pls help?
give me some info
thanks :D

 

Lowering will impair the cooling of your gearbox&diff, if you only drive normal roads I don't think it'll make much difference but for racing or VERY dedicated driving :crazy: I've been told that you should install cooling if lowering. Just a thought...

 

I have lowered all my C5's and have noticed no difference in coolant temps, here is some info on lowering your car from Gary G

Lowering your C5

Purpose
Lowering the C5 is fast, easy, and best of all, free. Here's how to do it.

Tools Required
The following tools were used to make the modification.

Floor Jack
Jack Stands (2)
Wheel Blocks
Hog ring Pliers or Needle nose Pliers
Hacksaw or Serrated Knife (optional; see below)
10mm Ratcheting Wrench or 10mm Socket Wrench w/swivel extension
18mm Combination Wrench or 18mm Socket Wrench
13/16" Combination Wrench or 13/16" Deep Socket Wrench
Lowering the Rear
Make certain the car is located on a level surface.
Place blocks or boards under the front wheels to prevent the car from rolling.
Using the floor jack, raise the rear of the car, insuring that the jack is positioned in the center of the rear cross member (silver/gray in color).
Place two jack stands under the rear cross member, and SLOWLY lower the car onto them. Make sure you have raised the car high enough to allow plenty of workspace.
Locate the rear leaf spring. There is a bolt on each end (18mm bottom, 13/16" nut on top), with a rubber bushing top and bottom. At the top of the bolt, above the nut, you will see a small c-clip. This clip must be removed in order to get the nut off the top. Use hog ring pliers or needle nose pliers to remove the clip. NOTE: Only remove the bolt if you wish to lower the car more than about 1 inch in the rear. It is possible, in most cases, to lower about 1 inch without removing the bolt at all and without cutting the bushing. Cutting the bushing may make your ride a bit more harsh than before.
(SKIP IF YOU DID NOT REMOVE THE BOLT) With the c-clip removed, loosen the top nut from the bolt.
(SKIP IF YOU DID NOT REMOVE THE BOLT) Pull out the bolt and bushings from the leaf spring(the leaf spring is NOT under pressure).
(SKIP IF YOU DID NOT REMOVE THE BOLT) Cut both bushings so that the section with the extension is the only one left. Use a hacksaw or serrated knife. NOTE: If the car is too low for your personal preference, you can add back the piece or pieces you cut off.
Once the bushings are cut, reassemble the bolt, bushings, and nut through the leaf spring and A-Arm. Leave TWO threads showing on top when you re-tighten. It will seem loose, but when the car is lowered onto the ground, the weight will load the spring. Don't forget to put the c-clip back on.
Lower the car, the rear is done.
Lowering the Front
Make sure the car is in gear to prevent it from rolling.
Raise the car with the jack positioned in the center of the front cross member.
Place the two jack stands under the cross member, and slowly lower the car onto them.
Remove the front wheels. It may be necessary to slightly loosen the lug nuts before the wheels are completely off the ground.
Find the front leaf spring, and with a 10mm wrench or socket, turn the bolt as if you were loosening it (It is reverse threaded so you are actually tightening it).
Turn the bolt until there is no longer a gap between the bushing and the bolt. Measure the exposed threads to insure the other side is done the same. NOTE: On a Z51 car, the car will not drop as much as one that has the standard suspension. You can completely remove the front lowering bolt if you would like to go even lower. A spreading tool or removal of the a-arm is required to allow removal of the adjusting bolt and bushings.
Put the wheels back on and lower the car. NOTE: It may be necessary to place a board under the tires so you will be able to remove the floor jack once the car is lowered.

 

hcvone - Thanks for the info. When the new Z06 comes in I plan on lowering it. Did you got the bushing or take them out? If so how was the ride. How much was the alignment effected? And finally, if re-aligned, did you put it back to spec numbers or did you tweak them alittle?

 

:bs I am not sure, but I don't think he is entering the 24 hours of Lemans. I think he wants to lower it to look cool as he cruise on the streets and highways around Toronto. Just a guess here though. :cheers: :D :D





[Modified by racer44, 10:29 AM 1/10/2003]

 

I have a powerpoint pres for lowering on my web site. You can access it here.
http://www.members.shaw.ca/superchargedvette/Tips.htm

Also, here is a couple of more links for lowering your Vette.
http://www.corvetteforum.cc/techtips...D=90&TopicID=1
http://www.2phast.com/Corvette/lower.htm


[Modified by racer44, 8:58 AM 1/10/2003]

 

I was lucky when I lowered my car, I set my screws flush with the bottom on the bushings and it lowered the front just where I wanted it, note after you lower the car drive for about 100 miles because it will usually drop a little more, this is really true if you lower it with a few hundred on the car. I had it realigned and again my cars alignment moved very little, I had it put to the stock Z06 setting.


