I'm running Koni FSD shocks. The OP might want to check these out.

 

I have used KYB shocks on my other vettes and and have them on my DD and they are great shocks.

these are listed for both c6 z06 applications and c5 base

and its what the big vendors sell as upgraded shocks for a lot more

 

Do you have them on a C5? Is the car lowered at all?

 

I do not have them on my C5 but I am thinking of them for my now back to original ride height car.

 

I am now leaning towards a different set of coilovers. Will be a much easier install just swapping in new coilovers vs reinstalling the transverse springs. I have never been happy with the Pfadts, One issue is they hit the rear tie rod jam nut. I have tried grinding down the jam nut to gain some clearance, but it has never worked. I'm sure there is some flex back there so it continues to scrape on the coils. LG sells an offset tie rod setup but for $$$$. Maybe I will be happy with a different set of coilovers. Just don't want to spend $2K on a set yet again. I'm sure I can sell the Pfadts for a few bucks to offset the cost. But would like to keep the cost down a bit. 2 kids in college!!! lol
Has anyone tried the BC Racing, Aldan, Stance....

 

I'm seriously considering the KYB 555604 & 555609 gas adjustables for my stock 02 C5 Z51 Coupe, trying for less body roll, somewhat firmer handling without to much effect on ride. Any thoughts about this setup? I will probably ending up changing to C6 Z51 sways as well.

 

$70 and $84 each at rock auto.....thats the way i am thinking of going

and theres a $40 rebate if you buy 4

 

I'm just gonna give the Aldan coilovers a shot. Thanks for the input guys. This will make the install easier as I won't have to fight the leaf springs back in place. If I don't like them, I will revert back to leafs and shocks when I do the heads/cam as I will be dropping the steering rack anyway. I dropped the rack to get the front leaf out the 1st time so would rather avoid doing it again until I'm putting a new cam in.

 

I've got Alden on mine. Took some trial and error on my part and a lot of help from Garrett over at Alden. Great bunch of folks to work with. I started with the standard fronts and ended up swapping out for the shorty fronts. Definitely the way to go. Both the stance and ride are better with the shortys.

I have been through a handful of different configurations over the past four months, so I am having a hard time comparing the ride to stock, but on the whole they ride very nicely. In retrospect, I don't know if I would have gone the extra dollars for coil overs for street.

Again, I can't tell you how helpful the folks over at Alden were during the entire process.

Oh yeah, I also went with the Steinjager sways. Had to grind the ears off of each end to eliminate rubbing.

 

I'll co-sign on the Koni FSD's if you decide to go back to leaf srings. I'm running them with Johnny O'Connell sways and C5 Z51 springs and I am FINALLY happy with my set-up... after 10 years and 3 different C5's :-) I will say that the FSD's do NOT like a lot of lowering. I think they are perfect for a primarily road driven car though. YMMV

 

I have bilstein sports & I've lowered the car about 3/4" on stock bolts (little less than 1/2 way I guess) - rides slightly stiffer, but can't really tell unless you're hitting alot of dumps/uneven pavement. I am not sure I'm drinking the coil-over kool aid....car was designed around a suspension setup utilizing composite leaf springs first & foremost, designed so specifically to be using transverse leafs that the next model in development - C6 - continued employing this design. Every single piece of data GM engineers ever compiled & analyzed when developing the corvette has been done w/ the mindset that the car would be riding on transverse leaf springs....& I'm talking suspension geometry, forget about getting into the physics end of what types of load/forces would be exerted on specific mounting points - there's no debating the loads/forces exerted on each corner in a coilover setup are significantly increased vs. the stock setup, plus the resting sprung weight is less evenly distributed when you remove the leafs.

I see the benefit of coil overs being more comfortable ride on the street potentially vs. a similarly geared track setup on leaf springs, better for extreme lowering applications (at which point you may be negating handling anyhow aside from coil over debate), allows more custom adjustment. - Negatives - as I stated, there's no debate the car simply was NEVER designed to ride on a coilover suspension setup - if you don't think that'll result in some compromises/weakness you're crazy, you'll be adding weight too.

There are OEM & aftermarket alternatives for leaf springs w/ higher rates & more exotic materials etc....saving weight AND keeping the original design/engineering intact.

 

All that may be true, but don't forget that GM runs coilovers on the C5R as well as the C6R. They offer them in the GM Performance Parts dept. Either way, this thread isn't a debate. I chose to stay with coilovers so kind of a mute point now.

 

When I bought my car (Z51) it was on stock shocks. The ride was perfect. No complaints about the handling and it was still comfortable.

The fronts starts leaking, so I looked into replacement Bilsteins for all 4 wheels. Bilstein recommended the B8 sport shocks for cars with Z51. I hated them. They have a bone jarring ride quality on anything less than perfect streets. I found a shock dyno of the Bilstein Sports which shows they have way too much damping compared to the oem shocks for a stock leaf spring. You don't notice it on a perfectly smooth road like the highway, but when you're driving on the typical surface streets around here, they are very harsh.

 

My story exactlly. Had the same experience with my ‘00 C5 about 16 years ago.

 

May be less noticeable on a Z06 since they're already riding stiffer from the factory vs. a base C5 or C6?

I like bilstein shocks in general though, run them their 5100 series adjustable shock on my Sierra - HUGE improvement on that application

 

Its the Bilstein B8 - "designed for lowered suspension" - I bought a set of 4 "lightly used" from a forum member with intent to lower mine - 1in front and 1.5in rear. I may be putting these on this weekend and leaving the right height alone for now...

 

The front of a Z06 actually has the same spring rate as the Z51.

Nothing against Bilstein's manufacturing quality, I just don't think their sport shocks are a good replacement for stock Z51 shocks. They're much firmer. I already replaced the rear Bilsteins with stock shocks ,because whenever I had the targa top off and stowed in back, and went over a bump or dip in the road, the targa would literally bounce and rattle. I wanted to just go back to stock shocks in front, but the Z51 specific shocks are discontinued and no longer available. Lots of people have recommended the C6 Z06 shocks, but I think I may try the B6 HD Bilsteins in front. Because I know they'll be softer than what's on there now, and I have no frame of reference on how the C6 Z06 would feel. I'm worried they might be too harsh too.

 

C6 Z51 and C6 base shocks are good options for you to try out.