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Just bought a 1996 vette and in the back cubby hole storage was this spring. Seller (female Dr) didn't know what it went to. Assume it belongs on or came off of this car. Anybody recognize it and what its for? Spring in question.
I looked under the back of the car and there is no spare tire or a place for one. It has a metal box welded in back there, from the back frame to somewhere around the differential. I do have a small jack though. My jack is located in the little cubby behind the pax seat under the lift out tray. Its in molded sytrafoam container that fits in there perfectly. Did they do away with the spare on 1996 models?
I looked under the back of the car and there is no spare tire or a place for one. It has a metal box welded in back there, from the back frame to somewhere around the differential. I do have a small jack though. My jack is located in the little cubby behind the pax seat under the lift out tray. Its in molded sytrafoam container that fits in there perfectly. Did they do away with the spare on 1996 models?
Check your SPID and I believe you'll find you likely have the Spare Tire Delete option. You should find N84 if it's original.
Do you have an Owners Manual from the PO? I have I believe an Owners Manual .pdf for 1996 and I also offer the FSM(Factory/Field Service Manual) that's correct for 1996. If these interest you drop me a PM or email using the links to the left after clicking on my USER ID!
If the car didn't have a spare (N84 delete), it also didn't have a jack. The OP has a jack in the inside tray.
94-96 do not have the spring because the jack was inside the car in the tray. N84 deleted the jack as well as the spare. (The tray was still there.) This is all very curious. Obviously, if the N84 bracket was added, he should not find N84 on the Service Parts Information Decal. N84 was only available with WY5 "Run Flat" tires, and UJ6 Low Tire Pressure Warning System. To get N84, required the other two RPOs as well, so if the bracket was installed OEM, all three RPOs should be on the SPID. Possibly, the N84 bracket was added to the Original Poster's car by a Previous Owner, and it was not OEM.
However:
If the car does have N84 on the SPID, the jack was probably added later, and the spring came with the jack. Jacks have a date code on the 'bar' adjacent to the wrench hex. YMDD format. If the first digit isn't 5 or 6, the jack is not original to the car. And the mystery is solved. The jack was added. And the spring came with the jack.
Here is a picture of the N84 Spare Tire Delete bracket.
It does have the N84 on the SPID. No hex wrench. I do have the low pressure tire warning system. It was lit up all the way home after i bought it. The PO put new tires on it two months ago (have receipt) and she said they broke the band that goes in the left rear tire and that the light would be on. Anyway to find an original duplicate window sticker online with the vin? As you have a 96, my shocks look original, they're yellow "Bilstein Delco" and really dirty. the PO said she never put new shocks on it but then she was the second owner. However she owned it 24 years, so it would have been to new for the first owner to replace shocks. And its got 63k miles on it.
Yellow Bilstein Delco are correct for a 1996. We bought ours with 12,000 miles when I pulled into the driveway in 2016, and that is what was on our car. Ours was bought new in 1996 by a woman for her 50th birthday (I have her paperwork).
If you change those shocks, make sure to keep the rubber isolator bushings if at all possible. They are a special shape and fit together, when assembled on the car.
It does have the N84 on the SPID. No hex wrench. I do have the low pressure tire warning system. It was lit up all the way home after i bought it. The PO put new tires on it two months ago (have receipt) and she said they broke the band that goes in the left rear tire and that the light would be on. Anyway to find an original duplicate window sticker online with the vin? As you have a 96, my shocks look original, they're yellow "Bilstein Delco" and really dirty. the PO said she never put new shocks on it but then she was the second owner. However she owned it 24 years, so it would have been to new for the first owner to replace shocks. And its got 63k miles on it.
Check the SPID for F45 - or better yet maybe post a snapshot of the SPID and the options can be easily sorted.
If the car didn't have a spare (N84 delete), it also didn't have a jack. The OP has a jack in the inside tray.
94-96 do not have the spring because the jack was inside the car in the tray. N84 deleted the jack as well as the spare. (The tray was still there.) This is all very curious. Obviously, if the N84 bracket was added, he should not find N84 on the Service Parts Information Decal. N84 was only available with WY5 "Run Flat" tires, and UJ6 Low Tire Pressure Warning System. To get N84, required the other two RPOs as well, so if the bracket was installed OEM, all three RPOs should be on the SPID. Possibly, the N84 bracket was added to the Original Poster's car by a Previous Owner, and it was not OEM.
However:
If the car does have N84 on the SPID, the jack was probably added later, and the spring came with the jack. Jacks have a date code on the 'bar' adjacent to the wrench hex. YMDD format. If the first digit isn't 5 or 6, the jack is not original to the car. And the mystery is solved. The jack was added. And the spring came with the jack.
Here is a picture of the N84 Spare Tire Delete bracket.
Just bought a 1996 vette and in the back cubby hole storage was this spring. Seller (female Dr) didn't know what it went to. Assume it belongs on or came off of this car. Anybody recognize it and what its for? Spring in question.
Ill happily swap everything you will need for a spare tire, i mean everything from my 1996, in exchange for that N84 delete bar. Dude.
What is this spring?
the mystery...
