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Considering ZO6 spring conversion

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Old Feb 2, 2011 | 11:45 PM
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Default Considering ZO6 spring conversion

After hearing about Kale's successful (and rather easy) ZO6 rear spring conversion, I'm thinking about doing this for my car. As it sits, my car has C6Z shocks, is lowered on stock bolts and has C5Z sway bars.

question 1: would I benefit from a front/rear spring swap or just the front or rear?

question 2: does anyone have a tutorial on this?

thanks.
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Old Feb 3, 2011 | 08:13 AM
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If you are going to do it, absolutely and without question, change both.

If you change just the front the car will push like a pig. If you change just the rear it will have oversteer like an old VW. Neither one is a good choice. Balanced handling comes from matching the roll stiffness at both ends of the car. If you mismatch one end you will get weird handling and then will be back to trying to fix it with other bandaids.

Same thing with sway bars, if you are going to stiffen one, stiffen the other at the same time to keep the car balanced.
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Old Feb 3, 2011 | 08:19 AM
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Some guys on here say there are short cuts and easier ways but the link below is how I will attempt this upgrade.

Good luck with the swap either way!

http://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?article=20

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Old Feb 3, 2011 | 10:17 AM
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Originally Posted by Solofast
If you are going to do it, absolutely and without question, change both.........
This.
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Old Feb 3, 2011 | 10:24 AM
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Default Suspension work

Hi Gang,
After reading the process of replacing the springs I was wondering if you have to get a wheel alignment?
I just finished replacing my Clutch Slave which involves pulling the entire driveline that includes the rear suspension and I’m planning on taking the car into the Dealership for the alignment. Is the alignment required after the suspension work?

Thanks,
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Old Feb 3, 2011 | 10:42 AM
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Originally Posted by hornet7
Hi Gang,
After reading the process of replacing the springs I was wondering if you have to get a wheel alignment?
I just finished replacing my Clutch Slave which involves pulling the entire driveline that includes the rear suspension and I’m planning on taking the car into the Dealership for the alignment. Is the alignment required after the suspension work?

Thanks,
Some may say it's not necessary, but then again if you wait until you see signs of abnormal tire-wear before getting it done, it's too late. Alignment settings deal in fractions of an inch and it's virtually impossible to get everything back to exactly where it was before; close maybe, but not exact.

I would recommend getting a 4-wheel alignment.
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Old Feb 3, 2011 | 08:20 PM
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Originally Posted by AnteVenom
Some guys on here say there are short cuts and easier ways but the link below is how I will attempt this upgrade.

Good luck with the swap either way!

http://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?article=20

As mentioned in the link posted above, you don't need to change the front spring, if you already have the FE3 Z51 options. It is the same as the FE4 Z06. If you have the base suspension, change both springs.
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Old Feb 3, 2011 | 08:43 PM
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Originally Posted by Greg_E
As mentioned in the link posted above, you don't need to change the front spring, if you already have the FE3 Z51 options. It is the same as the FE4 Z06. If you have the base suspension, change both springs.
I'm pretty sure i have the base suspension (had the F45 nonsense) I'm putting this on my list. The rear is really easy and the front doesn't seem to horrifying.

Thanks for the info guys
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Old Feb 3, 2011 | 10:38 PM
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related question -- if the Z06 springs are stiffer, will the car sit higher ?
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Old Feb 4, 2011 | 08:40 AM
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Originally Posted by theradioflyer
I'm pretty sure i have the base suspension (had the F45 nonsense) I'm putting this on my list. The rear is really easy and the front doesn't seem to horrifying.

Thanks for the info guys
You're right. The rear is a piece of cake. Tips: Use a couple 6" or 8" C-clamps to hold spring pressure and use a few pieces of thin wood stock so the C-clamps don't mar/gouge the spring itself. Also, use care when removing the little cir-clips at the top of the spring adjusting screws. They WILL launch themselves for parts unknown, never to be seen again, and lastly measure and record your ride-height before starting.

HTH
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Old Feb 4, 2011 | 05:04 PM
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I think you've seen this since I think this is what Kale did. This is the easy way to change the front spring out;

Get the car in the air. You likely need the car to be raised close to as high as 2-ton jack-stands will go.
Remove the drivers side wheel.
Jack up the spring in the Y of the lower a-arm to lift the spring off the arm. Use a block of wood or something similar as a spacer to reach in there with the jack.
Mark and remove the 2 lower a-arm bolts.
Remove the 4 bolts and 2 spring straps from the crossmember.
Pull the a-arm out and lower the end of the spring so you get the spring to pass by the lower a-arm.
Do the reverse to install the new one.

You mark the lower a-arm bolts because they adjust the camber and caster on the front. Just mark across the washers to the crossmember and make sure they go back in the same way so the alignment doesn't get changed. An awl can make a sharp mark which then can be used to line them back up again.

The other way requires taking a whole bunch of the suspension apart on both sides.

Peter
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Old Feb 4, 2011 | 05:07 PM
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Originally Posted by redrckt97
related question -- if the Z06 springs are stiffer, will the car sit higher ?
The springs are stiffer and have less arc so it mostly balances out. Some people have posted that a Z06 doesn't lower as much using the stock bolts but I don't know how true that is. If it is, then the Z06 springs might not compress to quite the same arc when the car is on the ground meaning the bolts might have been adjusted at the factory "lower" than the bolts on a coupe would have been.

Peter
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