Anyone use this lowering kit from Zip Corvettes? I’m thinking I need to drop the rear about 1.5” and the front about 1.0”. Tips and info from those who have lowered their C4 (with or without the kit) would be welcome; thanks in advance.

 

I have used the rear bolts, and they work well and are pretty easy to install if you are even just are an intermediate or novice home wrencher

The front pads I have not done. Heard too many iffy things about them, plus the associated labor to install.


If I were trying to lower a C4, IMO the best bang/(buck*labor) is rear lowering bolts and a front coilover kit like the basic AfterDarkSpeed Viking kit.

That only is available though for 88-96 cars

IMO an 84-87 Vette is a great example of a car that ought to be left with the factory suspension. They perform magnificently as is, and IMO the 80s body styling isn't right for that stanced lowered look anyway.

 

Thanks for the info Yakmastermax. The rear on my 96 CE LT4 sticks up a bit high in my opinion, the front looks pretty good though. I checked out those coil overs you mentioned and while that's certainly the way to go, I don't really wanna put that much into getting the ride height a little lower. I might just end up doing that though, as I'm contemplating putting new shocks on her...was planning to replace with the OEM bilsteins though.

Barry

 

Motortrend (I believe) mag online has a great article on how to do it.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.motortrend.com/features/lower-c4-corvette/amp/

 

I used 11" lowering bolts on the rear and cut down the inner rubber pads on the front spring about two years ago. I recently just reversed all of that work and converted to stock Z51 springs and put the stock bolts back on. The ride quality and handling characteristics were horrible and the car was difficult to drive anywhere because it was so low. Did it look great, absolutely. Just be aware there is a pretty significant tradeoff depending on how low you go. I'm much happier having the car back at the factory ride height.

 

Considering the hassle to lower the front an inch just isn't worth the hassle. Years ago I put an adjustable front spring in my Z and longer bolts in the rear. At some point I might go with coil overs if it's a direct bolt on with no modifications to the car. Ain't no ride like a loooooow ride😁

 

My dad has the exact car you have and that is my thought exactly. The fender wells sit like at least an inch if not an inch and a half higher in the back than the front. His car is originally a run flat car with no spare. But even with no spare tire, it can’t be that much weight off the rear to cause that much rake. I think I’m going to get him the bolts for Christmas. It will be the best $50 that car ever saw. Barry, I don’t think the front really needs it like the rear does, so if you just leveled it out to match the front, it would look great. Especially if you don’t feel like removing the front spring, hacking off the factory spring pads and gluing on the wedges. I’m glad someone else finally confirmed what I’ve thought about his car all along. My 95 LT1 does not sit anywhere near as high as his 96 in the rear.

 

Case in point, that has to be a 1.25 to 1.5” difference. Dropping it an inch or slightly more would be just right I think.

 

i would have thought your car had coilovers based on the low stance. Tell me about this adjustable front spring. Never heard of that before.

 

If you're just after lowering the rears you can do that on the stock setup by adjusting the rear bolts. No need to buy anything.

 

I did that kit on mine. You shave off the factory rubber mounts in the center of the front leaf. You then glue on the provided low profile urethane pieces. You also trim the 2 metal mount brackets the same amount. I got appx 1" to 1.25" in the front. The hardest part is getting the car up high enough off the ground to get the leaf out. Car needs to go up appx 2' or so. When the front leaf is relaxed, it has a pretty big arc to it, it slides out either side of vehicle.

The rear adjustable bolts are easy. I dropped the rear appx 2.0".

I really don't notice any difference in how the car rides or drives. I do now get just a slight rub on the plastic rear inner fender liners with the wider C6 wheels. They extend 1" further in than factory. It was an easy un noticable trim.

 

I did it the hard way yep was work cut the front pads 11in bolts in back, I replaced the front spring as well the rear also heavy springs back and in front poly sway bar bushings 28-28 mm bars F-R HD shocks ,handles like a slot car goes anywhere to point it at about any speed for a 31 year old Vette works for me .Drives great ..

 

Did the rear on my 96 recently. Dropped it a solid 1.5 inches. Looks so much better.

