village idiot

I dunno. I found the discussion informative.

MatthewMiller

I didn't berate anyone either here or in the other thread, and I certainly didn't stifle any discussion. I did provide a number of technical facts (not opinion) to back my statements, because that's how we all learn from one another. You'll notice that you won't find a single ad hominem attack by me in either thread, such as "surely you must be on the payroll of the Leaf Spring Manufacturers Association," or any other form of berating comments.

I'm sorry it was a bad experience for you, but as in this thread I just made one initial post stating a position backed by facts, and then responded to replies. You'll notice that the last post I made here was over a week ago, so the only one dragging this out is you. I'm neither pro or anti any particular form of spring. Since they all do exactly the same thing*, I'm pro using whatever packages best, gives you the rate(s) you need, and costs the least.

What I am very "pro" about is that we should understand what various parts actually can and can't do, and when we make mods to our cars we should understand what we are and aren't getting for our time/money. I'm very "con" about getting sold snake oil, and believing that certain parts have properties that can't be substantiated by empirical evidence (i.e., voodoo/magic). In a forum that was created to help Corvette owners share and obtain useful information about their cars, I think that is very on target with the "mission statement." So far, in two different threads on this topic, you're the only person who's objected to having that discussion. Even the OP for this thread, who ultimately went a different route than I suggested, explicitly stated that this discussion was informative and helpful. Furthermore, I'm well within the guidelines of debate for this forum. I invite you to read and consider those same guidelines, as well as all the Forum Guidelines and Rules.

*Air springs are a little different, and they have their place too. I've left them out for clarity's sake.

kdm123

Great discussion; very informative, especially in relation to leaf springs.

I switched to coil overs on my C5Z. I haven't seen a big improvement in lap times, though I haven't corner weighted the car or done much other tuning. I do miss having leaf springs just for the fact that they are a neat Corvette tradition. If I did it over again, I'd just keep the leaf springs and buy high-quality adjustable shocks.

Dane@LGmotorsports

What coilovers/sway bars are you using?

TrackAire

The correct alignment and corner weighting will make a big difference even on leaf sprung cars.....installing coilovers and not doing a performance alignment and corner weighting can definitely make a car handle worse than stock. Also, when doing the corner weighting I recommend disconnecting the swaybars and only using adjustable end links so the bars are neutral at rest and not pre-weighting the corners.

kdm123

Agreed. I'm pretty lazy and ignorant about suspension tuning. My new year's resolution is to get the car corner weighted and to get serious about taking tire temps and pressures. I'm running the AFE spec-Corvette coil overs and bars.

TrackAire

Toughest part of doing a correct alignment and corner weighting is finding a shop that knows what they're doing. If in NorCal, Abel is a great option. For SoCal, I suggest asking some of the Spec Corvette drivers who they use down there.

Alignment is only as good as the condition of the A-arm bushings, ball joints, hub bearings, tie rods, etc. Even though you have coilovers, don't waste your money on an alignment until you can verify the other components are in good working order. When everything is working correctly, you get faster because you have trust and repeatable predictability in how the car is going to respond at the limit.

Let us know how it goes!

AND0

Shout out for Custom Alignment in Mt View for a Nor Cal shop that knows what its doing.

Olitho

Sub8

​​​​​​
This.

Get car aligned. Realised I wasn't happy with the rake. Adjust. Align.

Realise I had some play in the rear tie rod ball joints. Fix. Align. Again. Lol. My buddy very ha$$y to see me. Again!

SVT_Z06

Just ordered Aldans. Can't wait!

Thanks again everyone! My thread is super informative. Glad I made it! Haha!

So far i have new front and rear end links, new front and rear sway poly bushings, new front and rear tie rods.

SVT_Z06

Just finished installing my Aldans. Test driven over a bunch of bumpy roads and the car doesn't get upset like it used to.

I still need to perform some adjustments, alignment and corner balance, but so far its looking very promising.

Install would have been faster if I didn't have to grind the front sway bar down a bit at both end link attachment points. A bit disappointed with that.

RSbeast

SVT_Z06

SVT_Z06

Still need to get it aligned and one coil over is hard to adjust. I'm trying to get that worked out with Aldan.

Initial improvements without an alignment are night and day. It was aligned just prior the install.

There appears to be a break in period, which I'm still in. I'm hopeful it may get better with a few hundred or so miles.

MatsA

fleming23

I like your cheat sheet notes on the frame and control arms.

BrunoTheMellow

That would rub in high G would it not?

SVT_Z06

So.....one of the adjusters kept getting stuck, so I got my replacement....but I have to send it back because the thrust bearing wasn't installed.

So....I decided to do a quick rebound comparison. Old vs. New. On the hardest setting on the old one, rebound seemed way to fast. It's faster than my stock shocks! That's not right. So I tested the new one, rebound on the hardest setting and it was slow....like it should be.

I'm going to test the other rear shock as well. But so far, the month old rears don't have the rebound they are supposed to.

That being said, Aldan was very nice and understanding and will be sending out new ones today. I just hope these have the rebound they are supposed to.

SVT_Z06

https://youtu.be/GQh9_-t7c5w