[Modified by hcvone, 4:59 PM 1/10/2003]

 

Yeah, rsvcorvette, it's not like he's some damn fool on the Nurburgring

:)

 

rsvcorvette--you have no idea what you're talking about. Okay, so maybe your a hotshot racer and have extraordinary lap times at racetracks all across the country. Fine. I don't. I'm afraid of corners. But when a C5 Vette is lowered....even SLAMMED by cutting the bushings.....it makes zero zero zero difference on cooling. Why would you even think that it would, other than idle speculation? I've hammered both my 2000 and my 2003 Z into the top-end realm in the summertime, and they're as cool as a dead mackeral at those speeds.

vettez06--hvcone has given you fine instructions, and they are also available in the FAQ section here. But for your information, when I lowered my 2003 Z to the maximum amount provided by the stock adjusters with NO bushing cutting, my front end dropped a mere 3/8s inch, and the rear dropped 3/4s inch. And after lowering, they did not "settle" any more...maybe another 1/16th once you pull out of the garage.

This is the second Z51 car I have lowered (2000 FRC, too), and both times the change was minimal. You will not be dragging the ground if you lower a Z51 car to the maximum extent permitted by the stock adjusters.


[Modified by Tracy, 12:14 AM 1/11/2003]

 

My car dropped about 1/2" more after lowering once I drove it about 100 miles, now I did lower my car with under 25 miles on it :eek: :eek: ;)

 

I am not a "hotshot" racer but already hobby-racing I can get ALL the gages(engine-oil, water and gearbox) showing red within an hour but as CPT Z06 :seeya pointed out that's on the Nurburgring and not on a normal street.
Still the Nurburgring is faster than almost any other track so more airflow=more cooling. Problem becomes exponential the slower the track.

My local tuner who've driven Corvettes in tons of endurance-races/24H sure has the 1:st hand knowledge I lack and they make sure that any customer of theirs who wants a lowered car reads and signs a waiver explaining that warranty can become void and you run an increased risk of destroying your gearbox/diff.
Disadvantage of transaxle-mounted gearbox and low car. But I also wrote in my 1:st post that for normal street-driving *I* don't think it makes much of a difference since no matter how hard you slam it you'll never get close to the load of driving on a track.
BUT if he intends to do an occasional trackday then he should at least know that there's a increased possibility of overheating, I understand that all/most(??) US-spec cars doesn't include a gearbox temp-gage?
So like I also wrote "I've been told that you should install cooling if lowering" I did not claim to have first-hand experience of lowered vs. not but was simply trying to point something out that *might* be a good idea.

 

:iagree:

He was just pointing out a consideration. If you slam the car the front air dams should keep less air from getting to rear area. I never had a high trans temp warning on the autobahn until after I lowered her. Just a consideration.

 

[QUOTE]rsvcorvette--you have no idea what you're talking about. QUOTE]

That's just not a very polite way to disagree with someone.

 

I did not have any problems with temps driving on the autobahn when I lived in Switzerland and my car was lowered a lot, I did have problems getting into many places because it was too low in the front though. ;)

 

Tell me something I don't know! I thought Prague was bad, but Holland sucks!!! They have a speed bump every 50 meters!

 

CPT Z06--You are right....that is not a very polite response on my part. Apologies to all offended.

But.....it struck me as more than a little presumptious to weigh-in with a statement like that, after HUNDREDS of forum members (and non-members) have lowered their cars for the last 5 years. And, GM ADVISES the track racer to lower their cars for better handling, with nary a work about high temps. And as for your situation where your car never got a high tranny temp until you lowered your car......I think there is a very good chance that the two issues are unrelated. Or......perhaps the relation is that after lowering, you were able to drive your car harder and THAT is why you now get high temp warnings! [which is great, of course!!]

Sorry for getting irritated with rsvcorvette........but it seemed unnecessary that he threw "scare" into a guy who was asking a simple lowering question.

 

I'm an irritable guy :boxing
Part of my personal charm really. ;)
I know that hundreds(of thousands?) have lowered their cars but since most US-spec only have the high-temp warning light and not the continous monitoring of temp as in export-spec you probably don't notice that normal running-temp jumps 10-20 degrees when lowering.
I also realize that the point might be moot since you never reach critical temp, still I personally am constantly suffering from extreme temperatures and I know that lowering=higher temp due to impaired airflow below the car.
I've also been told by my GM-dealer that quite a number of warranty-cases on 'boxes&diffs are heat-related.
Can be I am EXTREMELY overcautious but personally I wouldn't do anything that'll have my car run even hotter than it already is.
Correct me if I'm wrong but surely all the people who lower&race professionally install the extra oil-coolers?