Just picked up a 2003 with the Mag Sel Ride. How to test it to make sure it is switching from soft to hard ? I cant tell the difference driving and have had a few JARRING experience in town hitting bumps or holes...........I thought Mag Sel Ride kind of smoothed them out. Also, my Passenger control of HVAC seems disconnected.......no control whatsoever and doesnt show up on the display........any thoughts ? Thanks.

 

My first thought, from your description of the suspension being "jarring", is that the shock "stuffers" were never removed, especially as you describe it as a 2003 ....

The MSRC system was new to the 2003 vehicle and because the shocks have no resistance when the car is turned off ... GM initially shipped them with "shock stuffers" that the transportation companies would use to limit the vehicles movement on a railway car or truck. The dealers were supposed to remove these "stuffers" as part of the "dealer prep", but many many vehicles were delivered to customers with the "stuffers" still in the shocks because the dealer did not pick-up on this change to the "normal" procedure.

I'll bet if you jack up, and then safely support your car, that if you take the "accordian" style boot on your shocks and push them up, you will see a YELLOW ribbon or tag inside ..... pull on the tag and the shock "stuffer" will come out. Throw away the "stuffer" ... it was meant only for shipping the vehicle to the dealer ... pull the stuffers from all 4 shocks ... then go enjoy a "smooth" ride ......

 

Please, please tell me the stuffers were not installed

If you drive your car on any surface thats not as smooth as glass, you should be able to tell the difference between "tour" and "sport". I preferred the "sport" setting on my 03, I could never get used to the feeling when it was in "tour", there is a HUGE difference in the way the car feels between the 2 settings.

 

Just got our 50th last year. You should definitely feel a difference, sport will give a tighter feeling, slightly firmer ride, tour will feel softer, a little less "connected" especially around town. The "jarring" over bumps/holes if not from the stuffers referred to is probably due to the hard sidewalls of the stock runflats, check your tire pressure, s/b 30 psi. Shocked me when I hit my first pothole. I'm switching to a softer better handling tire as soon as this crappy winter is over. Good luck, you'll love your car.

 

I have the select ride on my '01 also. Once you've confirmed the shock stuffers aren't there, and you get rid of the runcraps, you'll definitely be able to tell the difference...certainly from Performance to Touring. If you gotta live with the runcraps for a while, just find a road that needs repaving or an old brick paved road...go down once on the Perf, turn around and go down in Touring mode...you'll feel the difference. You won't notice much on fairly smooth roads or on the highway.

 

I have an 03 AE...when I got it it had 12,000 miles on it and rode like a tank...I couldnt tell any diff by switching the setting....I found that the stuffers were installed.....simple to remove...just follow BlackZ06's
directions.....if they are there once you remove them you will be amazed at how smooth the thing rides with working shocks......and then you will be able to tell the diff when you flip the switch I cant believe the person that owned it before me drove all those miles....


larry....

 

HAVE YOU LOOKED FOR THE SHOCK STUFFERS YET ????


I really love it when people come on here, pose a question, and then they just disappear ... no feedback at all ....


As as to your "passenger control" on your HVAC .... read your manual ... it has no effect on the display, and can only make a minor difference to the passenger air temperature ...... the driver is not gonna be sitting in 80 degree air and the passenger in 60 degree air, the cabin is to small for that.

 

Magnetic Select Ride update

UN FAQ N BEE LIVE ABLE !

After 30k miles,........Mag Select Ride never used.

I finally get a chance to experience that state of the art suspension,...............wow, someone really blew it. Thanks to the member that wisely pointed it out in their post. I will send you a PM and post this story in a separate thread.........Is this some kind of record ?

 

Great thread, Guys....now how about this question. I am considering a Vette with the selective ride option. Typically, I think and analyze things too much. So, my question is this. Is the life expectancy of these shocks different than standard gas filled? Has this system proven to be durable?

Thanks for any thoughts.

 

First, there are two "selective ride" options available ... you need to be clearer about which one you are referring too.

RPO F45 is usually referred to as "Selective Ride Control" and was avaiable on the C5 up through the 2002 Model Year. For the 2003 and 2004 MY the F45 option was replaced with the F55 option, the "Magnetic Selective Ride Control".

The F45 shocks appear to be wearing out on early cars, so they do seem to last longer than a "regular" shock, but they don't last forever. The replacement cost on the shocks is high .... some people reporting paying over $1,500 to replace the 4 shocks. There is a "kit" from GM that allows people to "upgrade" the F45 system to the F55 system, but that costs over $2,000 so I haven't heard of anyone doing the upgrade. The F55 system is so "new" that I haven't seen anyone saying the shocks have worn out .... so the "jury is out" on their longevity.

