jnguyenn16

Since buying my 2011 3LT C6, I have gotten 5% tint all around and lowered on stock bolts. Recently I became unsatisfied with the wheel gap on stock bolts so I jumped the gun and cut the bushings. At first I thought I cut all bushings on rear and left one rib on the front but I wanted the front lower still and went to cut that last rib off and it was already off

As far as the ride is concerned.. I think it is awesome. A lot less body roll, better turn in on corners, and looks great! I don't know if I just got good at it but I don't scrape except for my driveway and the occasional steep entrance to shopping centers.

Is it stiff? I don't think so. More than stock? Of course, but it feels like a true sport suspension now so no complaints here.

Anyways, here is the car as it sits and I am satisfied for now.

The day we picked her up:


After tint and a fresh wax:


How she sits now:

mcandrew67

Looks Much better I cut mine and lowered about 7 years ago and no issues

madmatster

Looks so much better.. and good job taking those Z06 badges off the car as well.

I've done lots of aftermarket bolts on several cars. The best ride, most durable, and quietest combo are the stock bolts with a rib hacked off.

if you haven't gotten an alignment yet.. you should.

Boomer111

While I agree the car stance looks great I cannot believe you will not hit the wheel well liners at higher speed when encountering road way dips.

I am at a tight two finger gap and on our California highways can hit the liners especially when in trip mod loaded up. Also watch more carefully for road debris because you will have a difficult time driving over without hitting now. It is tough at stock height even in these cars.

BTW one of the best colors for show, the car shines real nice.

And good luck with the tint and the CHP!

LFZ

Completely transforms the look of the car....that vette looks awesome.

Bill Hoch

stance does look great! 5% tint is really dark. We (Texas, at least here in Austin area) can only go 30% on side windows. Can be darker on back, though.

I am planning on lowering mine on stock bolts tomorrow - but I'm going to cut the bushings. Just lowering by turning the bolts.

Nice job! cool pics!

wayback

did mine 7 years ago also.

jnguyenn16

I plan on doing the Pfadt street alignment as soon as the suspension completely settles

I have already had a run in with CHP and he hit me with a front license plate but in my 2 years of ownership, only one ticket!

I have driven at 80 on cruise through San Bernardino County and around Mira Mesa area, so far so good.

Entaille

ahhh your ride height looks perfect. I was considering lowering my stock bolts this weekend but now I feel like I'll be unsatisfied with the results knowing what yours looks like.

how difficult is it to cut the ribs to get it to sit like yours?

jnguyenn16

Not difficult at all! I didn't even take off the wheels but I'm a small guy (5'6" 140 lbs) and use a PVC wire saw for 6 bucks at home depot/lowes in plumbing section and you're ready to go!

Lift the car and put jackstands at the leafsprings closest to the lower control arm and turn those stock bolts counter clockwise up against those springs. Wrap the cable around the bushings and start sawing! It should take no longer than 5 minutes but I did it in about 2 minutes per bolt. Just depends on how fast you saw

I don't have full car shots but I do have wheel shots:

Stock wheel gap:


Lowered all the way on stock bolts:

Entaille

very cool, thanks for sharing. I'll swing by there tonight to pick up a pvc wire saw. I suppose it will all make sense when I crawl under there and look!

Entaille

did you saw off a rib at each corner or only the rears?

jnguyenn16

I cut off all bushings all around so it will sit on the base of the stock lowering bolts

How much I cut off rear:


How much cut off front:

Entaille

oh wow - so the bushing is essentially removed on yours! I was thinking you only got off one rib.

jnguyenn16

Oh, yeah, all bushings removed but it's ride is not very different than stock imo. I still have one index finger between the tire and fender

What you could do is cut off one and go back to cut off the rest if you're not satisfied with one rib cut

Entaille

very true, I can always take off more. hopefully mine sits like yours in the end!

ProfessorDeath

Sweet Z06 badges on the first pic.

Entaille

man I must be a special kind of special. I spent multiple hours tonight trying the PVC wire saw tactic to hack those bushings off. I almost gave up on the first one, but some how after a TON of persistence, I cut through it.

on the second one, I decided i'd change the sawing pull direction be towards me instead of away from me, so I could put some more weight on the sawing motion. didn't make much progress, and eventually, snapped the line.

pretty frustrated at the moment, feeling pretty beat up and defeated. kills me that this was a quick job where you didn't even have to take your wheels off, but in multiple hours, I could only get one and a half done.. LOL. contemplating paying a shop to finish the job.

jnguyenn16

I'm sorry you are having issues. I was in the same boat! For 5 days straight I couldn't drop the lower control arm to install WCC Lowering bolts (why I settled to cut bushings).

The only other tip is don't stop sawing! The saw works with heat so when you're cutting you're essentially heating up the cable and melting the rubber. But if you start to cut and stop, the rubber will dry back together with the cable in place and you will be back to where you started.

Also I turned the bolts until they hugged the leaf springs so it was hard to turn the bolts the other way even with a wrench!

Give it another shot and pace yourself!

Z51vette88

will my alignment be out after lowering on stock bolts?