C5 Lowering on Stock Bolts
01-22-2009, 08:14 PM
#1
Racer
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C5 Lowering on Stock Bolts
I'm seeking opinions from those that have lowered their vettes on stock bolts. 
How much can you actually lower your vette?
Any regrets? Too low or did you want to lower more?
How often do you scrape on our local roadways?
Did you have to get a 4 wheel alignment afterwards?
Good shop for lowering?
Good shop for the 4 wheel alignment?
Please post pictures of your Corvettes that are lowered on stock bolts.
Thanks,
Steve
How much can you actually lower your vette?
Any regrets? Too low or did you want to lower more?
How often do you scrape on our local roadways?
Did you have to get a 4 wheel alignment afterwards?
Good shop for lowering?
Good shop for the 4 wheel alignment?
Please post pictures of your Corvettes that are lowered on stock bolts.
Thanks,
Steve
01-22-2009, 08:34 PM
#2
Drifting
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Location: Albany Oregon
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I'm seeking opinions from those that have lowered their vettes on stock bolts.
How much can you actually lower your vette? Can't remember but I'm thinking about 1.5 inchs
Any regrets? Too low or did you want to lower more? Corvette stock height is too high so some lowering is needed but be prepared to have scraping going on.
How often do you scrape on our local roadways? depends on the driver...just angle your driving and it will be minimal on stock bolt lowering
Did you have to get a 4 wheel alignment afterwards? Drive it a week or so to let the suspension settle some and to see if you like the new height
Good shop for lowering? Don't take it to a shop...do a search on these forums for a pictured diy and it is so so easy that anyone can do it.
Good shop for the 4 wheel alignment? not sure for your location
Please post pictures of your Corvettes that are lowered on stock bolts.
Thanks,
Steve
How much can you actually lower your vette? Can't remember but I'm thinking about 1.5 inchs
Any regrets? Too low or did you want to lower more? Corvette stock height is too high so some lowering is needed but be prepared to have scraping going on.
How often do you scrape on our local roadways? depends on the driver...just angle your driving and it will be minimal on stock bolt lowering
Did you have to get a 4 wheel alignment afterwards? Drive it a week or so to let the suspension settle some and to see if you like the new height
Good shop for lowering? Don't take it to a shop...do a search on these forums for a pictured diy and it is so so easy that anyone can do it.
Good shop for the 4 wheel alignment? not sure for your location
Please post pictures of your Corvettes that are lowered on stock bolts.
Thanks,
Steve
01-22-2009, 09:05 PM
#3
Team Owner
Member Since: Aug 2007
Location: I live my life by 2 rules. 1) Never share everything you know. 2)
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St. Jude Donor '11-'12-'13, '16-'17-'18
My '02 Z06 is lowered but I bought it that way so I can't really say about differences between lowered and non-lowered. All I can say is it handles like crazy
You do need to be cognizant of the fact that you have very little ground clearance and be careful over speed bumps, certain driveways and some parking lots. All in all, there is only one parking lot I will not enter because I KNOW I'm going to scrape bottom doing so (my bank so I park on the street). Then again I do have the aftermarket aluminum rails that run the length of the rocker panels so they do help a bit.
On the road, I rarely have an issue but sometimes do scrape the air damn ever so slightly. No big deal though.
I had all 4 wheels aligned when I put new rubber on the car (Goodyear in Lake Oswego). $100 and they did a good job.
I think that about covers it but if you want to see some pics of the car, click MY CORVETTE PHOTOS below my avatar.
You do need to be cognizant of the fact that you have very little ground clearance and be careful over speed bumps, certain driveways and some parking lots. All in all, there is only one parking lot I will not enter because I KNOW I'm going to scrape bottom doing so (my bank so I park on the street). Then again I do have the aftermarket aluminum rails that run the length of the rocker panels so they do help a bit.
On the road, I rarely have an issue but sometimes do scrape the air damn ever so slightly. No big deal though.
I had all 4 wheels aligned when I put new rubber on the car (Goodyear in Lake Oswego). $100 and they did a good job.
I think that about covers it but if you want to see some pics of the car, click MY CORVETTE PHOTOS below my avatar.
01-22-2009, 10:55 PM
#4
Burning Brakes
My '02 Z06 is lowered but I bought it that way so I can't really say about differences between lowered and non-lowered. All I can say is it handles like crazy
You do need to be cognizant of the fact that you have very little ground clearance and be careful over speed bumps, certain driveways and some parking lots. All in all, there is only one parking lot I will not enter because I KNOW I'm going to scrape bottom doing so (my bank so I park on the street). Then again I do have the aftermarket aluminum rails that run the length of the rocker panels so they do help a bit.
On the road, I rarely have an issue but sometimes do scrape the air damn ever so slightly. No big deal though.
I had all 4 wheels aligned when I put new rubber on the car (Goodyear in Lake Oswego). $100 and they did a good job.
I think that about covers it but if you want to see some pics of the car, click MY CORVETTE PHOTOS below my avatar.
You do need to be cognizant of the fact that you have very little ground clearance and be careful over speed bumps, certain driveways and some parking lots. All in all, there is only one parking lot I will not enter because I KNOW I'm going to scrape bottom doing so (my bank so I park on the street). Then again I do have the aftermarket aluminum rails that run the length of the rocker panels so they do help a bit.
