Hey Guys,

So this is my first time installing shocks, and have a couple questions.

I have the car sitting on the ground and I'm trying to tighten the front upper shock mounting nut on a Bilstein BE52977H1 (24-029773).

The torque spec I've seen is 19lbs, so on my 12 inch torque wrench with a 7 inch extension, after doing some conversions that means I should torque the nut down to 12lbs.

Now I'm worried with how much the rubber has compressed from under the washer. I don't like how it's squeezing out from under it...

Do I need to worry about this? After driving will the rubber sit better?



Top view of front shock mount






Bottom view of front shock mount

 

The rubber bushing is over compressed in your photo. Forget the torque wrench on the upper nut. Just tighten the nut until the rubber bushing is about the same diameter as the two washers and your good to go. Torque wrench is OK on the lower fasteners but it doesn't work well on the uppers.

 

Thanks for the reply!

That was my thought too... I'll back the nut out some until the rubber looks better.

 

I'm about to purchase and install those same Bilstein ($105 ea on Amazon but I'll check Cultrag also,, like to buy from Gene if possible). I'll be doing tie rod ends and maybe some other parts upgrades too in there (2003 103k miles stock).

Any other tips, how do they ride, etc?
THANKS

 

Yeah, actually. I don't recommend buying the shocks from Amazon. I had a helluva time with it. My initial order of the shocks were poorly handled, and one side of the shock punctured a hole through the box!
As a result all the mounting hardware fell out of the box, and couldn't install it!!
To make matters worse, Amazon treated the shocks as explosive because it was a "compressed gas cylinder" and would not take returns for it!

I ended up buying an entire second set of shocks from AutoZone at a premium (they were able to get it to me the fastest)... I was at least able to make sure it had all parts (including bushings) in store before I accepted it.
I would recommend checking out RockAuto, they typically have the best prices in my opinion for any autoparts.
https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...874&cc=1358579

I ended up doing a lot of suspension overhaul on my mostly stock 2000 coupe. I would absolutely recommend replacing the sway bar end links. The stock ones were plastic and were basically disintegrated for me. Get the full metal ones from a Z06 or the Moog brand ones (K750136).
I used the Z06 rear shocks (GM Part. 540-203) and replaced a few ball joints with busted sleeves, and all the tierod ends. Heads up on the Tie-rod ends, the rear ones are different than the front ones! So don't expect the same fitment.

The biggest thing I noticed after doing all this was that the became easier to drive. This is my first corvette, and the previous owner of it had abused this poor car. I had no idea how it was supposed to drive until I had fixed the extensive list of broken or warn out parts. It was initially so bad that my wife refused to drive the car!

It feels a world of different now! Easy to keep in lanes. During hard accelerations onto the freeway on-ramp the car responds well and sticks to the road perfectly.
Only downside is that with the upgraded-shocks the ride is far firmer now. It is not a soft and cushy luxury pillow. So going over minor road bumps and uneven pavement can felt fully.

 

Awesome info and advice, thanks Zman, and congrats on the great handling vette. This is my 5th, and the C5 is the best of all, it's been a reliable great running car with very few little fixes need over the 75k miles I've owned it. So fun. Have a Merry Christmas and thanks again for this advice!