Hi Yall!

This is my situation:

2002 z06-17k miles

Just lowered-took out front bolts completely-installed a West Coast Corvette rear bolt kit.

Installed new 18x8 tsw interlagos and 19x10 rear lalgos wrapped in Nitto Invo- 265/35/18 and 305/30/19

I took the car on a very long ride and this is my issue. I can turn my steering wheel up to 1/2" either way from center before the car starts to steer. It is like a delayed reaction. I am not a suspension expert, but I figured it is one of the following or maybe a combination.

1. New tires....maybe they are not gripping because they are not worn in yet

2. I may just need an alignment.

3. when I was removing the front height adjustment bolts, I unbolted the shocks from the lower a arms and un-bolted the knuckle from the struts to allow the lower A arm to drop enough to remove the height adjustment bolt. I left the tie rods attached and feel that maybe they got bent when I was wrestling the bolts out of the a-arm....Is this making sense? This is my worst case fear.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Does anyone know of any NJ based companies that are good with suspension or is this something I should be able to tackle on my own?

 

Im not a suspension expert...But ny friend had his 02 Z06 lowered and hated how it drove and paid the dealer to get it back to spec. I've read it screws with the balance.

Once again I'm NO EXPERT just sharing a friends experience.

Hope it works out better for you.

 

Does the steering feel tight? Possibly the pinch bolt for the steering shaft that connects to the rack?

 

"May" need an alignment? After lowering a car you definitely need a 4-wheel alignment! Also, new tires can feel a bit squirrely, depending on the tread pattern, until they wear in a little.
Not saying either of these are your problem, but after your car is well settled in a few more miles, get that alignment done and see how it behaves.

 

Did you keep track of any washers/shims that may have been behind the lower control arm and put them back exactly where they came from?

If you dropped the car all the way down on the springs, you're going to need an alignment.

FWIW: I run coilovers and when I put them on it dropped the car too low. Since the pic below I have raised the car back up 1 1/2 inches and it handles much better.

 

Keeylay,
I suggest getting back under there and re- examine every bolt & nut that you turned, loosened, removed & re installed.
Torque to factory settings.

If every thing checks out fine, then the next step is to find a competent C5 suspension expert to take a look see of what is going on & to then do the proper alignment on all four corners.

 

No maybe about the alignment.

Even with an alignment, you've screwed up the designed geometry of the suspension and you have hardly any suspension travel left so it will never drive the same.

 

I've lowered my '01 a bit over 1 inch and that procedure improved the handling of the car imho. I did add the Hotchkiss sway bars at the same time which also helped; new tires and wheels later. But the alignment is mandatory and having someone check out all the suspension connections, tie rod ends, ball joints, ect. is necessary to determine why your steering seems slow to react.

 

this is what i was wondering too. makes me think of my '73 Nova. but surely that wasnt touched in just tinkering with the spring..

 

That's a tough call.
We have no idea of where any hydraulic jacks, may have been placed & how much pressure was involved...... As in bent suspension part/parts.

 

im going with the different tires, being not a stiff in the sidewall and more thread, worn tires are more responsive because of less thread

 

If your car is now significantly Toe In after the new lower ride height it can definitely make a difference in the attitude of the car. If you make a large change in ride height of the car you absolutely need to get the car realigned afterwards. This should be your first troubleshooting step unless there are any suspension members that are obviously damaged after the install.

 

As several others have said - you NEED to get the car aligned!!! Any change in ride height or camber WILL change toe in.

If I understand what you're saying, there is dramatically more slop in the wheel than ther was in the past. NOT a good thing. First take a step back and relax, nothing you've done is irreversible. I strongly doubt that you bent a tie rod, but even if you did, it's in the same league as a tank of gas.

Before you take the car to a shop to get it aligned, recruit a friend, and get down on the ground in front of the car with a flashlight. Get your friend to turn the steering wheel back and forth repeatedly, while you look at all the steering parts. You're looking for relative motion, were there appears to be some "slop"in the steering components (e.g tie rod ends, steering shaft etc.). If you see some relative movement - you get to do a parts change before getting the alignment.

 

Congratulations, you've ruined the car's suspension calibration. Lowering it up to one inch below the OEM ride height provides optimum benefit from the lower center of gravity. Anything below that is counter-productive. The optimum ride height is achievable with the OEM bolts in place.

 

I had this problem with the steering...fixed it....the steering rack has one rubber bushing that gets a lot of play in it the older it gets, this makes a dead spot in the center of the steering, and also a little less responsiveness when doing switch back change of direction turns....really annoyed me but is common on these cars....DRM makes an aluminum steering rack bushing that fixes the problem...my steering is improved 100%.

I already had upgraded sway bars but the steering still had that dead spot and not enough road input....

some tidbits about the DRM bushing...its cheap ($40) and solves a big problem, but its a bit of a pita to put in....not complicated as a DIY and can be done with basic tools, but the fitment of the bushing isnt all that great so it can be a pita to get it back in....later today I will do a write up on some tips for instal that I got from my DIY trial and error.

its a cheap but knuckle killing PITA to fix that I was cursing about the whole time while doing it...but could not be happier now that its done...i would compare it to the rocking seat fix on steriods...the rocking seat fix is a pita but when its done you are much happier, this is like that times ten...the car is MUCH funner and responsive on canyon runs now...even everyday driving is funner becuase its more responsive and alive.

next weekend I am going to do a full poly bushing replacement on the control arms which should make it seem even more alive, will update on that later too....do the steering rack aluminum replacement bushing: cheap, pita, but WELL worth it!



also... its not an option, when you change the ride height and alignment MUST be done, frankly its not safe for your, life or your car not to get it aligned after lowering it.

 

this guy knows what he is talking about...did the best right on lowering a C5 that I ever read....

 

a lowered car will put additional stress on that rubber steering rack bushing too, which will eccentuate the already existing issue there IMHO.

I'd spend the $150 or so bucks and put a bump steer kit in also on a lowered car.

 

So you all are saying that a 1 inch suspension movement on the C5 seriously affects the toe?

Really?

So in day to day driving, at normal or close to stock ride height, any bump that causes more than 1 inch of suspension movement changes the toe....a lot.

That is called bump steer and does not make for a good handling car.

Fascinating.

 

A change in ride height affects STATIC TOE. Toe in/out changes as the suspension moves up & down (you might have heard the term "bump steer"). How much the toe changes is governed by the suspension design. Engineers spend LOTS of time trying to minimize toe change throughout the range of suspension movement, but there are many many trade offs involved.

Needless to say the Vettes (particularly C4's, C5's and C6's) have suspensions that are far better designed than most street cars. BUT, while that means that a Vette experiences less toe change than say a Chevy Pickup, when the ride height is changed it still needs to be checked, and adjusted. When the camber is changed, the toe still needs to be checked and adjusted.

IF you have any doubts about this - make a camber change on your car - not much - say 1/2 degree, and see how much the toe changes....

 

"...I removed the correct adjustment bolts from my car. Now my suspension doesnt work?!"