Suspension upgrades?
06-08-2017, 07:28 PM
#3
Racer
I upgraded to C6 Z51 sways and C6 Zo6 shocks and love it on my stock 03. You can tell a difference in cornering and the ride is no harsher. I plan on really testing it on my annual Smokey mountain trip this year. Dragon here I come.
06-08-2017, 07:50 PM
#5
Drifting
Just changing out the shocks and sway bars to C6 parts, no, you do not need an alignment. If you go the whole way with swapping to coilovers, yes, you will need to tweak everything to make sure everything is in alignment.
I just did the swap to C6 Z51 sway bars, it stays much flatter in the turns. It might also be my imagination, or it might be due to the fact that the bushings were completely shot and endlinks are made of plastic, but the steering feels lighter, crisper, and more responsive.
I just did the swap to C6 Z51 sway bars, it stays much flatter in the turns. It might also be my imagination, or it might be due to the fact that the bushings were completely shot and endlinks are made of plastic, but the steering feels lighter, crisper, and more responsive.
06-08-2017, 08:10 PM
#6
Racer
End links on the 03 are already metal, not sure about the 02, all of the parts just bolt on and a believe it was only around $500 for everything. Several venders on CF sell kits, try Cultrag. I pieced mine together and got it a little cheaper but ended up with the wrong front sway bar bushing which turned into a nightmare so it may not have been worth saving a few bucks. Lesson learned.
06-08-2017, 08:11 PM
#7
Melting Slicks
I went with C5 Z06 springs, C6 Z51 shocks and sway bars (with metal end links) on my base suspension '98 vert. Short of going with coilovers for much more money, I'm quite content with this setup for street use.
Last edited by c5vetteguy; 06-08-2017 at 08:13 PM.
06-08-2017, 08:31 PM
#8
Instructor
Just changing out the shocks and sway bars to C6 parts, no, you do not need an alignment. If you go the whole way with swapping to coilovers, yes, you will need to tweak everything to make sure everything is in alignment.
I just did the swap to C6 Z51 sway bars, it stays much flatter in the turns. It might also be my imagination, or it might be due to the fact that the bushings were completely shot and endlinks are made of plastic, but the steering feels lighter, crisper, and more responsive.
I just did the swap to C6 Z51 sway bars, it stays much flatter in the turns. It might also be my imagination, or it might be due to the fact that the bushings were completely shot and endlinks are made of plastic, but the steering feels lighter, crisper, and more responsive.
So to the OP: When you upgrade your suspension, get new sway bars, leaf springs and shocks and do it all at once, you'll save yourself a lot of time and get much better results. If you want to stick to the OEM parts, then decide what you want from your car. If you want a fun car which will plow safely out of corners, but will feel much tighter than base, get C5 Z51 Sway bars AND Leaf springs, along with new dampers. Since the valving on the C6 Z06 shocks is only a little higher in preferred spring rates than the C5 Z51 stuff, they work fine with that setup.
If the OP would like a car which is more aggressive and more neutral in corners, then pick up C5 Z06 Sway Bars and Leaf Springs and C6 Z06 shocks, they fit this configuration optimally as well. The main point is do everything at once, having mismatched suspension components can cause a lot of unpredictable behavior and psychotic sports cars are not good.
Oh, and it wasn't your imagination, moving from beat up nylon end links to new aluminum ones will improve the functioning of your sway bars substantially. There isn't supposed to be any flex in the end links, at all. Stock dampers are also bad at 50k miles and garbage at 75k, so a lot of people are driving on zombie dampers, don't do that!
If you move to coilovers, make sure to find out the spring rates and coordinate your sway bar choices with the new settings!
Last edited by Scylla; 06-08-2017 at 09:23 PM.
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HydroPWR (05-14-2020)
06-08-2017, 09:17 PM
#9
So to the OP: When you upgrade your suspension, get new sway bars, leaf springs and shocks and do it all at once, you'll save yourself a lot of time and get much better results. If you want to stick to the OEM parts, then decide what you want from your car. If you want a fun car which will plow safely out of corners, but will feel much tighter than base, get C5 Z51 Sway bars AND Leaf springs, along with new dampers. Since the valving on the C6 Z06 shocks is only a little higher in preferred spring rates than the C5 Z51 stuff, they work fine with that setup.