On the road, I rarely have an issue but sometimes do scrape the air damn ever so slightly. No big deal though.
I had all 4 wheels aligned when I put new rubber on the car (Goodyear in Lake Oswego). $100 and they did a good job.
I think that about covers it but if you want to see some pics of the car, click MY CORVETTE PHOTOS below my avatar.
No regrets here. I had a great member here do it in his shop. It didnt take long. Driving around you just need to be a bit careful. If you add long tube headers later, you'll need to be more careful as they are a bit lower than stock. I seem to scrape the rubber airdam up front fairly frequently, but despite the terrible noise, it's spring loaded to swing out of the way and shouldnt cause any issues. If you are going to lower your car, I wouldnt do it without having the the rocker rails and frame savers. For alignment I used Omni in Kirkland and they did a great job. Heres a few photos of my rig
Last edited by Chief777; 01-22-2009 at 11:15 PM.
01-24-2009, 12:32 AM
#6
Racer
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WOW!!! Great looking vettes. All of them. I am convinced on the look and can't wait to feel the difference in the cornering. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and fantastic photos. I'm also envious of those wheels. I'm guessing that John's and Mike's aftermarket wheels are bigger than the stock wheel size and they fill in the wheel well more. Very sharp!!!
All of them. I am convinced on the look and can't wait to feel the difference in the cornering. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and fantastic photos. I'm also envious of those wheels. I'm guessing that John's and Mike's aftermarket wheels are bigger than the stock wheel size and they fill in the wheel well more. Very sharp!!!
01-24-2009, 12:45 AM
#7
Race Director
WOW- Great looking cars, and the best color.
SJC5, living where you do, I'd recommend Corvettes of Auburn to do the lowering, or any other service for that matter, and OMNI in Kirkland is well reviewed on the Forum.
01-24-2009, 10:30 AM
#8
Safety Car
01-24-2009, 01:00 PM
#9
Burning Brakes
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01-24-2009, 01:05 PM
#10
Drifting
I also bought mine already lowered, and I love the way it looks as well as the handling. As the rest have mentioned, the occasional avoided parking lot or pot hole that sneaks up rattles your teeth out.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9...D550/ry%3D400/
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9...D550/ry%3D400/
01-24-2009, 04:07 PM
#12
Instructor
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I had mine corner weighted, lowered, and aligned all at once by Fordahl Motorsports, but the goal wasn't appearance related, so my car isn't much lower than stock... maybe 3/4s of an inch. Still, the front air dam scrapes everywhere. I guess that thing is a wear item now.
[IMG]
[/IMG]
Air Dam-to-Ground
Rear Tire-to-Fender Clearance
Front Tire-to-Fender Clearance
You know, I wasn't too happy about wearing out the air dam on this car, but it helped me coming to grips with it when I bought my C6 and I think it's stock setting air dam scrapes even more. Sometimes the C6 scrapes just heading straight down the road on mild surface imperfections. So, it's a wear item, oh well.
Brian
[IMG]
[/IMG]Air Dam-to-Ground
Rear Tire-to-Fender Clearance
Front Tire-to-Fender Clearance
You know, I wasn't too happy about wearing out the air dam on this car, but it helped me coming to grips with it when I bought my C6 and I think it's stock setting air dam scrapes even more. Sometimes the C6 scrapes just heading straight down the road on mild surface imperfections. So, it's a wear item, oh well.
Brian
Last edited by PuyZ06; 01-25-2009 at 12:03 AM.
01-25-2009, 10:59 AM
#15
Safety Car
01-25-2009, 11:08 AM
#16
Safety Car
After searching for a picture of my car, I have come to realize that it has been along time since I have taken a recent picture of it. Need to remedy that soon.
01-25-2009, 01:44 PM
#17
Racer
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Keep em coming fellas!!! I'm realizing there's a bunch of you out there that have lowered your vettes.
How low can the C5 be lowered just on stock bolts as opposed to also cutting the front bushings?
Mike, Your's look incredibly low and I love that look. Do you scrape alot??? Lots of hills in around Renton.
Anybody have trouble going up (East) on Boren St. in Seattle. I remember that hill and I used to always scrape my front spoiler in my z-car back in the day.
Thanks,
Steve
How low can the C5 be lowered just on stock bolts as opposed to also cutting the front bushings?
Mike, Your's look incredibly low and I love that look. Do you scrape alot??? Lots of hills in around Renton.
Anybody have trouble going up (East) on Boren St. in Seattle. I remember that hill and I used to always scrape my front spoiler in my z-car back in the day.
Thanks,
Steve
Last edited by SJC5; 01-25-2009 at 01:47 PM.
01-25-2009, 02:36 PM
#18
Burning Brakes
Loweredd both of mne in my garage the day after getting them. I REALLY don't like the Vette 4X4 look. Takes about a good 40 minutes total all four corners.
01-25-2009, 06:22 PM
#19
Safety Car
01-25-2009, 08:02 PM
#20
Burning Brakes
Hey Keith, been a while buddy. I actually just put those back on the black one. I had them on the red for a short stint but felt they looked better on the black, besides I caught a deal on the black wheels anyway.