spro2395

Hi fellas,
whats the best way to cut down the rubber in order lower the front spring ?
Thanks

v8vette84

I literally just finished installing the lowering kit from Corvette Central (same kit as everywhere else) on my 84' Z51. Are you talking about the rubber pads on the spring ends or the bits of rubber that are in the middle of the spring? If its the middle 2 then I peeled off the composite/plastic/metal pivots that allow the spring to pivot and I used my 4 1/2" angle grinder with a flap wheel to grind the rubber down. I actually only got so far before the rubber that was glued to the spring got REAL hot and I was able to use my pocket knife to peel the rubber right off the spring. Then I had a nice clean surface to glue the replacement wedges. I did not grind down the end pads like some people do. I used this site for help. http://webpages.charter.net/khasting.../lowering.html

I'm hoping the car settles more as the car doesn't look any lower to me. I haven't driven the car yet since finishing the install so fingers crossed! (I did start the car and turn the wheels back and forth to settle the suspension a little bit)

It was alot of work and I'm not going to be happy at all if I don't notice a drop.

spro2395

Thats exactly what I was talking about. Im replacing the base springs with Z51 springs I got from a forum member. I swapped the rear sway bar and spring yesterday and it wasn't to bad. The front looks like more work so I only want to do it once to get the right stance. I bought the aluminum spring clamps from mid America motor work's and was thinking ii could grind down 3/4s of the center pads and part of the end pads to get it lower.

v8vette84

You certainly can do that. I opted to put the wedges in as the spring has to be able to pivot a little bit. I'm a little nervous that they will fall out as the 3M super weatherstripping adhesive is quite rubbery, even after drying for 24 hours... The aluminum brackets I cut down to fit hold it in there real snug so I'm hoping the pressure will help hold it in place. Also be careful cutting down the aluminum brackets, the first pass I did on my brackets I cut off 1/4" and it was not enough to hold the wedge to the top of the spring channel. It looked flat on the top but it wasn't and it surely would have failed eventually. I think I cut closer to a 1/2" on my brackets which I think was a bit much as it barely bolted up. (I have read that some people cut the bracket too much and it breaks when being reinstalled). My bracket does have a little bit of a bend in it from being a little bit too short. They look tough but the bracket seems to be quite weak.

Its quite the job to do the lowering for the front. It's not that hard there's just a lot to do. You basically take the front suspension almost completely apart. I thought it was going to to take me a lot longer but I had the spring out on Saturday and the car on the ground by Sunday afternoon. (and that was working on the car for probably 5-6 hours total).

Good luck if you decide to do it! Some people get a real nice drop from the wedge kit while others don't seem to. I hope I do, I still have to drive the car to hopefully settle the suspension more.

v8vette84

Yea the rear is childs play compared to the front. Also your front end is going to need to be really high as the base spring is basically a "C" when it's uncompressed where the Z51 spring doesn't bend nearly as much with the weight off it. I barely got my spring out and my car was quite high up. Just something to keep in mind.

You might have to take a control arm off to get it out if it bends that much. I'm not sure though as I have a Z51 car.

v8vette84

I forgot to measure the height before but I drove the car for awhile today and the car still sits "high". Its lower tahn it was by a very small amount but I'm not happy with the drop I got considering all the work I did to do it...

spro2395

That stinks! A lot of work to be disappointed for sure. I'm thinking maybe ii should trim the outer spring pads as well as the center pivots.

v8vette84

I would agree but I'm not sure how much drop you want. I have seen pics of others who installed the same kit as me and the drop was significant where others are not. I don't get it. The drop doesn't seem to be consistent...

Aardwolf

People do the work differently! I remove all the pad on the ends. Though that can be belt sanded down or removed and a small shim added. I also belt sand the main pads and cut down the brackets. I don't use the glue on shim kits. The rear is simple with longer bolts or just flip the shims from above the spring to below it.

To finish, the suspension can hold the car up high. Final tightening should be done at ride height. If poly isn't installed in the control arm bushings they will need to be loosened or binding will occur.

v8vette84

I never loosened the control arm bolts when I took it apart or put it back together. I used the glue on wedges/longer bolts for the rear. I also tightened the spring brackets before the car was on the ground. (Ther was a little bit of pressure on the lower control arms but not much) Could that really cause an issue where the car still sits higher than others with the same kit? The brackets I shortened were quite snug so maybe they are holding the spring at an angle still? Or causing enough "drag" on the spring so it's can't flatten out properly?

spro2395

Do you install the wedge kit? I was thinking about just cutting the stock center pads down so that I won't have the issue of the glue coming loose on the wedges.

Aardwolf

Usually the spring brackets will break before seating if the car is not on the ground. I've tried putting a jack under the control arm but the car will lift off the stands before the spring will flatten enough to be tightened. Though each car is different and it could be possible with a very weak spring.

The stock rubber control arm bushings work by twisting unlike poly which rotates. Without resetting the center of movement they will bind and hold the car up.

v8vette84

I will have to look that that then. I was planning on loosening the spring brackets with weight still on the front wheels to see if that might help them pivot into a more "natural" position. Then tighten them back up.

So you just loosen and then tighten back up the control arm bolts? I was able to rotate the control arm down out of the way, it wasn't incredable easy but it did feel like the the metal sleeve spun in the bushing a bit to move the arm down.