I have a window of weather on Saturday, but next week is supposed to be nice. I will be able to finish the evaluation no later than next Friday. Have to, we are at the end of Corvette season. The end of next week will be it, I am putting her away.

Here in Ohio we have had a lot of rain the last couple days. I don't want to get the car all dirty and muddy up underneath, in the engine compartment, all over the dampers and stuff. If this had been snow, we would have had a couple feet. Luckily it didn't get cold. I know some of you cannot fathom but the NE side of Ohio is worse and Erie Pa and Buffalo NY even worse than that. If we get the right conditions it is nothing to get a foot or 2 of heavy, heart attack snow over night. The other areas I mentioned can get feet, multiple feet of heavy, tree breaking, electric wire braking snow.

In 1977/78 and 78/79 we had winters where we got 36" or more overnight. I still had to go to work. The Nat'l Guard Armory was across the street from where I worked. They brought in front loaders and huge dump trucks to clear the snow which had drifted above the electric/telephone lines. It was like driving through a snow canyon. I was underneath a '69 SS 396 Chevelle trying to get it to run. Something failed in the carb and it pumped the block full of gasoline. I had a '69 383 Roadrunner, no choke on the carb. I put a battery in it and it fired up the first shot and I drove it the rest of the winter.

 

I did the "after and before" test today. Last night we had temps into the low 30's. It actually spit snow for a few, but it dried up enough to drive the car. The tires had flat spotting, even though I have them sitting on 2 layers of carpet. I'm putting the winter storage tires on next week.

You could feel the out of round and the dampers did control it. I didn't drive far enough to warm them up, did go on the x-way. We came back to the house and I took them off. On my car I had to take off the inner brackets to get the units out. I am going to have a discussion with the vendor and this might not be in the future (just unbolt the ends of the damper itself).

Going back out on the road, the temps are still in the 40's. You could feel the tires shaking, more so than with the dampers on, even having been driven on.

What is more important, my wife said that, once again, she could feel the difference coming through the floor.

So YES they perform as designed and as advertised.
So YES late model LT1 cars with automatic transmissions are going to take a bit more time.
So YES there is a little more resistance you can feel (of course, there are dampers up there) but NO it is not objectionable and NO NOT a lot of effort.

I did not drive them far enough to evaluate longevity of course.

I believe the more worn the suspension on the car, the more noticeable the correction. If I was putting these on a car that had higher mileage tie rod ends on it, I would replace such as you don't want to mask an issue. AND, after all, if you are driving a 25+ year old hobby car, you really ought to be maintaining it you know.

So there it is. Whether or not you will feel the benefits make them cost effective, that is on you.

SO YES, I would buy a set. I like how they feel on my car.

AND SO NO, I am not driving anymore. There is a chance that we will get hit with lake effect snow tomorrow. We could get some spitting like it did last night, we could get a dusting or we could get feet. It all depends on the direction of the wind as it comes across Lake Erie and the temps it gets to, so she is up for the year (unless it misses us and I can get 1 more day of driving my ride, in which case you can just call me Pinocchio).

 

Thank you very much for your very professional evaluation. I will buy a set based on it. You took it very serious and I am glad my idea of a poll did not materialize. Dan

 

Thnx for all your hard work.. I think a lift would benefit some of us older gents..lol
When I get back to the states I am going to put some new tires, NO NITTOS, as mine are dangerous old..
All of my suspension parts have maybe 3 to 5 thousand miles on them, except tie rods.. I need to look at them. I know I replaced 2 in the 90's.
And being lowered, going to look into bump steer issues too, just to check.

 

I've discovered since this thread that finding anything other than Nitto or Toyo (which is Nitto) for those of us running 315 rear is insanely difficult. Heck anything over 275, really. Nitto and Toyo are the only choices once you go over 275, save for a single set of Mickey Thompsons. I'll probably try those out next just to see, but as far as I can find, once you go with big rear meats, your choices dwindle to only a handful.

For OP, thank you for your detailed evaluation and installation efforts, thank you for offering feedback to the company to perhaps make installation/replacement easier in the future (should they take your advice), and for letting me know about your experience with the 555G2 tires. All of it has been absolutely invaluable. Cheers!

 

315s are very limited for sure.
Toyos, Good Year, and straight race tires.
Not sure quality of Mickey Ts street tires.
Good Years arent cheap, but will last and have much higher quality than Nittos. They do have 275 and 315s in 17 for the ZR1 sized tires

 

First of all thank you drcook for giving us a detailed evaluation of the C4 steering damper kit!
I am chiming in because there are a few tire questions about the M/T Street Comps.
I have no love for the M/T Street Comps! I spun my GrandSport twice with these tires (275 40-17 front and 315 35-17 rear). The rear tires are very narrow compared to the Eagle GSC's or GSD3's and have very poor traction.
I lost it the first time during an agressive 2nd to 3rd gear shift on dry pavement. The car did a 180. I was able to steer clear of objects, no damage.
I spun another time when I got stuck in the rain coming home. Mind you I was driving very easy (25-30 MPH) and lost it around a tight bend near my home. I slid backwards against a chain link fence, nothing I could do I was along for the ride. Tires didn't respond to any input. Unfortunately this damaged some paint on my car and required insurance involvement and a body shop (thankfully no property damage).
After this I immediately got rid of the M/T Street Comps and installed the Goodyear GSD3's.
Currently it looks like the 315 35-17 GSD3's are available at Tire Rack. The 275 40-17 GSD3's are not being made anymore.
A real shame, because the Goodyear GSD3's are a nice all around performing tire.

