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50th Anniversary Lowering Kit ?

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Old Mar 7, 2012 | 07:47 AM
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Default 50th Anniversary Lowering Kit ?

Hello guys, i bought new wheels to my corvette 19" and 20" and they make the car a little taller, i want to lower it.

This is how i want it to look like: http://www.d2autosport.com/D2_2006/0...c5l20donz3.jpg

This is my vette now: http://www.customtuning.ro/proiecte/...fata-20-spate/

It's 2003 50th Anniversary with F55 magnetic ride.

Some friends from the italian corvette club told me that i should buy this kit http://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corve...1997-2004.html and this kit http://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corve...1997-2004.html (i hope you don't think this is spam)

Do they work on my F55 Magnetic Ride ? or show some other kits to buy . Please help me and tell me what do i have to buy to lower it.

Thanks guys
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Old Mar 7, 2012 | 08:05 AM
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The car in the picture is too low, but you will probably not listen to reason and proceed to lower it excessively. Excessive lowering will result in the suspension bottoming out on the the bumb stops as a result of the reduced suspension travel causing the car to ride lousy and handle poorly. The OEM recommends lowering no more than 1" (25.4 mm) below the stock ride height for improved handling.
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Old Mar 7, 2012 | 09:17 AM
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I wouldn't do it on an F55 setup (I wouldn't really do it on anything but that's another story). Mess up one of those shocks by bottoming out on something and you'll really be mad. Price those shocks some time. By the way, the pic of what you want looks bad-hate when a car is lowered so much part of the tire is up in the wheel well.
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Old Mar 7, 2012 | 09:54 AM
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Ok, maybe not that low but a little bit lower ... it's way to tall now with the new wheels
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Old Mar 7, 2012 | 10:31 AM
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Originally Posted by Fabi
Ok, maybe not that low but a little bit lower ... it's way to tall now with the new wheels
If it ain't BROKE-don't fool with it!
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Old Mar 7, 2012 | 11:20 AM
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I have my car lowered all the way on stock bolts, with the bushing not cut at all and I hit everything in the street.

Last edited by jrose7004; Mar 7, 2012 at 04:19 PM.
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Old Mar 7, 2012 | 02:17 PM
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The car is taller than before, it was lower with the stock OEM wheels, after i put the new wheels on it it get taller with 1" or more, i want to fix that, to be as before, as with the stock wheels.
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Old Mar 7, 2012 | 02:40 PM
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Originally Posted by Fabi
The car is taller than before, it was lower with the stock OEM wheels, after i put the new wheels on it it get taller with 1" or more, i want to fix that, to be as before, as with the stock wheels.
Now you can go over speed bump and in/out of driveways a little easier not to mention maybe not scraping underneath the front fascia as much.
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Old Mar 7, 2012 | 02:43 PM
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yes but it looks like a truck
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Old Mar 7, 2012 | 03:54 PM
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Originally Posted by Fabi
yes but it looks like a truck
NAH, never look like a truck, 1" makes it a TRUCK??-you should have gotten the tires right and your stance would have been the same as when you started.
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Old Mar 7, 2012 | 03:54 PM
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Originally Posted by dougbfresh
I wouldn't do it on an F55 setup (I wouldn't really do it on anything but that's another story). Mess up one of those shocks by bottoming out on something and you'll really be mad. Price those shocks some time. By the way, the pic of what you want looks bad-hate when a car is lowered so much part of the tire is up in the wheel well.
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Old Mar 7, 2012 | 04:23 PM
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Originally Posted by dougbfresh
NAH, never look like a truck, 1" makes it a TRUCK??-you should have gotten the tires right and your stance would have been the same as when you started.
The tires are 245/35 R19 on the front and 285/30 R20 on the rear. The guys from Donz (they made the wheels) told me these are the best sizes for these wheels on this Corvette
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Old Mar 7, 2012 | 04:27 PM
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I would be really greatfull if somebody could tell me if had mounted the lowering kit from Ecklers that i was talking about in the 1st post on the F55 to know because i really want to make it a little bit lower, just a bit.

