Chris Kennedy

Hi:

Like many of you, I have often thought about lowering my '89 slightly. Since the rear sits higher than the front has anyone just done the rear (which is easy) and not the front (which is a pain)? I would expect that this would flatten the rake. If someone has done this, could they post any before/after pictures?

Thanks,
/s/ Chris Kennedy

ultraviolet70

Don't mean to hijack but I have a related question. I'm not as curious about the way it looks as I am the way it affects handling, so to those of you that have lowered just the rear and eliminated the natural rake of the car (I know I can realign to take out the caster added, but what is the purpose of the rake designed into the C4) of the car how has it affected the way it drives?
Thanks
UV

Jonnymac

I just lowered the rear on mine. The back is about 1/4" higher then the front. If I get time I'll get some pics.

Sidney004

I lowered the rear only on mine. Handles just fine, I will taking it to Infinion next weekend. Anything to lower the CG is a plus. I would have done the front, but it was too much work.

vinnies87

Rear only:


Very easy to do and a cheap mod....

REDC4CORVETTE

Just take some shims out of the center of the leaf spring.

BADDUCK

There is a guy on eBay selling new longer rear bolts for about $10. If you lower on the stock bolts the cotter pin hole is an issue. If you lower it much you may need rear alignment.

Chris Kennedy

Thanks, everyone, for your replies. I figure I would lower the rear by about 3/4ths of an inch to an inch---no more. That would make the gap from the top of the tires to the lower fender lip about equal front and rear. For those of you who have done this, is there a particular supplier of the extension bolts you would recommend? I am leaning towards the 10" bolts, with rubber cushions (I'm not a huge fan of aftermarket poly) from VetteBrakes (p.s.: I see these lowering bolts offered in lengths of 10" and 12"---I think 10" should be enough. Any thoughts?).

Cheers,
/s/ Chris

jdeatsch

I just did mine yesterday and am about to raise it up just a touch. It's sitting flat now (measured) and I want a bit of rake. I know it LOOKS lower in the back which is why I'm going to raise it a bit.

Note that the driveway is a bit of an uphill.

hth,

Jim

Chris Kennedy

Thanks---it would be great to have some pictures!
/s/ Chris

Aardwolf

I lowered just the rear on mine. I compared the stock bolts to the new bolts and I went five threads less. 33 threads compared to 28. It looks like the rear dropped about 3/4" and the rake is almost all gone. I have read the rake helps with high speed stability but when I look at 200 MPH salt flat running Corvettes they have zero rake. So more information on this would help. The 10" bolts are fine unless you want to make it really low. I used the poly spring cushions but rubber there would be fine. I have the lowering wedges for the front but have not put them in yet, I will be doing that soon. Here is a picture:

SCCA VETTE

here is how mine looks with just the rear lowered. I HATE IT! I want the distance between the front tire and the hood gone. It just doesnt look right. I have NO driving issues with just the rear lowered BUT I had it aligned after I lowered it.

Chris Kennedy

Well, I think that your car looks terrific! I, too, would like to lower the front gap, but reducing the rear gap to about the same as the front gap is something I think would help, and it doesn't involve all the disassembly and reassembly of the front end.

Cheers,

Chris

Chris Kennedy

Thanks! This is really helpful. You've done what I was picturing to do in my mind---that is, basically reducing the rear gap to about the same distance as the front gap, perhaps just a slight bit more. I peg it between 3/4s and 1'', too.

Cheers,
/s/ Chris

JEFNLSA

So did I...so I had to lower the front.

JrRifleCoach

You may find the lack of suspension travel (aka bottoming) somewhat unappealing. I have my 86e setup as your describing and am planning to raise the entire car 1". This should allow my now compressed spine some healing time on future road trips.

golfman2008

Nice !

~Cobra Killer~

My front end is a smidge lower than JEFNLSA's. You can not reach your hand in the gap on the front. I want to drop the rear end not quite as low but it's not far behind the front end. It came that like that when I bought it. Will the exaust pipinng scrape or oil pan or anything get torn up from say hitting a BAD pothole or slowly going over a speed bump? Also, I have new shox all around. The shocks wont have to be replaced or altered if I do lower the rear a inch or so?