- Hey yo slam cars.
Let's go.
I love talking about this (beeps).
Contrary to popular belief,
even though I had some cars on air suspension,
I've also had some static cars
and I do enjoy some cars that do some
of the old pavement kissing.
Drivin' a car that is literally
an inch off the ground can definitely come
with some challenges.
So we thought it'd be cool to give some more tips
about driving a slam car.
If you need any wheels, tires, or suspension,
so you can have a slam car,
make sure to check out fitmentindustries.com.
Sorry, we gotta do the plugs.
That's what keeps the lights on, baby.
You got a light right here, a light there, a light there.
You gotta keep it on, you know?
Otherwise the video would be dark
then you wouldn't see me.
All right.
So getting into this.
I think one of the best things you could have
is a skid plate.
On my Evo 10 back in the day,
I had a metal skid plate and I cannot tell you
how many times that thing saved my damn (beeps).
Hitting chunks of rocks, sleepy.
Whoa, the (beeps) did I just say?
Hitting chunks of...
God damn it Corey.
Hitting chunks of rocks, steep entrances.
I even hit a dead raccoon once.
RIP.
And every time I went to check
I could see the exact spot that was impacted
and I promise you it was worth it.
You'd be surprised to see
that aluminum skid plates are pretty common
and most likely there's a company that makes one
for your car specifically,
which makes it a breeze to install and not too much
of a pain to take off and on between oil changes.
Yes, it's a lot of screws but it's just easy.
You just take screws up, put the screws in.
Bada-bing, bada-boom.
If you're handy with tools,
this is something that you could do yourself even.
It wouldn't be terrible to make
and do a little DIY.
Now I must say
this 100% will not be the end all be all
for your slam car build.
It's not like you can put
on a skid plate and you're golden.
You can start hittin' every pot hole
at a buck 20 or using your terrible (beeps) driveway
as a ramp to jump your car into the garage.
Okay.
But it will put one more thing
between the road and your precious cargo.
Now something that can go along with a skid plate
and literally cost you zero dollars might sound kind
of silly but just go plan your route.
Now I understand this won't work all the time
but I'm talkin' more like your drive to work
or to go get gas
or to go to school or any routine place
that you make some stops.
Listen, we all have (beeps) roads
and I think that's the worst excuse people give
but we also do all know which roads are the best.
Just the (kisses) oh the perfect ones.
The ones that are fun to cruise on.
We also know the other side of that.
The ones that have crazy steep entrances
and sometimes there's work arounds.
Even if it means a three-minute-longer commute.
That's better than having to replace your oil pan.
Go cruise and see what streets are best
and take those every day.
I specifically only use one entrance here
at Fitment because the other one I'll scrape on
If I try, I mean it.
We have a car place
but we didn't make it a little car friendly.
Kind of (beeps) up.
I know if we're going to Taco Bell
I gotta take the fiance's Civic SI
because the entrance to that place
is like climbing up Mount Everest.
Little stuff like that can save you a headache later on.
So now that we're gettin' onto the subject
of bad driveway entrances, roads, and speed bumps,
let's talk about how you're going to handle those.
Avoid 'em.
Don't hit those.
Don't hit potholes.
Not even the small ones.
Chances are small ones you think are okay
are actually a lot worse.
Speed bumps, slow and take it at an angle
but keep your wheels straight.
If you turn and try to go over it,
you're probably gonna bash your tire into your fender.
Take driveways at the maximum angle that's allowed.
And just because you went in okay
doesn't mean backing out will be fine.
Take extra precaution while backing out.
This is generally when things like to hook
or grab and end up ripping a splitter, a lip,
or even your bumper right off.
It won't take much, I promise you.
Side tip on the tip video roll down your window
and you can listen to see
if you're hittin' or starting to catch on somethin'.
And if you do stop immediately
and assess the damn situation, okay?
Don't just be like, "Ah, it's only scrapin' a little bit,"
and then you back out and your bumper's laying
in the street or your driveway or whatever.
All right.
If you're still having some issues gettin' around,
I have some more tips.
Don't worry.
Stretch your tires.
Yep, I said it.
If you're rubbing like crazy because you're slammed,
a different tire size can help more than you think.
And this is the actual reason people stretch their tires.