Exactly what I did this past winter, except I used Steinjager bars, which fall between the Z51 and Z06 dimensions.
As described by Scylla, tighter than the base FE1 setup, but still predictable and forgiving with the right tires. Of course, if you're being a knucklehead, all bets are off, but a real hoot on the back road twisties. You'll have to get used to the perma-grin.
06-12-2017, 04:58 PM
#11
Le Mans Master
Pro Mechanic
06-12-2017, 07:43 PM
#13
Drifting
Yep, just did it two weeks ago.
Make sure it has the metal end links and bushings. That does seem like a good price if it does.
Otherwise, Cultrag has very reasonable prices.
Make sure it has the metal end links and bushings. That does seem like a good price if it does.
Otherwise, Cultrag has very reasonable prices.
06-12-2017, 07:47 PM
#14
Thoroughly chapped
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For a different answer, I did the Johnny O'Connell/Pfadt bars on mine, and just recently, 2012 Grand Sport shocks....carves up Mt. Lemmon roads like a dream...
06-14-2017, 06:23 AM
#19
Safety Car
The base corvette suspension is designed to be mushy for the sake of novice drivers. It keeps the car in a straight line when you do something stupid. The Z51 setup is less neutral and more rear biased in corners, which means it will feel slower and more controlled than a Z06. Z06 suspension has a much thicker rear sway bar, which makes the car more nuetral, much closer to it's traction limits, but also much less user friendly, the steering is much tighter with more oversteer in corners, so it's much easier to get into trouble/spin or slide out, but the car is more responsive and can be pushed harder on the track!
So to the OP: When you upgrade your suspension, get new sway bars, leaf springs and shocks and do it all at once, you'll save yourself a lot of time and get much better results. If you want to stick to the OEM parts, then decide what you want from your car. If you want a fun car which will plow safely out of corners, but will feel much tighter than base, get C5 Z51 Sway bars AND Leaf springs, along with new dampers. Since the valving on the C6 Z06 shocks is only a little higher in preferred spring rates than the C5 Z51 stuff, they work fine with that setup.
If the OP would like a car which is more aggressive and more neutral in corners, then pick up C5 Z06 Sway Bars and Leaf Springs and C6 Z06 shocks, they fit this configuration optimally as well. The main point is do everything at once, having mismatched suspension components can cause a lot of unpredictable behavior and psychotic sports cars are not good.
Oh, and it wasn't your imagination, moving from beat up nylon end links to new aluminum ones will improve the functioning of your sway bars substantially. There isn't supposed to be any flex in the end links, at all. Stock dampers are also bad at 50k miles and garbage at 75k, so a lot of people are driving on zombie dampers, don't do that!
If you move to coilovers, make sure to find out the spring rates and coordinate your sway bar choices with the new settings!
So to the OP: When you upgrade your suspension, get new sway bars, leaf springs and shocks and do it all at once, you'll save yourself a lot of time and get much better results. If you want to stick to the OEM parts, then decide what you want from your car. If you want a fun car which will plow safely out of corners, but will feel much tighter than base, get C5 Z51 Sway bars AND Leaf springs, along with new dampers. Since the valving on the C6 Z06 shocks is only a little higher in preferred spring rates than the C5 Z51 stuff, they work fine with that setup.
If the OP would like a car which is more aggressive and more neutral in corners, then pick up C5 Z06 Sway Bars and Leaf Springs and C6 Z06 shocks, they fit this configuration optimally as well. The main point is do everything at once, having mismatched suspension components can cause a lot of unpredictable behavior and psychotic sports cars are not good.
Oh, and it wasn't your imagination, moving from beat up nylon end links to new aluminum ones will improve the functioning of your sway bars substantially. There isn't supposed to be any flex in the end links, at all. Stock dampers are also bad at 50k miles and garbage at 75k, so a lot of people are driving on zombie dampers, don't do that!
If you move to coilovers, make sure to find out the spring rates and coordinate your sway bar choices with the new settings!
Take in to consideration that he has a supercharger which adds a substantial amount of weight to the front. This would add traction to the front and give the front spring a softer feel (more over-steer/ less under-steer). A stiffer spring from a C5 or C6 Z51 or Z06 would help.