How to get the right stance?
 

Here is a stock monte http://www.x-celenterprises.com/imag...lo%20011sm.jpg


and here is the way I like it. http://www.chooseyouritem.com/classi...onte.Carlo.jpg

what do you do to give it this stance? Is it just air shocks or what?

I'm guessing this isn't your Monte but an example on how youd like yours to look?

That is the stock standard ride height and stance IMO...
Unfortunately your 2nd pics link doesn't work... So I have no idea what your trying to accomplish...

ya these are just example cars, not mine. Both pics work for me when I view the thread so I dont know why you cant see it.

http://www.chooseyouritem.com/classi...onte.Carlo.jpg


Here is a direct link you can just paste into the address bar on your browser. I appreciate you insights.

chooseyouritem.com/classics/photos/4001500/4001630.1974.Chevrolet.Monte.Carlo.jpg
http://chooseyouritem.com/classics/p...onte.Carlo.jpg

http://chooseyouritem.com/classics/p...onte.Carlo.jpg

To me ...IMO...

I would say he merely used a larger sway bar to raise it up in the rear and the front is at stock ride height..:thumbsup:

do you mean a sway bar from a different kind of car or were there different optional swaybars available?

Heres another stance I like
http://www.montecarloclub.com/Member...ll%20Right.JPG

It could possibly be a high performance sway bar... or an after market heavy duty one.

air shocks will have the effect your are looking for. I used to put them in all of my cars.

Another trick some people use (myself included on one vehicle) is to run 15 inch rims and tires on the back and 14 inch rims and tires on the front, it adds a small subtle drop when coupled with the air shocks. I do recommend getting an alignment if doing this.

You can also buy rubber spacer blocks that go at the bottom of the shocks where they connect, I have never tried these, but it allows you to keep your stock suspension if it is in good condition and you like the ride this may be the better alternative.

The main thing I enjoyed about the air shocks was the height was always adjustable pending you have easy access to an air compressor that has enough psi to raise the car, the down side is (from personal experience) make sure when you put the air lines in, or if you have a shop do it, make sure they use rubber grommets around the lines where they come in contact with any metal as it only takes a small crack in the line to lose all your air and your suspension will drop down, trust me on this one it happened with a 78 camaro that I owned, I was able to limp home but if I had my 12 inch wide tires on the back at the time I would have been stuck on the side of the road, thankfully it was still early spring and I hadn't put them on yet

good advice thanks. Did the air shocks affect your ride smoothness at all? Also, do you put them on the front also or only on the back? What size tires are best to get that stance? I was thinking 235 70 15 on all four wheels which is 27.95" tall. Thanks

here is another one with the stance I like. what size tires do you think they are ?

http://static.cargurus.com/images/si...7058067269.png

When I had the cars jacked right up, the ride was a little rougher, but nothing you couldn't live through, and to be honest in all Camaro's they ride like a lumber wagon on a good day lol. My Buick Regal still rode rather smooth with the air shocks but I firmly believe the car itself had a better suspension.

I always ran 295 50 15's on the back of the car, and usually stock size on the front, as the buick came with 14's from the factory, and the camaro's I ran the stock 15's on the front. The 295's are great as they are 12" wide and look mean from behind, just make sure your fender well will clear the tires just in case, also make sure your exhaust won't rub on the inside of the tire, I put a set of Mickey Thompson's on my car for a summer and they were bigger than the usual BF Goodrich that I ran and I drove to Windsor and back and on the way home I found out that when I had the trunk loaded and would hit the bumps on the highway the tire would rub on the exhaust pipe and the tire blew out on the passenger side about halfway home, cost me $150 bucks to buy a spare tire from a wrecker that was basically screwed, ya he saw me coming and had his way with me but I had no choice and he knew it, but it got me home

you put 295s on 15x7s and fit all that in the stock wheel wells of a Buick regal? How did you do that?

It was an 81 buick regal, they have flared fender wells so you can accommodate the larger tires. And if you have the car jacked up high enough you don't really have to worry too much about it, only when there is a heavy load in the trunk, such if you are going away for the weekend and bring the girls along, even though they are hopefully lightweight it still adds up. Especially if you are going camping and bringing gear and a cooler full of beer

so if the air shocks break or leak out, then wont that tear up the fender when it comes down on the big steam roller tires? Do they ever leak?

I should also mention the depth of the rims makes a difference, you want a deeper dish rim, meaning the tires stick out towards the fender as opposed the tires going in towards the inner fender well.

I had 15X10 rims on the back and 14X7 on the front.

The air shocks themselves never leaked on me in any of the cars that I owned, just one camaro that I had, when the shop that installed them ran the lines, they put a hole through the trunk and ran the lines back to beside the license plate where they had installed the valve. But when they actually ran the lines through the metal of the trunk pan, they didn't put anything around the line to protect it, so after a couple summers of driving the one side eventually wore down from rubbing on the metal where it ran through, which is why I recommend either a rubber grommet that you can put over the line and then in to the hole, or wrap the line with some sort of tape that will help protect the line as they are just plastic line, unless they have changed them nowadays.

Oh ok, now I understand what you were saying about the grommet. I didnt know they wre made out of plastic. When I thought about installing air shocks I imagined making lines out of brakeline and double flaring them, and running the lines into the trunk for adding or removing air so nobody can let aiir out of my shocks while Im in walmart or wherever. Do you put air shocks in the front too or is that just not done? On the buick I thought of having 15x6 stock rims widened to 15 x 8 and use the buick dog dish hub caps, but if I could find some gm stock wheels 15 x8 5 on 5 bolt pattern that take a 10" hubcap I would use those. I dont know of any though. Im learning a lot here thanks.

The main thing if you get them, and only in the back no need for the front is to ensure that you put the air valve in a spot that is not easily seen. With my buick the license plate folded down to put gas in so I put it beside the gas filler but when the license plate was up it was out of sight and out of mind. The one camaro was just beside the license plate at the back, but the car was black and with a black air cap on the valve it blended so you didn't really see it. The next camaro was yellow and orange (called it the reese' piece mobile lol) so I had the valve located under the rear bumper, so again it was out of sight. You could also have it located inside the trunk if you want so that way you need to unlock the trunk to even get to it.

As far as rims, I always ran either Cragar SS, or turbine style rims, actually one set on my chevelle was the (I think they are called this) outlaw style basically a full aluminum rim with the rivets running along the inside of the dish at the back of the rim, you see them a lot on drag cars.

I don't think you will have too many options for the wider gm stock rims, and honestly for what you would pay you would be further ahead to check on your local craigslist or kijiji and find a used set of aftermarket rims, they are always out there and you can usually get at a good price, and most of the time with tires already mounted. Just make sure they come with the lug nuts and center caps as these get expensive when looking for them, especially if the rims are no longer made, cause you are going to want chrome lug nuts, etc etc. Also not a bad idea to get a set of locking nuts, just make sure you keep the key for them in a place where you will remember that it is.

Have you given any thoughts to maybe bigger springs in the front and rear?