If not i received a good offer from KW for the ClubSport suspension
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Old Mar 7, 2012 | 06:58 PM
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http://www.c5forum.com/diy/lowering.php

I would just do the rear on yours, looks good as is too
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Old Mar 7, 2012 | 07:27 PM
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One of the problems with an F55 car is that the height sensors will stiffen the shocks and the car will ride like a buckboard if you lower it. The ride height sensors make the car think it is about to hit the bump stops (because it is) and the shocks stiffen automatically to prevent that. Result is a really crappy ride. Lowering it to the max on stock bolts is a really bad idea, and lowering it with longer rear bolts and shorter front bolts is going to make the car a mess. Just because somebody sells a kit to do something doesn't mean it isn't a stupid idea.

If you really want to lower it you will have to get rid of the F55 shocks and put a set of conventional shocks on the car. Still even with that you cannot lower it as much as you want without having the rear shocks bottom out.

The only other thing you can do is go get a set of coilovers. That will let you lower it more, but the suspension geometry will be screwed up.

The real right way to do it is to get a set of dropped spindles. Big bucks, but that's the only real way to solve the problem.

I'm sorry that you bought the wrong wheels and tires, but what you are trying to do is just going to ruin the way the car rides and drives. It might look better but it will ride and drive like a POS.
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Old Mar 7, 2012 | 08:23 PM
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You story doesn't make any sense. Did you drive the car yet?

The only way tires would make it sit 1" higher is by putting 2" larger diameter tires on it and those certainly don't look like they are 2" larger diameter than stock.

Peter
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Old Mar 8, 2012 | 06:43 AM
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Originally Posted by Solofast
One of the problems with an F55 car is that the height sensors will stiffen the shocks and the car will ride like a buckboard if you lower it. The ride height sensors make the car think it is about to hit the bump stops (because it is) and the shocks stiffen automatically to prevent that. Result is a really crappy ride. Lowering it to the max on stock bolts is a really bad idea, and lowering it with longer rear bolts and shorter front bolts is going to make the car a mess. Just because somebody sells a kit to do something doesn't mean it isn't a stupid idea.

If you really want to lower it you will have to get rid of the F55 shocks and put a set of conventional shocks on the car. Still even with that you cannot lower it as much as you want without having the rear shocks bottom out.

The only other thing you can do is go get a set of coilovers. That will let you lower it more, but the suspension geometry will be screwed up.

The real right way to do it is to get a set of dropped spindles. Big bucks, but that's the only real way to solve the problem.

I'm sorry that you bought the wrong wheels and tires, but what you are trying to do is just going to ruin the way the car rides and drives. It might look better but it will ride and drive like a POS.
Thanks for the complet answer. I want it to be as low as it was built by GM, not much to low. Maybe it doesn't look taller in the pictures, but in real life it is, and i don't like it to be taller than it was.
I want to make it the right way, i don't want any issues in the future because of lowering it, or at least not serious issues.

Can you please give some kind of a list of everything i need to do this job ? Maybe also the best store wich sells this items, it would be great.
Here in Romania is a big problem to fix a Corvette, there's only a friend of mine who works on american cars and do them the right way but i should better give him a manual to do this.

So give me the list with the best items to buy necessary to lower it a bit please.

Thanks again
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Old Mar 8, 2012 | 09:12 AM
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Put lower profile tires on it to get back to where you started-EZ!
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Old Mar 8, 2012 | 09:22 AM
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Just lower the car on the stock bolts. There is enough adjustment to make a difference. Then take it for a ride and see what you think.

If it is too rough, then put it back. If it still isn't low enough then order the kit from Eckler's.

It will only take a half hour of you time.

If it is so hard to find someone to work on the Corvette, why not start teaching yourself? Spend more time reading this forum, or get a service manual!
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Old Mar 8, 2012 | 09:27 AM
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Originally Posted by Fabi
I would be really greatfull if somebody could tell me if had mounted the lowering kit from Ecklers that i was talking about in the 1st post on the F55 to know because i really want to make it a little bit lower, just a bit.

If not i received a good offer from KW for the ClubSport suspension
You don't need a lowering kit to lower a corvette. You shouldn't lower it as much in that picture with an F55. You can probably lower it a little bit more on the stock bolts, but anything further than that will affect the ride.

IMO, those rims are really just too big for the car. The 19's up front look out of proportion.
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