Dear fellow members,

I have a few questions on my 2003 corvette 50th anniversary. I would like to attempt to install new front shocks on my car. The job in the service manual (the large volume book from Chevrolet) doesn't seem overly challenging. My first question is the ESC wire connector attached to the shock absorber, is that connector easy to disconnect? I know one end has a clip attached to it which I can easily remove, but is the other end attached to the nut which sits on top of the shock absorber? I saw some videos on youtube but they didn't really clarify. The GM parts department would not deliver the shocks in the mail. I would either have go through eBay or another vendor. Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

First of all, sorry I am not answering your questions directly.

Most things I've read recommend against replacing the F55s with OEM units. Find an aftermarket kit that meets your use case and get those.

I vaguely remember ways to defeat the F55 electronics to enable this. You should be happier with the results in the long run.

If you have your heart set on F55, then by all means stick with it but, considering the price of what 1 shock costs, even at ebay prices is quite high. At least you have a 2003, where you have the luxury of having the option to change them out to something better and most likely cheaper. Just sayin...

I can't give you any direct help on the F55 change out procedure, I've never done one, personally. Not surprised at all that GM wouldn't mail those.

If I were you I would stick with the OEM F55 shocks. They are expensive, but I think they're worth it. MRC is the one option that I wish I had on my '04 that I don't have. There are some much cheaper options that are good, but the F55 is the best blend of comfort and performance. For more extreme applications, coil overs might be preferred. However, at that point you're looking at similar costs, and lose a lot of comfort.

I agree. OP, are you having problems/RTD codes? If not, and this is purely subjective, I'd keep the F55 as is. You can go to a Stealer, or any shop that's competent with a TechII, and the F55 option can be turned off, tuned out, or whatever nomenclature you choose to use. It is my understanding that the F55 can be tuned out of the '03, but not the '04. At least, that's what Lyle at C&S Corvettes has posted on YouTube. You might want to search YouTube for C&S Corvettes. Quite a lot of good info there......

Not having any problems or codes just when I back out of my driveway the car seems to bottom out on the front end.

I chose to replace the F55 on my 50th Anniversary with ZO6 shocks.... no difference in ride or handling in daily street driving.

Used a programmer to remove the option from the ECU so the car wouldn’t look for it and limit the speed to 80mph.

I didn’t see any reason to spend all that extra money on a 17 year old regular driver...no ROI for me.

Try backing out at an angle and see if you hear it. It sounds like the air dam is scrapping on your drive way

Is this a new occurrence, or has it been happening for a period of time? Has your ride height changed? If so, I'd be looking at a problem with the spring, first, before assuming it's the shocks.

I agree that you should try backing out at an angle. Perhaps you could use something like this http://www.bridjit.com
I agree that new shocks are not likely to solve this issue.

The springs on my car are the transverse type. Do they go really go bad? That's why I was thinking more of shocks absorber. I will definitely try the angle pull out on m y driveway to see if anything changes.

There have been reports of springs "delaminating", but it's rare. Having said that, YOU'RE OVERLOOKING ONE IMPORTANT QUESTION......did this situation just happen, or is it something that has been worsening over time? Did you move to a new house, with a different driveway? As I asked before, is the car suddenly sitting lower?

You're asking for advice, which many of us will gladly provide, but you're leaving out a lot of pertinent information......

To answer your question, I did not move to a new house. It's the same driveway. This issue has been going on for the last six months. I do all the tune up work myself, so I rarely go to the shop except for electrical issues. That is why I wanted to attempt to work on the shock absorbers, provided that is indeed the issue of the front end bottoming out.

I've also found angling the car helps a lot, especially with some of these monster ramps in Florida. Angling is a must, even if your C5 is actually raised, which is seldom the case. No shock, or even spring change, will do much. OP, as long as you have the F55, you can try what I do, which I've found helps a small amount. I flip my F45 to "Performance" setting, stiffening the compression damping. Doing that, and angling, will help quite a bit.