steve8

If you have an 03-04 with the F-55 you should definitely notice a difference in the settings.
Check out the stuffers.
You too may find out you have a new car.

corvette77

Well, after getting curious about this, I went out and checked out my 2003, with almost 40k miles. Sure enough, there are the straps, just waiting to be pulled by someone that knows what they are doing.

I am pleading ignorance on the ride quality since this is my first vette, and I have only had it for 1.5 years now.

I think I will be taking it in tomorrow to have the "balance" checked on the tires, which will give me the opportunity to pull those suckers out!

Have I mentioned that I love this forum?

Aerovette

I washed the car today and figured I'd look and see if the "stuffers" were still in the shocks. Sure enough THEY ARE IN THERE. No wonder the ride jars my organs loose. I don't have any jacking pucks so I am not sure how I can get them out. Bigger question is whether any damage has been done by having them in there.

Burgie

Well, when I started this thread, I had checked the fronts by lifting up the rubber boot and found no stuffer. The back ones were glanced at and no yellow tab showing.
Today I got tired of having my **** orifice slammed around my ears in tour mode. I jacked up the car, pulled the rear wheel and pushed up on the rubber boot. SURPRISE! A yellow tab attached to a plastic block. pulled the blocks from both rears and a BIG difference in Tour mode.
Check and re-check I guess is the real answer-
Thanks for all your help-this is a valuable forum.

killain

Don't blame yourself. I had my 2003 50th AE for five years and one year while having it serviced, the GM master tech who works on it took it for a drive, and noticed it didn't change much ride wise. As soon as he got back he put on the life and sure enought, there were the shipping blocks with the tags sticking down in the rear shocks. He asked me "Didn't you notice the hard ride ?" I said I never had a car with magnetic ride so how would I know the difference? When it was delivered to me the prep work was done and someone pulled out the front blocks, but forgot the back pair ? And if they go bad on you, you better get a loan to buy the replacments @ $500.00 apiece.

Joe Scafide

well after 28000 miles guess what the shock blocks are still on the car so now i have new tires and no blocks different car

Trigger Creep

www.50thregistry.com

We've been talking about F55 shock stuffers since 2002. Come by and take a look.

:

dooscoop32

Thanks to this forum, I was aware of this situation when I took delivery of my car new. I got it on a cold Friday night in November so I did not check for the shock stuffers until the next day. And sure enough, there they were! I knew we had hit a bump at a bridge on the way home and it sure seemed to hit awfully hard so I did suspect this problem. But the sad part is that there was a paper inside my car instructing the dealership to be sure to remove these blocks before delivering the car to the owner.
And to make it even worse, the first time I went back to the dealership with my car, I looked at the Corvettes they had on the lot which had the Magnetic Selective Ride Control and ALL of them still had the shock stuffers in place. So, I told my salesman about them and he looked in the fenderwell of one of the cars so he would know what they looked like. And he assured me he would inform the service and clean-up departments about this. I truly hope he did. It's hard telling how many Corvettes left that dealership with the stuffers in place before I pointed this out to them.

JimC5

We recently purchased an '04 from out of state, the ride home was so bad I thought the car was going to crack in half. I was left scratching my head as to why it rode so harsh...until I found this thread.

Pulled the wheels off today and sure enough the stuffers were in there, took it out for a ride after and the difference was night and day.

The amount of info on this forum is truly amazing!

postwhore

I'd actually like to have some of these to use as bumpstops

grossh

are these stuffers still used on C6 corvettes?

Joe Scafide

nope just the c5 with mag ride

vettman96

And I thought it was just my car

killain

I didn't find out the two rear shock shipping blocks were in my rear shocks for the first five year I owned it. The GM technician who does the work on the car took it out for a spin after flushing the brake system and came back and put the car on the lift and there they were. Don't know why they took out the fronts but forgot the rears, but the car rides much better now.

Trigger Creep

GM had so many complaints about dealer prep missing the stuffers, they stopped putting them in F55 cars midway thru the 04 model year. The blocks were designed for delivery to dealers, where the cars were strapped down on the carriers to limit suspension travel while being transported.

I remember when stuffers were found in place on one of the test cars given to reporters and magazine writers. I wish I could find one of the 'harsh ride F55' articles.

As I said before, I've seen dozens of these stories without any mention of damage to the shocks.

ramontgo

A big thanks to this forum!! I purchased my 2003 Vette last summer with 32,000 miles on it. I was unable to carry any canned or bottled sodas in the car due to explosive results from the harsh ride. The Vette had three previous owners and had been serviced multiple times at a GM dealership. Yet it still had all four shock stuffers in place!! Hard to believe......

valos123

I have a 2004 vert with the f55 option. When I purchased it used the salesman blamed the rough ride on the magnetic ride control shocks and that this was the normal ride.

After the purchase I noticed that there was no difference in the ride between tour and performance. Ride was awful/ punishing, very hard like a kids radio flyer wagon.

Had the shocks checked today and we found two stuffers in the rear shocks. No stuffers in the front.

Ride quality improved 100% and there are now 2 settings for the ride control.

Thank you forum!

Vetteman Jack

Hard to believe that after all these years those stuffers would still be on the car, but I guess it happens.

GCG

Unbelievable!

VITIV Coupe

I have the F55 option also and noticed the harsh ride. I'm in Cocoa Beach, Fl right now so you know what I will be doing when I get back to the Great White North. This forum is amazing. I am proud to be a member.