prize! Crazy to hit a deer and the car survive.

  13. #11
    Senior Member JimStone's Avatar
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    Does anyone have pictures of what they're doing to protect the bottom of the radiator? It sticks down there unprotected and is bound to get destroyed.

    I was thinking perforated steel sheet, but was worried about restricting air flow too much
    Gen 3 Coupe #576 - "Project Deimos"
    Ordered: 2/14/2024
    Received: 5/24/2024
    Build Thread: https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...upe-has-landed!

  14. #12
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    Jim,

    I did weld a plate across the front to cover up the area as the raccoon I hit dented the radiator. It's on my channel somewhere.
    https://youtube.com/@cobradaytonabui...1Gl3pCp1ey05F2
    I am trying to find the episode.

  15. #13
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    This video shows how I enclosed the entire area.
    https://youtu.be/XtVyU4CZLYE?si=vcaRGiIRymHIw9ET

    And here is the video showing exactly what I did.
    https://youtu.be/hMdrdj8_C24?si=p7G23e9--meo4Ffu

  16. #14
    Senior Member JimStone's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rsnake View Post
    This video shows how I enclosed the entire area.
    https://youtu.be/XtVyU4CZLYE?si=vcaRGiIRymHIw9ET

    And here is the video showing exactly what I did.
    https://youtu.be/hMdrdj8_C24?si=p7G23e9--meo4Ffu
    Thanks for the videos. I must have missed those.

    I don't weld, so I'll be thinking of a way to do something similar that is bolt on. Your aerodynamics discussion is interesting.
    Gen 3 Coupe #576 - "Project Deimos"
    Ordered: 2/14/2024
    Received: 5/24/2024
    Build Thread: https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...upe-has-landed!

  17. #15
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    As far as protecting the radiator, I created an angled shield out of perforated stainless steel sheet. It is super sturdy. Worked with my son to run some comparative analytics on engine temperature taking into account ambient temp, speed, RPM, etc and determined that the engine runs just a hair cooler with the shield in place. Not really what I expected, but I'll take it.

    Here's a short video showing what I cobbled together.



    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvdI9B_Gs8o

  18. #16
    Senior Member JimStone's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TTimmy View Post
    As far as protecting the radiator, I created an angled shield out of perforated stainless steel sheet. It is super sturdy. Worked with my son to run some comparative analytics on engine temperature taking into account ambient temp, speed, RPM, etc and determined that the engine runs just a hair cooler with the shield in place. Not really what I expected, but I'll take it.

    Here's a short video showing what I cobbled together.



    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvdI9B_Gs8o
    That looks nice. Was similar to what I was thinking with the perforated steel. I might go with a bit thicker steel though, and try to anchor into frame only because with the crappy roads around here I could imagine a chunk of asphalt or something big crashing in there
    Gen 3 Coupe #576 - "Project Deimos"
    Ordered: 2/14/2024
    Received: 5/24/2024
    Build Thread: https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...upe-has-landed!

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  20. #17
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    That's a nice solution for radiator protection!

  21. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by TTimmy View Post
    As far as protecting the radiator, I created an angled shield out of perforated stainless steel sheet. It is super sturdy. Worked with my son to run some comparative analytics on engine temperature taking into account ambient temp, speed, RPM, etc and determined that the engine runs just a hair cooler with the shield in place. Not really what I expected, but I'll take it.

    Here's a short video showing what I cobbled together.



    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvdI9B_Gs8o
    What was the Amazon product number for that material?

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