vettethret

MY CAR IS SLAMMED ON THE GROUND WITH THE BACK TIRES TUCKED.THE RIDE IS HORRIFIC.I CALLED BREATHLESS PERFORMANCE AND THEY SAID THEIR COILOVERS WERE 2.5" SHORTER THAN THE Z51/BILSTEIN SHOCK SET UP. THEY TOLD ME THAT I WOULD NOT BE BOTTOMING OUT MY SHOCK WITH THEIR SET UP, AND THAT MY RIDE PROBLEMS WOULD BE FIXED.DOES ANYONE HAVE A VERY-VERY LOW CAR WITH THIS SET UP.I WOULD PREFER TO GO COILOVERS SO I CAN CHANGE MY RIDE HEIGHT, BUT IT WONT FIX MY RIDE THEN IT IS A WASTE OF MONEY.

ANYONE WHO CAN HELP, PLEEEAASSEEE COMMENT!!!!!!!

vette.se

I have been using the DRM coilovers for a long time and now I have Ohlins coilovers but I did not have the problem you describe with any of them. I can adjust the ride height from '4 wheel drive' look to almost sitting on the ground. My ride height is now Rear 25.6", Front 25" measured from from ground to top of wheel well (measuring throught the center of the wheel). Next summer I will lower even more to 24.6"/24". What is your ride height with the problems you describe ?

I think you will have a hard time finding someone with the Breathless setup because they are very new. Please let us know your ride height.

:seeya


[Modified by seanr, 11:40 PM 12/20/2001]

vettethret

I HAVE THE ZO6 WHEELS AND TIRES. THE MEASUREMENTS ARE 25 1/4 UP FRONT AND 25 5/8 IN BACK.THE BACK TIRES ARE SLIGHTLY TUCKED.LOOKING AT YOUR CAR IT LOOKS LOKE MINE IS LOWER BUT YOU HAVE LOWER MEASUREMENTS, MAYBE BECAUSE IT'S YOUR WHEEL TIRE COMBO.I HAD DOUG RIPPIE COILOVERS ON MY 96 COLLECTORS EDITION AND THE CAR RODE WORSE THAN THIS ONE.CORVETTE MIKE SAID THE C4 WAS RESTING ON THE BUMPSTOPS, NOW TO MENTION DOUG RIPPIE WAS THE WORST CO. I'VE EVER DEALT WITH, BUT THATS ANOTHER TOPIC.I DONT KNOW HOW DIFFERENT THE C-5 SETUP IS THAN THE C-4 BUT I WASTED 2K OF MY MONEY ON THE RIPPIE SET UP BECAUSE THE CAR RODE LIKE SHI$.I KEEP RUNNING INTO THIS RIDE ISSUE WITH ALL MY VETTE'S, I ALWAYS HAVE THEM SLAMMED AMD CAN NEVER EVEN GET A DECENT RIDE.HOW MUCH DID YOU PAY FOR YOUR CURRENT SET UP? I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THE COILOVERS WILL WORK, AND I WILL NOT HAVE THE SAME ISSUE AS ON MY LT-4.

THANKS FOR YOUR RESPONSE :D

vette.se

The coilover kits I know about is harder (bumpy ride) than the stock Z51 setup. The reason is that most people goes with coilovers to use the car at some kind of racing event and you need better handling than any of the stock setups can offer.

I get a feeling that you like to have your car VERY low but at the same like a softer ride (correct me if I'm wrong). My recommendation would be (if possible) to test drive cars with the setups you are looking at by visting the vendor or try to find a fellow forum member in your area with the setup you would like to try.

I've never had any problems with DRM, they have always been very helpful and always delivered as promised. I'm sure DRM or any of the supporting vendors at this forum can help you to put together a setup that suit your needs. You would probably have to ask them to use softer springs and different shock valving to get a soft ride.

Good luck !

:seeya

vettethret

I AM NOT REALLY LOOKING FOR A SOFTER RIDE, I LIKE A VERY FIRM RIDE.I JUST WANT TO GET RID OF THE DAMN BOUNCE.I HAVE MY BUDDY DRIVE IT AND WHEN I DRIVE BEHIND HIM, THE BACK END IS BOUNCING LIKE A LOWERED HONDA.IT'S LIKE ITS PART OF THE THE 80'S MINI TRUCK CRAZE.I THOUGHT THE STOCK Z51 IS A FAIRLY SOFT RIDE, I LOVE FIRM WITHOUT THE BOUNCE.I LIVE DOWN IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IF ANYONE LIVES NEAR ME WITH THIS SET UP I WOULD PAY MONEY TO HAVE THIS FIGURED OUT.

THANKS AGAIN :flag

Mean Green

welcome aboard and it looks like you're getting good advice :D :cheers:

but could you take the caps lock off please, thanks :)

vettethret

I dont know what the cap locks have to do with, but if it's illegal or something, I will take them off.

Mean Green

:lol:....no, not illegal, just makes it hard to read and in the internet world, it indicates, yelling.....no worries :cheers:

vettethret

Well you learn something new every day, I didn't know that's what it meant.Thanks for letting me know. :flag

CoolSSBoy

I have ridden in a few very low C5's, coil over and leaf, and they are all rough. The C5 sits just about 4.5" up off the ground stock anyway and putting her as low as you describe I would expect a very rough ride. To have a smooth ride the suspension needs room to work and if the ground clearance isn't there you would be slamming the bottom on the ground constantly and damaging the undercarriage.
Have tried adjusting the ride height up to see if it gets any better? I would think a tucked wheel look would require an air ride setup to be streetable.

AJ

oceanaire

I have the Breathless coil over system installed. I'm at 26 1/4 front and 26 3/4 rear. The ride is very smooth. Much better than the Z51 setup that was on the car before. I can go lower!!, but I scrape speed bumps as it is. I would definitely recommend the Breathless coil over set up. It should fix your problems. Eric

vettethret

I did have it raised up and it was fine.West Coast tells me its bottoming out the shock. to my own amazement, the car rarely scrapes the bottom.If I had to, I would rather live with the ride because the car looks so good, but if I could find a cure I will pay for it. I'm not expecting a cadillac ride, I just want the bounce, bounce gone. Thanks for your input. :D

vettethret

Thanks, I am heavily leaning towards this.Have you done any shock travel measurements? I am 1" shorter than you are, but from what your telling me it still might work.

Thanks for your reply :) :flag

oceanaire

No, I didn't do any measuring. Breathless did my install. After the install, I asked Ernie if we could bring it down some more. He told me we could without any problem of the shocks bottoming out. But I drove it first, and after I scraped the first speed bump, I decided I was low enough, and kept it where it was.


[Modified by oceanaire, 8:14 PM 12/20/2001]

vettethret

Thats outstanding.Looks like I've found my awnser. Thanks for your help eric. :cheers:

oceanaire

Glad I could help!! :cheers:

Let me know what you think after the install.

vettethret

DONE! :D :yesnod: :chevy

Guest

maybe a stupid question, but when you install coilovers, you remove
the spring (leaf) ? right ?


I have a F45 suspenison with Hotchkins sway bars, and lowered the car.
Ride is now not good :-(
So i want to go Bilstein shocks and maybe new springs, but coilovers could
also be an alternative ?

I am not going racing, but i want it to more firm and controllable
in bums and cornering.
Remember we have roads in Norway that would make you think you are
autocrossing all the time :-)

oceanaire

That's correct.

Andy@A&ACorvette

I've had mine lower than yours with no bouncing. You can modify the shock mount, the urethane bushing on the shock shaft and flip over the top mounting bracket. That will fix your problem for FREE!
I've done a few,works every time.
ANDY