CH-Z51

No problems with my lowered 05 either.

Gearhead Jim

In ten years and 130,000 miles of Corvette driving, I've never seriously damaged the radiator support/"skid bars". But a couple of times I've barely kissed them on a road irregularity, especially at night. The "Fangs" make some sense to avoid grinding the aluminum, they just won't protect against a real impact.

There's no way I would drill holes to attach them, but some high strength mounting tape, inside the side edges, might work ok and not reduce ground clearance any more.

haljensen

How about some common sense?

Adding anything below the radiator support bars decreases the ground clearance. More likely to scrape with a "fang" or a wheel. They will protect that pretty black paint on the radiator support though. Nothing like spending $$ to increase your chances of scraping.

If you break the radiator support you made a mistake in where or how you were driving.

SacCityCorvette

Hi,
On the C6 there is nothing to remove. The Fangs install right on your vette without removing anything. We just used a lower radiator support/skid plate that was off the car for a better visual.
Here is a link to the instructions.
http://www.saccitycorvette.com/C6_Fa...structions.pdf

SacCityCorvette

Hi,
The Fangs are only 1/8 of an inch thick. So they don’t really hang down. And if you do hit them then you were going to hit your skid plate anyway. So it’s much better to hit them with the Fangs on than without them. Also, even on a impact they will slide instead of digging in and gripping like the aluminum does. The gripping is what causes a lot of breakage. Kind of like when you have to slam on the brakes and skid on dry pavement, there is a lot of stress put on things because of all the gripping compared to skidding in the rain. I would rather be skidding in the rain and hit a pot hole than skidding on dry pavement and hitting it.

waldow

as said, my silverado has a "skid plate". My Vette has two "skid bars". which are connected to the radiator supports. I broke one after about a year by hitting a curb stop pulling into a parking space-- my fault entirely. I learned an important lesson (hopefully).

SacCityCorvette

Hi,
Here are before and after photos. Not only do the Fangs protect, they also beautify!
On the before photo you can see where the skid plate scraped all the way up high on the very front. The Fangs will even protect that area.

C5 Fangs
http://www.saccitycorvette.com/Fangs.html

C6 Fangs
http://www.saccitycorvette.com/C6-Fangs.html

okie08vette

What exactly is the after photo a picture of, the same car with a repaired support, or is it supposed to be what it would look like if you hit the same object with the "fang" installed?
Did you actually run that test, drive the car into something with out a "fang" then repair the support install the "fang" and drive the car into the same object?

SacCityCorvette

No, these are photos from a customer showing us how the
Fangs made his skid plates look so much nicer. To bad
they weren’t protected before they got so damaged.

SUB VETTE

Just broke mine by hitting a curb while parking. The spot welds that hold the entire support to the brackets (4) that bolt to the frame broke. Three out of the four brackets were completely broken off. I removed it and had the brackets re-welded on with a much stronger weld bead, so hopefully they will be stronger for any future mishaps. I am reinstalling it now and buttoning everything up. While I had it out I installed a set of Fangs, which hopefully will let it slide over whatever it contacts in the future. I'll post the finished pictures when completed.

cclive

I'm glad to see someone get the support re-welded rather than replacing it....stronger now and much less expensive also....good job!

phileaglesfan

I wouldn't be surprised if GM made the weld somewhat weak to have a break point that is easier to fix.

dpigguy

OP has a valid gripe about the Houston roads not being friendly to a low sitting car. Even with care, the brackets can scrape especially when coming out of a drive into the travel lane. Our roads are designed as flood protection and actually store water during major storms and as such, they are designed with really deep slopes and gutters. I have hit mine even when crawling out of some entrances. So far no breaks - only scratches - but hitting the braces even when driving carefully is a reality around here.

SUB VETTE

New one: $330 from Gene @GM Prts House. Cost of welding: $90. This was a no-brainer and the new welds are much stronger than the original.

DRUGschnorr

i have broken my twice once at the track and once on a driveway that i could not enter sideways...

Bought a spare for $150 and have had the broken one welded. I agree the weld are crap and i took 6 hours for the first R&R and 4hr for the second.

like the skid plate covers..
It may be that the units break up to protect the radiator
who knows.

SacCityCorvette

Hi,
Sounds like you really need a pair of Fangs!
Have you seen the videos? There perfect for scraping gutters.
http://www.saccitycorvette.com/See-t...n-Action-.html

filmjay

Count one more for a broken lower rad support/skid plate. Just broke that bastard this am on the way to work.
Was behind an 18 wheeler in rush hour. There (what I think) was a half a cinder block in the middle of the interstate. The truck in front of me rolled right over it and by the time I saw it and reacted, it was too late.
Snapped the lower rad support on the left side and tore a big chunk out of the lower nose. I'm pretty lucky that's the worst of it.

(But the silver lining is that it's a GREAT opportunity for a Z06-style nose upgrade. )

Max EPR

I really do think that you have the wrong vehicle for the local conditions where you use it. A sport car will never do very well on "really rough" road surfaces.

filmjay

uhhh....me? I was on the interstate.

rovers2000

cool