I have a 2000 coupe with 56,000 miles. On some quick, rollercoaster like up and down roads I can bottom out with two men aboard. I have the soft ride FE-1 suspension. Also, on certain stretches of road, it feels like it's really pulling to the right a lot. No clunks or jerky feeling in the ride, and 90% of the time it feels fine.

I'm not sure if Z06 (2007) C-6 shocks might not be too stiff for me, in that this is a daily driver on some pretty nasty streets at times during the commute.

A firm ride is OK, I just don't want a culture shock to my system!

Any help on this with your valuable experience would be appreciated.

Bluemill

 

I have the same suspension on my 2000 M6 Coupe. I put a set of C5 Z51 shocks on and now the Vette rides PERFECT.


Bill

 

The only ride quality difference that I felt between my 50k mile OEM C5 ZO6 shocks and the new C6 07 ZO6 shocks came in the form of driving down streets that I have driven down hunderds of times before and felt the old bumps a little more than before. Nothing annoying. Now I dont even notice them as I have become acustom to the new shocks. .

The real benifit was that the car no longer walks side ways and becomes unsetteled in rough wash board sweeping curves.

In my opinion, the C6 Z shocks are not that much more harsh than the OEM C5 ZO6 shocks. Hell, get them. If you dont like them, I very sure you could get almost all your money back re-selling them.

BC

 

i also have a 2000 c5 coupe and was experiencing what you are going though. i bought a complete set of front and rear 2008 z06 shocks from gmpartshouse.com for $259.00 shipped. well worth the money and they cheapest i anywhere. mine is also a daily driver and notice a difference over the normal bumps in the road and a lot better on taking corners.

 

You need new shocks.

I replaced my FE1 at 60k with some Bilsteins... it's a whole different car now. I suggest upgrading the sway bars at the same time (I used C5Z bars at the time). It's easy to do and relatively inexpensive, and an extremely noticeable difference over the FE1 stuff.

 

Blumill,

If your feeling that the ride is softer than what you think it should be, you already know when they should be changed.

Like others here, my 02 C5 has the FE1 suspension. Thought that the ride was a little mushy for a Corvette when I bought it 4 years ago, only 15K miles.

After reading information about the C6 Z06 Shocks, I decided to buy them new, $200 or so. I put them on and imediately felt the difference however they were too stiff for me and took bumps here in Massachsuetts hard.

Searched again the C6 Forum and found a set of C6 Z51 Shocks from a member ($160) with 900 miles on them. I put these on an couldn't be happier. Stiffer than the stock shock, little softer than the Z06.

These shocks along with C5 Z06 Sway Bars made my corvette handle like a corvette should.

Please keep in mind, if you go with the C6 shocks of any kind that they extend a little longer than the C5 shocks, about 1" or so. Makes a difference when jacking the car up. But thats it, a direct bolt on. Takes a few hours of work, fronts need to be compressed to install. You'll find instructions on this forum if you do a search.

I think you will find my suggestion worthwhile.

Good Luck,
c5firstimer

 

Get rid of them crappy FE1 parts and make it handle like a vette should!

04 z06 shocks and 08 c6z51 sways and you'll have a certifiable street legal roller coaster!



Talk to Gene @ GM Partshouse

 

Is there anything at all different for the FE1 beside just shocks?

Another way to ask this is "If I merely change shocks can I have a Z51 setup or a stock "Non soft ride FE1" setup?"

Hopefully someone with knowledge about suspensions on the C5 can help here.

 

Out here, when shocks go bad, the concrete freeways will cause the tires to slap if the shocks are bad. Also, going through high-speed freeway dips and such, the car might go through it in a floating sideways type movement. Put Bilsteins on it.

 

Well this is what I thought. People do not really know about the suspension system. Change shocks is all people do. And this is usually what people end up saying essentially: "Firmer is better, Firmer is better."

Is there anything to the idea of a balanced engineered plan? Like if I have a soft suspension FE-1 should it work best with the stock FE-1 shocks? If I wanted the stock ride that is? Or if I have a Z51 and use C-6 shocks what exactly is different and can something else help even more?

If someone can say the only reason there is a difference in suspension systems is the shocks that are on it then that is different. I'd just like to know if there is more to it than that.

Mark me as one who also does not know much about the C-5 suspension.

Just trying to expand the knowledge here.

 

The Z51 and ZO6 suspensions are engineered packages to obtain a "HANDLING GOAL for that platform. It consists of different shocks, springs tires and sway bars and hardware. So,,just slapping on different shock will not necessarily make the car handle like a Z-51 or ZO6. You need the rest of the package.

I added C6 ZO6 shocks to my 02 ZO6. What did it do for me?? It made the car a lot more stable on rough roads and washboard turns. Were my OEM Shocks bad? No but they weren't as good as they were when the car was new and when the car was new it had similar issues.

Will adding different shocks make your any better? Most likely. It will handle better but will it be optimum? Probably not.

I like what I have and it serves the purpose without breaking the bank.

BC

 

^^This might help a little bit.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...0&postcount=43


firmer shocks help improve a car's transient response.

 

You can always call the masters of shocks - Bilstein. I plan to eventually buy either Bilstein Sports or LG coilovers (which use Bilstein shocks) when the time comes. My OEM Z51 shocks now have 35,000 miles on them and I can feel that they are getting a bit softer than they used to be.

 

Are you asking for suspension travel, changes to camber, swaybar torque?

Everyone on here has supported upgrading the shocks, an easy DIY that really improves handling.

I recently replaced the stock shocks and swaybars with C6 Z06 shocks and sways from GM Parts House.
What a change! The car sticks like glue. Xpressway ramps are now a quick rush.
I see that they have a set of Z51 shocks and sways available, you might try those.

Goodluck,
JB.