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Just woke up at 0130 hrs. and had a thought. I am sure some of you have had thoughts that sound ridiculous in the wee hours but hear me out. I have been thinking of a mod/surgery type of thing to do to the lower radiator skid to prevent it from scraping. At first, I thought about lowering the backend and raising the front end using the lowering bolts, but I didn't think that would work. I didn't think it would have any effect on skid since it is attached to the frame. Then I thought about bending or cutting the portion that scrapes. Another thought was to eliminate the entire skid and fab some sort of bracketry like "L" or "U" brackets to hold the rad, fans and ac condenser. Since the condenser and fans hang onto the radiator that might be the way to go. So, my question is anyone either thought of this or actually done this? Any thoughts would be appreciated and if you have pics of what you did that would be awesome. TIA and cheers!!!
The skid bars are there for a reason. Remove them and whatever you hit can do more substantial damage than just scrape the bars. What are you doing that you're hitting them in the first place? If your car is lowered, raise the front up a bit. Other options are you can approach whatever you're running into slower or at an angle, or install fangs or rollers.
The skid bars are there for a reason. Remove them and whatever you hit can do more substantial damage than just scrape the bars. What are you doing that you're hitting them in the first place? If your car is lowered, raise the front up a bit. Other options are you can approach whatever you're running into slower or at an angle, or install fangs or rollers.
@3sACROWD Hey Frank thanks for the info. If you read my thread your suggestion was one of my thoughts, but I wasn't sure that would accomplish raising the front about 1 inch. Now that I know it would that seems like the likely fix. Getting in and out of my driveway is the main challenge aside from running into tele poles and trees that just jump right out coming from nowhere. But thanks, that is what I needed to determine. Cheers!!!
I can’t even make it over a parking lot speed bump without approaching at an angle. I’ve had the wheels, now have the fangs. Both work, but driving these cars still require some attention to geometry.
As the driveway is your problem area, "they" sell little ramp things that fit right at the foot of the driveway curb eliminating that problem. Even my HOA who won't allow solar panels or cutting down a tree that may fall on my house, allows these.
i bought a 2x8-8foot piece of board and just lay it at/across the front edge/slope of the driveway and come on at a 45degree angle, no scrapes at all. When I went to 18/19 set up it was enough I no longer need the board!
Well thanks for all the suggestions. I went with a modified fix like @Missileboy except i went down to my local steel miller and bought a 1/8" thick of 4x8 sheet metal and had them cut me 2 halves. Problem solved for $750. Good investment. Cheers!!!
i bought a 2x8-8foot piece of board and just lay it at/across the front edge/slope of the driveway and come on at a 45degree angle, no scrapes at all. When I went to 18/19 set up it was enough I no longer need the board!
18/19 setup: you mean the larger wheels raised it up for you?
Fun fact - the company I work for made the skid bars for the C5 from day one. We still have the equipment tucked away in a corner, basically a little CNC tube bender and a MIG weld station. These days we only occasionally supply parts for service. Per the picture, yes the square tube material is thin and extra holes are not ideal.
You could always learn to drive your Corvette, no offence, but I've owned 7 Corvettes and after a few months of driving I learned how far to pull into a parking spot or Angling your car on a angle to get in a steep driveway or entrance. my 59 never had a problem, but the C3 both the C4's and both C5's will scrap if little attention is given to where your point the car ? I put a set of steel skids on this latest C5 but the radiator support is made from Aluminum. . . . It's meant to fold up thus saving the steel frame, but what do I know ?
I have 18's on all four corners and I didn't see or feel any difference. It was still "touching" the pavement. So, I fixed the issue as mentioned above.
Lower Radiator Skid Mod