It gives you more room to party in the wheel wells.
Now I'm not sayin' go buck wild
and try and put a 195 on an 11 and a half inch wide wheel.
But I've been known to dabble with some 215s
on a nine and a half.
Getting that sidewall to bend
in will give more room from your fender
to the tire and help from makin' bacon
on the fenders or worse.
Another thing you can do
if you really don't want to stretch
is roll your fenders.
Any car that's lowered should roll its fender.
That's not even a discussion.
People are like, "Should I roll?"
Yes, just roll 'em.
Just get it done.
And it 100% needs to be done if you're slammed.
Like if you're slammed
and your fenders aren't rolled,
I don't know what the (beeps) you're doing.
Rolling fend takes the inner metal lip
that's on your fenders and rolls it up (claps)
to make it flush so you don't have
that tab sticking out ready
to stab your tire (makes whipping sound)
like it owes you money.
Also don't cheap out and do this
with a telephone book or a baseball bat.
I know you've seen it on TikTok or YouTube, but don't do it.
Take it to a shop or find a buddy
with a fender roller that knows how to do it
and have it done right.
Sometimes if a little extra space is needed,
you can have your fenders pulled,
which just makes the edge of the fender pull out
a little farther than stock to give you a bit more room.
Not a major change but we're talkin' a game
of millimeters here and clearance is clearance.
So we're drivin' around.
We're gettin' over speed bumps.
We know the routes.
That's all gravy, baby.
We're all good.
Until you need to jack up the car.
Now what?
Here's a few tips when you have a slam car
to get the jack underneath that some (beeps)
so you can still get your car are in the air.
First of all, this seems pretty straightforward
but go pick up a low-profile jack.
Yeah, they make those.
You got a lowered car,
get a low-profile jack.
Get a slam jack.
I don't care.
Get a jack in the box.
We don't have those.
These will help get under your car, under the side skirt,
and don't cheap out on it.
Since the jack is what's picking
up your car and settin' it back down,
it's worth having one that you trust.
In addition to that,
you can also pick up a few pieces of wood from Home Depot
or Lowe's or the wood store, wherever you get wood.
I don't know.
Take that cut up tree and set the first piece
in front of your tire and drive up on it.
Boom, clearance, baby.
Again, we're talkin' about clearance.
If that's not enough,
stagger the pieces of wood like this
so you drive up on one
and then you get up on the next little step.
You know, got your widdle stairs.
Your widdle stair set, you gotta widdle ladder.
Anyway, by doing that, you should be able
to create enough gap to fit your low profile under your car
but be careful when initially jacking up and go slow.
You don't want that jack
to start creepin' up on your side skirt
and then crackin' it.
Don't ask me how I know.
Don't.
Stop, stop commenting.
Stop it!
Finally, I saved the answer you probably least wanted
to hear for last.
Get air.
Almost every single option we talked
about can specifically be 100% avoided with the air ride.
But Dakota, I don't want air.
It's unreliable.
Shut up.
No, it's not and fine okay.
Get air cups.
Fortune Auto makes 'em and now they're a bit pricey
but it's literally an air cup that sits
on top of your coil-over
and is specifically made not to be driven on
but just in the circumstance to get it into a steep driveway
or get your car in the trailer or the jack underneath it.
You can do that, but then you have the reliability
of a coil-over because that's what you're actually driving
on the rest of the time.
It's literally just to get you up so you can get
into those weird spots.
I had to bring it up guys
and put that option out there because the air ride is great.
It's good.
But don't worry, I get the whole static thing.
I do.
But what other tips do you guys have
for driving the slam cars?
Drop 'em in the comments below in case I missed some.
If you want to follow me and check out what I got goin'
on with my car builds,
make sure to follow me
at itskoda.fi on Instagram and TikTok.
If I'm not postin' my car,
I'm probably postin' a stupid video that I think is funny.
For all your wheels, tires, and suspension
to slam your car and have a dope build,
make sure or check out Fitmentindustries.com.
I like talkin' about this stuff.
It's fun, you know?
You know, Colin?
you know?
You wanna come sit here?
Colin, why is everyone rolling their pants now?
Why is everyone rolling their pants now?
There he goes, there he goes.