Rkreigh

well with help from my savvy mechanic neighbor the banski's are ON and the good news is that the LSV doesn't need wheel bearings. we found one camber dog bone with a really bad bushing and the lower shock mount bushings are toast as are the shocks (leaking oil pretty badly, 83k miles on them)

so I bought a set of used shocks, great deal at 150 for the set and I'm considering having them sent off to be grooved for the c clip keepers for the DRM coil over setup and having them revalved

like to talk moracca vs marlin (or whatever the "street valving" setup is called) looking more for a firm street ride than "track rat" valving.

the LSV is a street sweeper

I'm going to call DRM a bit later today and see what they recommend

I also NEED to get the lower shock bushings replaced now so I can get the car aligned and enjoy the banskis they look great, save some weight, and should free up and really help handling. I'll get some pictures posted up this weekend (looks like I'll be snowed in!!, good time to work on the car)

where is the best place to buy JUST the lower shock bushings for the rear shocks

with just the one bolt coming from the suspension and the shock holding the full brunt of the load from driving and the weight of the car, that bushing really takes a beating

looking to go with a poly bushing if possible. does summit or someone who can ship quicly carry these? what are the critical dimensions for this bushing so I make sure I get the right one?

thanks for your help. can't wait to see what the LSV will do with the new suspension.

alignment is a bit more trickey as the suspension is now fully adjustable.

any recommendations on a great alignment shop in NOVA?

I've been using curry's and they are "ok" but very pricey! the advantage is they are really close to my house so I can drop the car off and walk home. (2 miles)

-=Jeff=-

Lower poly bushing found here
http://www.suspension.com/corvette.htm

Dominic Sorresso

Ron,

I recently did a bushing upgrade on the front end last year which included the shocks, Moracca valving, w DRM coil overs. I used the Energy Suspension poly bushings. Ball joints also. This winter doing the Z06 rear caliper upgrade and have now done bushing upgrades on the rear sway bar and dogbones. Have poly on the lower control arms which leaves the bushings on the batwing when I get around to it. I like the valving because I am partial to a taut German suspension. Don't like much rebound.
Haibeck will groove the shocks. What springs are you thinking of going w?
IIRC, I'm using 425/300.

As Jeff has posted, suspension.com is great place for Energy bushings. Always in stock w good pricing.

Rkreigh

thanks guys!

I'm using the 400 front , 275 rear. I used to have the run craps on
19" ccw 505s and ride was aweful

went back to an amold with some sumis (my winter tire) and ride is MUCH better.

thanks for the feedback. time to order some bushings and get this thing back on the road.

I have severe withdrawl symptoms if I don't get my redline time in with the Z

Rkreigh

is DRM the best place to get the Moracca valving done?

Randy gave me a GREAT deal on grooving the shocks.

time to do some searches. DRM probably just outsources the rebuilds back to bilstein, but I only want to ship the shocks one time!

thanks.

0Randy@DRM

We don't do the valving in house. All Bilstien's valving gets done at their West location. They can also groove the shock out there!

Or we can groove them at our Minnesota location.

Randy
336-350-8256

Dominic Sorresso

Ron,

Probably should have tried something like a Nitto Invo on the 19s. Much better tire than the GYRF. Have them on my Z06 wheels and even my wife commented on how much better the ride was, in TOURING of course.

Rkreigh

going nitto Nt05 or Mich Super Sport if I can afford it

even the sumis are better than the F*&^% 1 Expensive Malfunctioning Tire ( F1 EMT )

I USED to be a fan of goodyear, but after having 2 brand new tires at 430 a pop fail in 1500 miles or less and getting no support, they won't see any more of my hard earned money

funny thing is that the used crappy tire I put back on the same rim has outlasted the new ones put together

I do have a pair of 285/30/19 tires if anyone needs them.

gonna sell em pretty cheap. come get em before I light them up and dance around the fire.

I KNOW they work well on the c5 & c6. on the c4 with 19's and coil overs, no so good

they ride rough, don't handle or hook, but at least they're expensive and failure prone.

Rkreigh

got the used shocks. look pretty good!

anyone have the specs on where the groove is machined for the snap rings? thinking about getting them grooved loally if I can

seems like any competent machine shop should be able to do this.

thanks!

0Randy@DRM

Have the machine shop give me a call 336-350-8256 and I will get them everything they need! It's really best to have the snap rings and sleeve in hand to make sure everything is perfect before it leaves.

Randy

Rkreigh

now THAT is what I call service!!! Thanks Randy. Last time I ventured out the the machine shop (who will remain nameless) they wanted to charge 200 to cut the grooves!!

Are you kidding me??? it was cheaper to ship them to DRM and of course they charged a very reasonable price and turned them around quick.

the cost of the revalving looks a bit high for me right now so I'm going to put the "stockers" on which look to be in very good shape.

so I'm off to pull the coil overs, and see who I can find locally to cut the grooves for me.

thanks again Randy for your help, my first ZR-1 was a black red 90 DRM 450. I'll never forget that car. It got me started on quite a journey, which went from lust to obsession.

the old LSV is still rocking. can't wait to get the new shocks on her and get the alignment done.

now I need to save up for some new tires!!

Jagdpanzer

Hey Ron,
I can groove those shocks for you.

Rkreigh

cool sent you a PM

Rkreigh

met with phil yesterday and as always I was amazed how clean his ZR-1 is. such a nice car.

the shocks turned out to be early versions so I had to snag a control box for them. this stuff will all eventually be for sale once I swap back to the 95 shocks debating what to do on the valving

I'm eventually going back to the CCW 19 rims so I don't want to go too stiff on the ride

sounds like pretty soon it's going to be tough to get these shocks redone, and honestly I'm kinda sick of them anyway

anyone have the van steel setup? pricey but it sure looks good.

USAZR1

Ron,since your car already has coilovers,why couldn't you just buy some decent double adjustable shocks to replace the FX3's?

I may look at the Van Steel coilovers in the future.

Rkreigh

thought about it, but for now I want to keep the FX3. I do think it's probably more of a PITA than it's worth.

if I could get a decent deal on some coil over ready shocks I'd sure think about it!!

I'm going to look hard at the van steel stuff. it's QA1s

$$$ is the big issue. at this point my 89-91 fx3 shocks only cost me 150 and the control box was another 150. not too bad.

JimZRyd

I too am planning on the Van Steel setup. How about post a pic of your ride with the 19" CCW's. Don't see many Z's with these. TIA!

Rkreigh

lots of pics, check out LT5 registry "katie" pics in the Mid allantic region events section

Dave McLellan at Katies Great Falls thread up top

nice side profile or do a search on LSV

cv67

Had Bilstein do the Moracca valving to mine when I had it they were perfect. Firmed it up nice but not super stiff. Still comfortable to drive

Not familiar with the other valving you mentioned.

Rkreigh

thanks! I was worried Morocca valving might be too stiff but I'm going to give it a try

if I don't like it I can always "swap back to stock" I'm a little PO'd that the shocks I bought are actually the 89-91 setup, but no worries, a controller swap should fix that

I believe there are some minor improvements in the later model shocks (faster reacting, better valving)

anyone know more about the differences between the shocks (89-91 vs 92-96)???

Phil once again came through and the early model shocks are now groovy and ready to go back on the car.

I hope to get everything back together this weekend and it's off to the alignment shop.

been commuting in the Twin Turbo lately to avoid the ZR-1 withdrawl, but it's "different" and the song of the LT5 is still much sweeter.