second thoughts on gfx

[Thontor]

ok, well my wings-west 4 piece ground effects kit for the 98+ camaro has arrived... and is sitting around uninstalled for now.

just a few questions... i've noticed that ground effects arent that common, was just wondering why.. is it cause its a totally asthetic mod and will hurt your car's times cause of the weight or what? anyway,i couldnt care less bout my car's times cause i dont race it...

ok, so the first time i saw a camaro with ground effects i thought it looked sweet, and i wanted some of that. so when i saw an excellent deal where i could get the whole kit for $530 including shipping i couldnt pass that up

but now that i have it i cant stop thinking of some down sides.. like.. installation cost.. i havent had a chance to get any estimates yet cause most places were closed whenever i wasnt working over the weekend.. i was just wondering what anyone on the site here paid to have their ground effects installed. i probably plan on "shopping around" to see what kind of prices are out there for installation, then again i want a good professionally done isntallation. i was just wondering what kinda cost to expect for installation.. cause that determins when i'll get it done...

a couple other things.. obviously these ground effect are going to be a little lower than my car is withouth them.. and i worry about bottoming out and damaging them or at least the paint job.. in fact i've already "bottomed out" to the poin where the air scoop in the front end scraped the ground, its plastic so no big deal, but that has me worryied about making my car any lower

one more thing. winter is coming, in chicago, that means snow.. anybody who lives in an area that get's snow have ground effects? i guess i'm worried bout getting stuck cause its so low, probably just paranoid.. but should i wait till spring to get em installed? or doesn't it matter really

[Ted]

I don't think ground effects are too common on camaros because people have fear of bottoming out, like you have. Your going to be looking around a few hundred bucks for paint, and installation. I wouldn't expect anything cheaper. If I were you i would wait until spring to get them put on. The shop is going to install the gfx with a few screws in the side and 3M double sided tape, which there isn't anything wrong with it. Unless you don't drive your car in the snow. If you do i would be afraid that it could severly damage the ground effects. I remember last winter where the snow here stood higher then my car. Good luck.

[tdaddyz]

i don't think people should be worried about the weight, my w-type kit from wings west only weighed ten pounds.

[andrew N.]

put them on. its like night and day.

[Loochy88]

the weight is negligable. the kit alltogether weighs no more than 30 lbs id say. everyone's main fear is bottoming out. WATCH OUT FOR PARKING STUMPS AND STEEP RAMPS/DRIVEWAYS. If you adjust your driving style then youll be just fine. the bottom of the front piece will scrape every now and again, but you cant see that part, and the front of mine is still nice like the day i got it. its the best appearance mod you can do for your car. put those bad boys on.

go ahead and do a search for the install prices. many people have posted the deals they got. have a look around. there are various threads on the bottoming out topic as well.

as far as the snow goes: what are you doing driving a fbody in the snow anyway??? [img]graemlins/slap.gif[/img] ;)

[ November 17, 2003: Message edited by: Loochy88 ]</p>

[Thontor]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Loochy88:

as far as the snow goes: what are you doing driving a fbody in the snow anyway??? [img]graemlins/slap.gif[/img] ;)

[ November 17, 2003: Message edited by: Loochy88 ]<hr></blockquote>

i dont have a choice, i only have one car... i plan on getting snow tires to help a bit, plus putting sand bags in the back to weight it down for better traction.. ASR should help as well

[AlienInv8r]

Ground clearance is the main reason people avoid it. I dont scrape a whole lot now that I've learned to drive it. Just remember to take any speed bumps and steep inclines at an angle. There are some places that you just wont be able to make and will have to learn routes around those ways. It only took me like 2 weeks to really learn what I could and could not make. Mine were all f'ed up when I bought the car, so the first couple times I scraped I didn't really care. I actually repainted mine myself (woohoo spray paint, doesnt look too bad though) so now I don't scrape ever.
Another thing to be careful with on the WingsWest kit is the lip in the middle of the front air dam. I've seen so many camaros, mine included, that have that front section snapped and hanging down. Mine kinda looks like it sags down in the middle so be careful with that. Learn the exact length of your hood so you know where to stop at curb parking spots and stuff, they'll eat your gfx alive...I actually had a mechanic park my car once and he drove right up to the parking block, it bent my gfx all up and had they not already been broken I would've been extremely pissed about that. Anyways, put em on, they look awesome and then just be attentive of where you drive.

[firebird1]

i'd wait till winter is over, that gives you time to shop around for prices and adjust your drving/parking habits...

im in the same situation you are in, and this is what im gonna do. when i get some quotes i will revive this thread from the grave [img]graemlins/toto.gif[/img]

[Loochy88]

alieninv8r: i had the same problem with the mechanic bumping my gfx on parking stumps. even if you know how to avoid it yourself, make sure you tell a mechanic every time you hand over the car. They will hit it on the stumps, it never fails. make a huge deal out of it. make them sign something. if you dont, they will f up your gfx and you wont be able to do a thing about it. trust me, its happened to me. luckily, my case was easily fixable.

[Knight5]

if your going to drive your car in the winter,I would wait until the winter is over then put your gfx on.my car with gfx is so low people wonder how I can drive that thing,hehe

[F1GT]

How about a compromise, paint all the pieces and just put the side and rear ones on. I guarantee you that you WILL scrape the front piece, that's how you learn how steep ur car can take the angles. Sometimes you enter a place with 2 driveways and you enter thru one and it's fine and dandy, then you have to exit thru another and there are cars behind you,.,.,.UH-OH!!!

[Loochy88]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by F1GT:
then you have to exit thru another and there are cars behind you,.,.,.UH-OH!!!<hr></blockquote>


thats when you just smile and wave politely and go about your slow cautios business while they scream and shout and give you the finger. my gfx come before pushy rude people.

[F1GT]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Loochy88:



thats when you just smile and wave politely and go about your slow cautios business while they scream and shout and give you the finger. my gfx come before pushy rude people.<hr></blockquote>

Not worried about the pushy people, it's the narrow but steep driveway, like at drive-thrus. Where you go in and you don't see that the exit is steep until you leave with ur food.

[Thontor]

thanks all for the replies...

i've decided to hold off on the installation till next spring.. i'll leave em stored in the basement over the winter

i just couldnt pass up a deal like i got.. i got em for $530 including shipping...

least i've seen em for elswhere is around 550 not including shipping

so0 $530 is a good deal i'd assume.. would you agree? what did you guys get em for.. the parts only i mean.. include shipping if you like.. just curious how good a deal i got

[AlienInv8r]

530 shipped sounds like a good price. I bought my car with them on already, so mine were included. Holding off is probably good, that way if you get any snow you wont become a snow plow being so low, and all the salt and stuff wont get in your new paint while it's curing.
Loochy- I never thought about having them sign something, I guess I always assumed they knew to be careful about that stuff and all. Thank goodness the material is flexible though like you said, cuz I would've been irate at the guy. Mine were already pretty bad though, I'm hoping to get a xenon kit put on over the summer to fix all that. Nice to know I'm not the only one that's been screwed by the mechanic parking jobs though.