well yesterday i finally went out and lowered my C5. took all of an hour, 30 min of which was finding the perfect tool to cut the rear bushings. well, the frt is all the way down on stock bolts and the rears are sitting on cut bushings with two threads showing , as instructed by most of the DIY instructions i have seen. not too much difference in ride, looks awesome, is a little trickier to drive, ill have to go to my folk's house soon and see if it will make it up the driveway, if not, its going back up a bit...anyway, for now its pretty sweet. and if anyone wants to know, the most effecient tool to cut the rear bushings is.......not a hacksaw as some have said, but believe it or not they cut like butter using a kitchen bread knife hahaha. anyway, i parked next to a red C5 convertible yesterday and u can majorly tell the difference. im gonna try to get some pics, hopefully sitting beside my folk's stock height 2002 for comparison...

 

congrats,wish we could see pics-man I wish I was brave enough to tackle it on my car..

 

I lowered mine back in May the same way you described and I think it looks great! Don't forget to get it aligned after you let it settle a couple of hundred miles!

 

If you just did it yesterday, give it a little time (miles) to settle out. I have checked mine every day since doing this a week ago and still am getting lower by the day!

 

Never heard of cutting the rear bushings.

Scott

 

I've seen several posts here that say you don't need to cut the bushings. Is this correct or not? I'm thinking of tackling this myself ,I want know which way works best.

Thanks,
Dave

 

What's the advantage of lowering the car?

 

Looks cool... handles better

 

The Z06 looks great without lowering it. Why take a chance of hitting/bottoming out and really screwing something up. To each his own!

 

I love the lowered look of my Z06. It is lowered as far as the stock bolts will allow. I haven't got the nerve to cut the front bushings to make it lower. Have still never heard of the rear bushings being cut, only the front ones.


Scott

 

Layne Stanley.... is that you????

 

re: cut rear bushings...fixedroofcoupe.com just says to turn the bolts till 2 threads left but it didnt do nothing for my car....but in the tech tips here on this forum....

"1. Make certain the car is located on a level surface.

2. Place blocks or boards under the front wheels to prevent the car from rolling.

3. 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).

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. With the c-clip removed, loosen the top nut from the bolt.

7. Pull out the bolt and bushings from the leaf spring(the leaf spring is NOT under pressure).

8. 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 **.

9. 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.

10. Lower the car, the rear is done !!


this was the only way to get mine down...hmm...oh well. i like it. as for the frt, if it went lower it would be a major issue...im sitting like 4 fingers widths off the ground now at the frt air dam...and basically im sitting at 2 fingers widths between the tire and fenderwell arch on each corner...

oh and here's another entry into the diy on lowering the rear:

"Just jack up the car from the jack spots on the side and put a stand on the crossmember in the back. See the leaf spring going across the back, IT IS BLACK!! Look at the end by the tire and you will see a long bolt with a nut at the top above the black bushing that looks like three bushings. Make sure the side you are working on is off the ground!!!!! Loosen the bolt and take it out, Don't worry the leaf spring is not loaded! Cut both of the bushings so that the part with the extension is the only one left, It should look like one bushing now! Do the top and bottom bushing the same way, it is hard.... that is some high grade rubber put the bottom bushing back on and insert the bolt back through the hole in the A-Arm and the leaf spring. reinstall the top bushing then the nut! Tighten the nut so that only TWO threads are showing......IT WILL LOOK REALLY LOOSE!! this is ok since when you drop the car back down The weight willl load the spring!! Do the same on the other side!!! "

 

but not just cool... waaaaaay

 

lowered on stock bolts with no bushings cut

 

Me too! Me too! I have to copy E-T ... sorry Bill.

 

mine is at the shop getting done now. also having the calipers painted yellow with black corvette letters.

 

congrats Chad It's about time

 

The reason for cutting the front bushings is it's the only way to go lower then stock bolts. The reason to NOT cut the rear bushings is you can buy longer bolts for $10.....Don't cut the rear bushings

 

Layne? Oh Laaayyyne. C'mon out Layne.

 

[QUOTE=CAJUNY2KC5]Layne? Oh Laaayyyne. C'mon out Layne.


We may be on to something.... It may be layne.... then again.... Lanyneeee.... we miss you! Please come back!