oil pan ground clearance

[Lloyd]

I have an Aviad gt40 pan. still hangs about 3/4" below the chassis. I had my ride height set to 4.5 inches. which put the pan at 3 3/4 inches. I drove over unmarked railroad tracks at 40 mph. No warning about what amounted to a speed bump in the road. I scraped a small hole in the pan. Lucky enough not to have driven it too much further to a car show. On the way in a man yelled your leaking oil. just what you don't want to hear. had the pan repaired with a extra piece of steel welded as a skid plate. Other than a dry sump anyone aware or a shorter pan. I believe the Aviad is 6.5 inches. My next thought is to go wider
and remove 3/4 off the depth. Its going to get costly with the pickup and all the baffling.
just bothers me having that hanging lower than the chassis. i have raised the car 3/8" . that should help. I barely caught it. 3/8" more clearance before and i would have been home free


I complained to the state of ct 2 weeks ago nothing. you should see the ramp on either side of the tracks is all gouged out from vehicles bottoming out. I called the dept of transportation they are aware of the problem but you have to deal with state. Now i'm not looking to get reimbursed. I'm trying to save the next guy with with low ground clearance the headache i've gone thru. It wasn't expensive to fix just time consuming to pulling and reinstalling the pan.

 

[Phil]

Lloyd:
I was also looking for a shallower pan, I have a stock pan that is approx 7" deep and it hangs about 1" below the chassis, not good.
I finally resorted to modifying the stock pan and pickup and adding more capacity in the sides. Looks like it will end up at about 7 quarts. Not complete yet but close.
Also, do you have any clearance issues with your bellhousing?, unless it was modified it should also hang about 3/4 to 1" below the chassis.
Cheers
Phil

 

[Bill Musarra]

Lloyd,
Try your local T V or talk radio station that has a consumer advocate/protection program. They love safety issues. You might even get some camera time.

Bill

 

[Lloyd]

Phil
I think your right on the bell housing, but its between the wheels/tires so unless i straddled something the tires would raise the car. Worth a concern. I am going to more alert to road obstructions. This could have gotten very expensive if i lost oil pressure.


Bill
TV sounds like an avenue. the state of ct is not going to accept fault with anything.

LLoyd

 

[Bill Musarra]

LLoyd,
Your right and so won't most states. You have to literally have permission to sue. We have in Ga. a consummer advocate program, one branch is aptly called the pot hole patrol that the TV station uses to keep their ratings up. They, alerted by consumers, go to sites where there are steelcovers for months on end and yep pot holes, running water, obstructed signage lights out, delayed road construction projects, etc. and confront on air, the DOT, about the things mentioned above, to yes, safety concerns. Take pics and send them in. If it is a hazard for tractor trailers as well you have more ammunition.

Bill