Hope everyone had a great and safe 4th. Is there a better weekend to own/drive a Vette?

So how does one tell if a shock has gone bad? I'm having to daily drive my Z06 (yea, life is rough I know), and am noticing it's bottoming out in places it never did before. There's a couple (the PO) that it scrapes even if I stop, and barely ease over it. So, what might cause this? Shocks came to mind. They are the Koni externally adj. ones, the red ones, not the yellow ones. Bought new, been on for 6 years, and about 15,000 miles though a number of them have been on the track.

 

i wonder if reds are even valved for z06 spring rates. the reds are more of a base model shock

if you have too much spring on a shock you can waste them pretty fast. the springs on the z06 are so stiff that you can't really push down to test but you could inspect the shocks with a flashlight and look for any leaking. konis sometimes leak at the adjustment **** on top as well


as good as gm got the 2004 sachs z06 shocks, i really can't think of a reason to use anything else if you keep the stock springs and sways. shocks are as close to perfect for that setup as you can get

 

I just installed the 2004 Z06 shocks on my '03 Z06. I find I no longer scrape the nose of those little dips that I always scraped before. The car feels so much better in the turns and less sharp on quick bumps. So yeah, shocks helped me from scraping my air dam.

 

What about C6 Z06 shocks? I keep hearing good things about them when used on a C5 Z06, and they are cheaper than the 04's?

 

I went with the c6 z06 shocks on my 03 z and I love them..felt good on the track and day to day driving they feel much better then my 03' z shocks did imo...I took mine out at 42k miles..

 

C6 ZO6 shocks are a great improvement over stock ZO6 shocks. They are a LOT less expensive and you will really enjoy the control they provide. They are 100% OEM fit and only cost $250ish dollars.

Contact Gene Culley www.gmpartshouse.com

I have them in my 02 ZO6 and they are a great shock.

Bill

 

Thanks for the responses.

Yea, pushing down to test is fruitless on this car. The plan had been to upgrade springs/sway's as well, but life (being laid off) has a way of changing one's plans doesn't it? Perhaps that has lead to some "premature aging" of the shocks.

No evidence of leaking. I've looked a couple times. I've still got the stock one's in the garage rafters, but changing them isn't trivial, at least not for me.

I know a couple of guys in the local community more in tune with the car's suspension nuances. Perhap's I'll put one behind the wheel at an autox. For now a little extra (3 psi) in the tires seems to help. It's no biggie. The car is being driven like 3-10 miles a day at low speeds.

 

Isn't it the springs that keep the car up.. not shocks? If stopping and easing over, it shouldn't be a shock issue should it?

Any extra weight in the car? On you ?

Take the car out where you can drive it at a good speed. You should have a noticeable loss in handling stability with a bad shock(s). Take the corners and see if it feels as crisp as it should. If the car is overly bouncy, and or has poor dampening/rebound response putting the foot in and out of it it you might be able to self diagnose.

 

Thx for the chuckle. I'm 150 lbs. soaking wet. Weigh every morning. Just another fit, middle aged, rock climbing guy in Boulder. At least I don't have a pony-tail.

My OP was a question. I'm not sure it is the shocks. Just know something's changed. Doubt it's the springs though. The car still handles very well. There's a 270 degree entrance onto a limited access highway about a mile from the house. Up hill, and on-camber it's a wonderful turn. I've scared more than one on it. When done correctly I can get the car to drift from in to out under full power. It's a hoot, and I've noticed no change.

Haven't contributed much to this forum so for those who search on this here's what I think I know. After all the C5 Z06 is a pretty attractive base for a track car right now. Tons of untapped potential. lots of proven bits, and good prices for usually well cared for, if not out right babied cars.

I recall seeing a graph which compared the Z06 (the '04) stock, the Koni red, and the Koni yellow. The red overlaps with the stock only outdoing it on it's stiffest settings, and overlaps with the yellow on the yellow's softer settings. So yes, the reds can be very stock like. My intent wasn't trying to set track records, just to improve the performance a bit while maintaining close to stock, such as it is, ride quality. Problem is the Koni's are not exactly easily adjusted. Adjusting between runs at an autox is impossible. It requires removing the wheels for one thing. I had Tokico adjustable's on my Mustang, and they had a very user friendly enumerated dial on top easily changed with a screwdriver or pocket knife. Not so these Koni's. So I set them at the stiffest setting up front, and one down in back, and there they have stayed. Had it to do over again I'd go with another brand. At least they weren't terribly expensive. Around $300 as I recall.

Lastly I would add the scraping is occuring on the Phadt front tow ring I installed on the passenger side subframe. The newer one's come through the park light opening I believe much like the rear one comes through the rear "bumper".

 

that would be unusual for koni to do with the 2004 shocks. koni, almost always uses a smooth dampening curve which is the same thing the 01-03 shocks did. the 04's were setup differently than any other shock i know of except the c6z shock which is really similar to the 04 z06 shock. the shocks are softer on slow speed and tighter on high speed impacts. very trick curve sachs came up with for the 04 car

 

Bad shocks can cause the car to start bottoming out. I think all of these are good for the price:
C6Z06 $250
Pfadt Johnny O'Connell $550
Koni $1300
Penske $3000

I have tracked all of these.