DSOMC6

I lowered my C6 front and back by adjusting the leaf spring tensioners a while back. All was good. However, after installing the dual intercoolers for the turbos the car sits very low in the front. After constantly scraping the air dam and lower support for the radiator the support finally gave way and broke near the top. I seriously doubt the dealer will cover this as a warranty repair.

Anyone replace this bracket? Anyone have instructions regarding what needs to be removed to get it out? Looking from underneath it looks like it is going to be a bear with the intercoolers in the way.

Dealer quoted me $317 + tax for the part!

Where can I purchase the part for less, shipped?

CMY SIX

try gene culley at GM parts house forum vendor he's the best at GM parts!

calemasters

Do you think?

m_LeDez

This might help you out....

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...diator+support

DSOMC6

Thanks for the link/help.

Vet

Sorry to hear that you had to learn the hard way. So many ignore the warnings. A C6 is already too low from the factory. Further lowering is a recipe for disaster.

These cars should be raised for street use, not lowered. I can say this with confidence because I've driven my car cross-country, many different places, situations, in a fun and spirited manner, and even with a raised suspension I'm just barely clearing everything... even found some scratches on my rad supports.

And yes, I am very aware that I am driving a low car and drive accordingly... it's not like I expect a C6 to be able to do everything an SUV can do... but in the REAL world, you cannot always avoid every ramp, dip, crest, debri, etc. If I had lowered instead of raised, I surely would have been left stranded more than once in my real world journeys. And of course many C6 owners on the forum here HAVE broken their radiator supports, in some cases more than once, even at STOCK suspension height.

Is appearance really better than the ability to get from point A to point B??? It's a car, not a parade float. If you truly drive it, you need to take this into consideration. If it's a show car, then no problem.

Below is a pic of my car, raised 3/4" from factory height... I think it looks just fine. It's no led-sled, but it's no monster truck either. The extra clearance definitely makes a difference in terms of clearing things... yet the appearance is not too different than stock.

Air dam no longer scrapes driveway which was annoying. But way more importantly, when I need to go through unpaved construction zones, or head up steep ferry ramps, or negotiate nasty dips, crests, deep water, etc, etc, etc, I now at least have a fighting chance of getting by without damage or without getting stranded.

Even burning through mountain twisties, often you may encounter frost heaves and/or sunken sections that can cause you to nearly catch air and/or pancake down hard... a little extra clearance is greatly welcomed in these events... I say this from experience.

Anyway, sorry you broke your radiator support. Hope you can get it fixed without too much trouble... then before you put the car back into service, RAISE the suspension so this doesn't happen again!

Mobile Man

Wow...what a thoroughly sensible approach! Prepare to be roasted by the masses!! After seeing all the posts about having to drop the car to get rid of the "SUV look" I always wondered what kind of roads they drove on. Also, having to slow way down for anything bumpier than painted lines on the road is a real buzz kill.

But, your approach won't be "popular"

Vet

Thanks!
Yes, I've been roasted many times for this view. That's ok. If I save one fellow Vette owner's radiator support, it's worth it.
Some maintain that they have no issues on the street with lowered C6s. I guess they're just lucky enough to live in and are able to remain in an area with absolutely excellent mint roads.

The condition of the roads in my local are not too bad, but yet I do encounter things on a weekly basis minimum that might tear up a lowered C6... assorted driveway entrances, uneven parking lots, nasty speed bumps, assorted dips etc.

A lot of folks say, "well, just avoid the problems"... but you cannot always avoid these things. I've been on mountain roads where heavy construction was taking place, long sections of unpaved roads, potholes, gravel, rocks, etc... the only way to avoid would be to backtrack over 50+ miles etc... not an acceptable alternative... especially when the road immediately on the other side of the construction is a super incredible stretch of amazing twisties!

Or let's say you need to get on a ferry... you either get on or you do not... this is not the type of thing that one should be forced to avoid just to gain "good looks". Again, it's a car, and if you use it as such, it needs to be capable of tackling and enduring real world situations.

I went to a nice Bed & Breakfast recently... had an unpaved parking lot with some severe ruts and dips, deep puddles, etc... no street parking and no other legal lots anywhere near. It was either park in that rough lot or lose the reservation, go back home, weekend vacation totally ruined. Do you really want to drive a car that might cause such serious limitations??? Makes no sense. So in my case, I took my raised C6, drove over the deep ruts, dips, did not scrape anything, and parked in a nice safe spot... then jumped in the hot tub at the B&B, broke out some scotch and had a great weekend. My raised C6 took good care of me.

To each his own. If appearance is more important to some than function, fine. But, I'm just pointing out the perils of lowering for when one intends to actually use the car in assorted real world situations. Again, maybe I can help save someone from busting up their car... reduce the amount of harsh lessons taught by the "school of hard knocks to radiator supports".