 

VP&Bs made an adjustable spring that had adjusters at each end of the spring. At some point I will go with a coil over setup.

 

The lowering kit the OP mentioned at the top is just fine. It's cheap and will do exactly what he wants it to do. All the coilover and VBP* spring suggestions are cute, but they are magnitudes more expensive (coilovers) or unobtainium nowadays (VBP springs). And most of the coilover sets on the market suck, whereas the really good ones are even more expensive. Some people here need to keep some perspective!

*My 96 (see avatar pic) had the VBP Xtreme springs. I'm not knocking them - they were awesome - but VBP went **** up years ago and you can't buy those springs anymore. They offered much higher spring rates than stock, and the front spring ends had threaded height adjusters for the pads where they rest on the lower control arms, just like C5/6/7 OE springs. They worked great. There's no reason to replace them with coilovers unless you think you need different rates. RIP, VBP!

 

Cute? The guy asked a question and I answered it. No need to be a smart ***.

 

My response was aimed at just one person, so don't take it as a personal insult. I'm trying to emphasize the part about gaining some perspective. The guy wants to lower his C4 to achieve a better look and maybe better handling, and he asked if the $50 kit from Zip Corvette is a good idea. The very first response (not yours, btw) was that a front coilover setup is a better "bang for the buck." That's kind of insane considering the minimum to get a decent front coilover setup is about $1200, and it would most likely result in a serious mismatch in spring rates. The cheapest good full coilover setup is going to run around $2300. So we went from $50 for a completely functional and simple lowering kit to $2300. Your example of VBP Xtreme springs is even further off the reservation since they can't be bought anymore.

The $50 kit the OP asked about works well, is very cheap, and basically can't fail. One or two people replied correctly saying that, and advising that the install isn't rocket science but takes some time and requires tall jack stands (which, btw, is also the case to install front coilovers because you have to remove the stock front leaf spring either way).

 

In defense of my suggestion, I did specify bang/(buck*labor), as well as the cheaper Viking front coilover kit. The total would not be $2300 but rather would be closer to $1000 or so, and unlike the pads in front route, the car is then not stuck at a single front ride height but it can be dialed around for fitment, stance, and driveability. Having that easy adjustability in my experience is huge with a lowered car.

Also if going the front coilover option, now the front spring doesn't need to be removed by jacking the car so high up, the spring can be cut out (safely), and then it is as easy as installing new shocks in the front. Consider also that most C4s on the road that haven't had new shocks installed, probably need new shocks, which is exactly the case that OP said he was in. So consider then subtracting the cost of new shocks ($250-$500) from that front coilovers cost.

Lastly, regarding spring rates, rear vette springs are easy to swap around, and there are a lot of options from the various trims through the various years. I believe that OP was more concerned with aesthetics anyway though rather than matching spring rates front to back.

On this topic, I have been meaning to bug Doug Rippie Motorsports to ask if they would sell just their front FX3 coilover conversion kit as I am interested in just the front for my FX3 car for all the above reasons.

 

I'm a BIG fan of turning upkeep into upgrades.

That said, I'm not a coilovers fan. Most people who buy them don't know wtf they're doing, and have no need for them. No sane person is gonna be tweaking them all the time, they're gonna set them once at install and then complain if they didn't get them set up right.

If it's a competition car, where you're gonna track it, autocross it, and daily dr I've it, coilovers might make sense, you'll have a setup for each use. But if it's just a street car... Get some good shocks and roll with it.

 

As I wrote above, the cheapest Viking coilover kit for just the front is $900, but you also have to spend $170 on the swaybar relocation kit. By the time you also purchase the rear bolt kit, you're in $1100 and yet you still have old-n-busted rear shocks on the car and mismatched springs. Or you could spend $50 on the lowering kit, and if the PO wants to get new Bilsteins like he mentioned, he's still in for less than half the cost of your cheapest proposal and he'd at least have properly matching front and rear damping and spring rates. If you think changing to front coilovers is somehow less labor than just doing that lowering kit, I don't know what to tell you. It isn't. But for the extra $1050 your idea will cost, the PO could pay someone to do the work...and probably still buy the Bilsteins!