 

Very disappointing that even Good Year is bailing..

 

I've got the Sumitomos, 315's on the rear. They roll. 😁. But no seriously, there pretty good. I don't really feel a flat spotting, I can feel when the air pressures are low, but that's only if I go out after it's been sitting for a few weeks. If I DD it a few days, they ride pretty damn good. Seems like the price on them wasn't that bad either......

Steering stabilizers!,...yes I'll be buying some!...

 

As I mentioned, even with the Cooper Xeon's I am running, I get a little flat spotting. They do go back round and the flat spotting is not at all in the same league as the Nittos. I can feel it, on a real cold day (yesterday) you can even see the wheel (mostly without the dampers) vibrate a bit. (I am running 275/40/17's on all 4).

I have found an inexpensive tire cradle solution. That is going to be the next evaluation. If it works, it will be less than $100.00 for all 4 tires. Stay tuned, this will happen in the spring.

I have also found a way to put a Wildwood conversion on all 4 wheels for less than $2000.00, just need to work out the e-brake issue. I am not going to be able to afford this, but if someone is willing to help double check the part numbers and my thoughts, I will share it. It is going to take some computer time, cross referencing the parts, etc. I might have missed something, that is why I need a double check to make sure what I am reading/interpreting will work

Ohio weather sucks, this is tonight's forecast

But by next weekend, we are supposed to be back up to almost 70 with sunny days.

 

I know the feeling. We got 3.5" of snow this past Friday in New England. Friday and Saturday night were in the 20's. Today is 45 so things are melting.

 

Thanks for your time and work, Dave. I plan to buy a set of the stabilizers. Thanks also for the info on Nittos. I have a 6-year old set of NT-05's that I should change in the spring.
If you get up by NW PA, let me buy you dinner.

 

Thank you for your input! I'll avoid the M/Ts then rather than experimenting with them. I agree that the Goodyears looked amazing, but nowadays it seems just about every tire manufacturer on the planet has abandoned all tire sizes larger than 275. RIP people who want 285 rears on a stock C4, or the ZR-1 and Grand Sport guys with 315 rears stock.

Sadly 2019 was the last year for the Sumitomos. They no longer provide anything over a 275, much like most tire manufacturers. While I found a few places that will still sell me one of the 2019 tires, once they're gone, they're gone. So in terms of actually being available to purchase new, your only options now are Nitto, Toyo (which is Nitto), or Mickey Thompson.

Running square 275s is certainly a way to have a ton of options. Sadly with 11" rear wheels, I gotta go bigger, which severely limits my options. It appears I'll have to just find a Nitto or a Toyo that doesn't suck as much as the 555G2, and just ignore that the company's customer service is abysmal. Or swap to C5 wheels like my dad's '94, I suppose. I look forward to your tire cradle experimentation as well!

 

I got all this done just in time, yep that is that 4 letter word.

 

Hey everyone,

I would like to thank David Cook for his time and efforts in doing the review of our C4 Corvette Dual Steering Damper system. He took his time (vs a rush install job), analyzed everything (design of kit, hardware quality, and installation ease/difficulty), and provided honest and valuable feedback for us all. THANK YOU DAVID! We appreciate you sir!

Let's get a group buy going for those of you who would like to purchase the kit with a healthy discount. Enter coupon code CorvetteForumGB at checkout and your price is $219! + actual shipping + tax (if your state requires us to add sales tax). The code is good through November 23rd, 2020.

If you haven't read our other reviews some of them can be viewed here on our website: www.corvettecontrol.com. Of all the kits we've shipped, there haven't been ANY negative comments EVER! It does what it says it does and benefits all C4's regardless of mileage or condition. IMO if you own a C4 this kit should be on it.

- More stable at high speeds
- More stable over bumps, ruts, holes, etc
- Eliminates bump steer when cornering
- Eliminates groove tracking and the C4's natural darty behavior
- Increases on-center feel
- Removes steering wheel vibrations if they exist
- Does not remove any of the good analog feel/precision that we love about the C4
- Weighs only 5lbs
- Looks cool as heck!

So please grab a kit and we hope that you'll help us spread the good word to other C4 owners.

I would like to add that if your front sway bar is not stock (24mm-30mm), and is larger than 30mm, you will need to email us after your order so that we can include the up-sized brackets.

Thank you!

 

Just ordered a set for my '90. Thanks for the discount and thanks again to Dave.

Question for Corvette Control: You ask for the year when ordering. My '90 has been modified with coil-overs and heim joint sway bar end links. It's also been lowered a little. Will there be any issues installing the kit?

 

Hi Tim. Thank you for the order. No sir, you should not have any fitment issues with your setup. The brackets with uncompressed shims are less than 5mm thick and clear everything we've encountered.

 

I also have a question to Corvette Control.
I have a 1995 base coupe with the Z 07 package and car lowered. Do you foresee any problems with this example?
Thanks Hawkeye56

 

No sir. You shouldn't have any issues.

 

can the attachment brackets be used on a 36 mm sway bar ?