 

Thanks. I am contemplating the F55 on my purchase (since half the fun is shopping, evaluating, and dreaming!), I did not realize there was an older F45. I was hoping to use the durability of the older ones as guide...if the technology was the same. BTW, are those replacement figures above inclusive of labor?

 

Those prices are parts only ... the retail price on the F45 shocks is about $750.00 per shock. You can get them from some vendors at a discount, but they are expensive.

Same with the F55 upgrade kit (part number 12499507), the GM list price is just under $3,000.00 for the kit, labor is extra. Again, you can get it at a discount.

The system, especially the Magnetic system, is not cheap. On the other hand, would you expect cheap parts on a system (F55) sophisticated enough that Ferrari has licensed it from GM for the 599GTB Fiorano, and Audi has licensed it for their VERY COOL R8 ???

 

Does the same apply to the 2002 F45? I have the same problem.

 

Ride was getting bad on my 2000 with F45.
I removed the shocks and replaced with C6/Z06 shocks for around $200 (all 4) and am very pleased.
The orig. shocks were toast and I couldnt justify the cost of exact replacement.

 

No, the F45 system did not have shock stuffers. It may be that your shocks are starting to wear out .. how many miles do you have on them ???

 

about 51k. I didn't think they could go out that fast?

 

At 51k I wouldn't think so either ..... but then I see you live here in Cali also .... the state where no freeway is repaired "before its time" ... where counties and cities would rather spend the money on another new city hall than fix a street ..... where the Bay Bridge, originally built in 3 years (1933-1936) is having only the East span replaced ... construction started in 2002 (after 13 years of political bickering) and is planned to finish in 2013 ..... and costs estimates have gone from 1.4 billion to 5.1 billion dollars .......

Sorry ... once I start on that rant there is almost no stopping me ...

Bottom line, you probably have EMT tires on the car, which have a VERY stiff sidewall and therefore transfer bumps, potholes, etc. directly to the suspension, and given our miserable roads means you are hitting holes, bad patches, bumps, etc. pretty frequently. My g/f cringes when we take the Vette out as I'm constantly muttering "f**k CalTrans" as we hit bumps, potholes, etc. on the freeway.

Since the Corvette already has a "stiff" suspension compared to a "normal" car, what you may be feeling is, for California, "normal". Most people say that the F45 shocks are good until you see them start to leak shock oil out from the seals, that's when they need replacement. Only other thing I caould recommend is to check and make sure there are no DTC set that might affect your suspension, though you should see a DIC warning message if the RTD system has a problem.

 

I had the EMT's removed when i bought the car last year. And there are no codes on the dic.

 

I read your reply and found it very useful. I only have 10K on my 2003 vette. I never felt the ride lived up to my expectations. In '07 I read something about the stuffers. I mentioned it to the dealer and his response was that if the stuffers had not been removed the car would be all but inoperable. Last week I had the car in for my spring oil change. I asked if they could easily determine whether the select ride was functioning properly. They said it would be a minimum charge of $86. Out of frustration I started searching the web the next day and came across your response. Because of your explanation I now knew that removal of the stuffers would not be obvious to a mechanic when performing oil changes because they were under the rubber sleeve. Guess what, I went back to the dealer and demanded they look to see if the stuffers were removed. Result was a smile on the service manager's face when he replied they had not been removed but would now do so. Always new the dealer prep on the vehicle was non-existent (I even had to help the salesman remove all the plastic covering on the inside of the vehicle when I took delivery). Since the car was purchased in May 2003 I certainly would think that everyone at the dealership would have known about the stuffers. Oh yes, the dealer in NH offers probably the largest selection of corvettes in the state so they should have been quite knowledgeable. Again, THANK YOU. One question, if I may, is there any chance that having the stuffers in place for so long that any damage could have been done to the shocks?

 

You asked ....

Is there any chance that having the stuffers in place for so long that any damage could have been done to the shocks?

Possible, but unlikely. The suspension, wheels, and tires all are built to absorb large bumps or potholes without damage. The stuffers limit suspension travel, and the computer controlling the suspension isn't aware of the shortened travel .... so it makes "bad" decisions about how hard/soft to set the shocks .... which leads to the "jarring" ride.


I'll bet there are HUNDREDS of Vettes driving around today with the stuffers still in place .... and with owner's thinking they wasted their money on the F55 suspension option. Even sadder, there are still dealers refusing to spend the few moments needed to check for the stuffers.

Your dealer should be taken out and shot .... first they screw up the dealer prep ... then they tell you the car would be "inoperable" ... basically refusing to check .... you have to get in their face to get them to check ...... I'd tell the dealer I want an extended warranty from them for the suspension ..... 3 years from now for ANY problems with the shocks. Otherwise ... find someplace else to get the car serviced.