ANGELxEYEZ

ok, im new to the whole "vip" styling of cars. i come from more of a "lowrider" upbringing. you know, 60's impalas, 13 or 14 inch wire wheels, hittin the hydraulic switches, etc etc.... anyways, i love the look of most, if not all the ls400's on here, however, im confused on a few things. so, ill just get right to it......

1. WIDE TIRES-- i notice and have been told that getting the widest stance on rims n tires, without pertruding past the fender is key. true?? and if i decided to just run 18x8.5 or 19x8.5, slammed real low, no spacers, is it still considered "vip" since im not flush with the fender?? jus curious.

2. WHEEL ANGLE-- in my upbringing around lowriders, once a vehicle is juiced {hydraulics} the front wheels tend to "butterfly" or "reverse butterfly". its definitely not something we aim to achieve. we actually will cut n extend our upper n lower a-arms to at least alleviate it at most heights. i believe in this styling of cars you guys call it "camber". am i mistaken or is this a desired look for vip styling??? if so, why?? and isnt it harsh on bearings and tires??

3. STRETCHED TIRES-- it seems that alot or most run tires that arent exactly the proper width for the rims. is this strictly a visual desire, or is there a technical reason for it??

4. FENDER WORK-- is this kind of "jerry-rigging" with a baseball bat or cookie dough roller?? or will most body shops know how to do this?? why not jus run a wheel thats an inch thinner?? or does even the slightest bit matter that much??

5.-- SUSPENSION-- ive heard from a few friends that airbags are ok, but true vip cars ride on lowering springs or coil-overs only!! true??? if i bought a set of lowering springs, but they didnt go low enough, cant i just chop a coil or two out?? lowering springs are around 250-500 bucks. good coil-overs are 650-1000+. i dont mind a bumpy/bouncy ride, im used to hydraulics, hahaha.

i know thats alot of questions and i apologise if theyve been asked time n time again, but when im excited about something, i try n learn as much as possible as quick as possible. any answers or opinions are greatly appreciated. thanks

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

A more specific place for answers

ANGELxEYEZ

Damn, sorry about that. I appreciate the re-location.

sojah

iTrader: (1)

Stretched tires so u can run widest possible wheel, even a little matters, if u dont want to do fender work just try to make ot flush and try to tick tire at least. Camber is correct or negative ratjer when the top of tire goes in and bottom is poking out a little. It is harsh on tires but an alignmekt is recommended once u figure out the proper ride height and dont plan on changing it for a while. Bags or static drop is just personal preference, some like it hard others a little softer.

Modifying fenders to run wide wheels and achiving a perfect stance is the holy grail to vip. Just ride clean and low with some tasteful wheels with a lip akd u too can attain vip...

ANGELxEYEZ

i appreciate the insight, truely. im not a fan of the "camber" look, but ill definitely be slammed on some nice 18s or 19s. thanks alot....

DixonPai

iTrader: (3)

you don't have to run camber, but if you don't you will need some body work to fit wider wheels and most likely you will need quite a bit of stretch on them tires.

Coilovers vs Air, well coilovers I believe they make extreme drop kits for the LS so you shouldnt have to big of a problem with going low with coilovers if not enough, you can always drop the preload a bit. For bags concept is like hydraulics help you go up and down so you don't have to deal with a slammed car in Cali, drive normal and parked hard

Schnitz

iTrader: (5)

Can't achieve a flush fitment without camber. The wheel traveling up and down will slam into the body without camber. Sure you don't need -10 degrees but 4-7 degrees is usually necessary.
Stretched tires are necessary for this reason as well. They allow the wheel to sit flush and in conjunction with the arced travel that camber gives, nothing hits the body. Millimeters of clearance is what you're looking for.
It's a lot of trial and error to get it just right.
The rest of it like interior knick knacks and body kits is bonus stuff. Stance and fitment are most important.

sojah

iTrader: (1)

i say -2 - whatever for negative camber, and this usually occurs naturally when you lower a car. i had paper thin rear fenders before and was completely flush with very minimum negative camber, but a stretched tire helped too

AFryan

These are just my opinions, but hopefully they help you out.

1. WIDE TIRES--

Wide wheels are definitely a big part of VIP style, but you don't have to be perfectly flush. If you look back at older Japanese VIP ads, no one has the flush look we have today. Even now, a lot of people go for the tucked look so they can have their car sit lower. Something to think about that is that a lot of these people are on bags. When they're aired up to drive height, the wheels are more flush, but then they air out, the wheels will naturally camber and tuck into the fender.



2. WHEEL ANGLE & 3. STRETCHED TIRES--

Like others said, a combination of camber, stretched tires, and fender work are used to run your wheels as close to the fender as possible without hitting it during suspension movement. Camber will give you uneven wear. Some people talk about abnormal wear on the tire but that's most likely due to the toe alignment being out of spec. An advantage of bags in this situation is that when you air up, it evens out the tire to the ground which is going to even out your tire wear.

4. FENDER WORK

Like the previous answer, fender rolling gives you extra clearance for your wheel and tire to be as close to the fender as possible without hitting it. For fender rolling, some people do the baseball bat method with some success, but most (including myself) wouldn't do it that way. There's a big risk in it coming out uneven and more problems. Most body shops that have done import cars will know what to do. As far as doing it yourself, there are specific tools just as http://www.eastwood.com/autobody/fender-roller.html but I would make sure to read up about it and watch a lot of youtube videos about it before trying to do it yourself for the first time.

Without work to make the inside of the fender as smooth as possible and without camber and stretched tires, it would be impossible to achieve something like this...



5.-- SUSPENSION

Springs are not the preferred option for VIP style, and chopping springs is always pretty sketchy to me and you don't have that adjust ability that you might be used to with hydros, and be able to dial in the exact stance you're trying to achieve. Plus you'll be going through shocks fast. Coils are cool if you know your roads really well and can avoid potholes, steep driveways, and bumps. A downside to coilovers to me is the risk of damaging expensive *** body parts just to look hard. Bags will give you the option to roll low when you want, and lift it up when it gets sketchy.

sojah

iTrader: (1)

nice explanation BTW,, i used to roll straight statik on coils,, but now i'm curious how hard i am on the hard meter if i roll slammed like 99% on coils but air up the phantom air cup susp when going into steep driveways or when driving 'spiritedly' on twisties???

AFryan

A lot harder than rolling with ****ed up bumpers and fenders haha.