Just one man's account / opinion... feel free to disagree. But the fact that many with stock and lowered C6s have broken their radiator supports on the street should tell you something.

HawaiiC6

No flames or disses should happen on this as it is a post of sensibility over looks. I cannot lower my car as my driveway won't allow it. Would I like to yes for the looks but from my past experience one being very costly to my BMW lost the whole front end due to my driveway. I will never lower another car. Just doesn't make sense, looks try driving a car without a front air dam.

Good sensible post.

NOCRISIS

how difficult is it to raise and did you pick 3/4 of an inch or was that max?

Vet

Raising the suspension is easy. It's just a matter of adjusting the trim height bolts. Remove the wheels to gain easy access to the bolts, remove spring pressure on each bolt by jacking up the spring a bit near each bolt, then just turn the adjuster bolt with a 10mm wrench. Start out with about 4 turns clockwise on each bolt, then drive the car for a week or so and see how you like it... then fine tune from there. 4 turns clockwise should give you a bit less than a 3/4" raise, but it might be wise to start out conservatively and then go from there.

3/4" raise is not the max that can be achieved. I arrived at 3/4" via some trial and error testing, 3/4" seemed to be a good compromise between not having the car look too high, but yet still gaining some real usable extra clearance. Forum member shopdog has raised his car by one full inch. Based on my own experimenting, I'd say one full inch is probably about the max you can go... at the point, the adjuster bolts must be nearly at the very end of their range.

It is likely you will need an alignment after changing the suspension height by 3/4" or so. I had an alignment done after the raise and there was a good deal of evidence that showed that the raise did indeed throw out the original alignment. As you raise the car, you introduce some front toe-in, also knock out the camber on all four wheels.

Another note... when I had my alignment done after the 3/4" raise, one of the alignment adjuster bolts (was one of the rears) had to be set to its max range to get the car into alignment... in theory, if I had raised the car any more than I did, it is possible that there would have been a problem getting it into perfect alignment due to the limited adjustment range of the alignment adjusters. shopdog apparently had no problems though raising 1", so... as they say, YMMV. I think shooting for a 5/8" - 3/4" raise is a safe bet though, shouldn't have any problems... the car will still look good and it should be no problem getting it into perfect alignment.

For more details on how to raise, just search for threads on how to lower... except for raising, instead of turning the bolts counter-clockwise, you'll be turning them clockwise. And the adjuster bolts remain stock, no altering, cutting, shimming etc This is nice because you can always put the car back to bone stock easily if you wish.

This thread also has some extra details on raising... read through the whole thread:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...ht=3%2F4+raise

2008c6

Broke lower radiator support bracket backing down driveway!

Lost whole front end of BMW!

Not trying to be a smart a$$ but how fast were you guys going?

satans csex

I bought mine for 200 !!!!! again from the dealer.......make sure you clear everything out the way....and make sure to buy the 10 millimeter nuts for it as well your going to need 4 of them! they do not come with the support itself and when u do get it make sure u get the proper installing tool for the nuts because it spins inside...when you take it out youll see what im talking about, and your going to paint the support yourself, unless you want it to look aluminum
[IMG]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f315/hwdzmaniac/IMG_0023.jpg[/IMG
before paint

some what painted

painted

Ready to install......... like i said make sure your car is raised high enough, you must remove all of the plastic covers from the bottom....... make sure you get the 10 mm nuts...the dealers are retarded they will probably give u 12 mm so make sure you take a bolt to check it hope it helps

calemasters

DSOMC6

Thanks for the pics and your help! Doesn't look very complicated. It looks like the thing just slides down and out without removing much of anything?
I hope to get to this next weekend.

Tim Mac

Wow -- hate to dredge up this topic -- but this happened to my C6 -- I inherited the 2005 (coupe -- yellow) car from my brother who passed away last September. He lowered his car an inch. So, reading that I can raise this back up is probably something I will do. A local shop I use saw that the core support was broken when checking the car out recently. I think I know when it happened as well. My son drove it around the block and came in the driveway at 10-12 MPH -- the sound was sickening -- the rise from the road to the driveway is probably 4 inches...


I have some minor body damage on the front right bumper I have to have fixed (from another incident)So when they have the front end off -- makes sense to have this support replaced... Does anyone know the hours in labor this core support replacement requires? Also, seeing other things in here like needing the 10 MM nuts is really helpful! Thanks!

cclive

Starting a new thread will get more responses than bringing up an 8 year old one...but I digress...I would suggest removing the support and taking it to a welding shop for repair. You will end up with a stronger part for less money. Those little tack welds break easily. Tell the shop that you want it stronger and they will make it so. Check first to make sure the shop welds aluminum, it's not that unusual anymore.

rsmith4604

My rivnuts are 6mm =M6. On a 2007.