I have an 04 Z06 CE with about 47k on it. I bought the car in February and am having a great time with it. I thinking about if I need to replace the shocks.

Two questions... 1) how do I "test" and see if the shocks are still good? I don't think that the old "bounce" test for the shocks will be that accurate as our cars have stiff springs to begin with.

2) if I do need to replace shocks, I've read that the 04 shock is "the best" but was a one year only option on the Z06. I also read that a few folks are putting on C6 shocks on the C5s?

I'm kind of a "keep it stock" guy so my inclination is that (if) I need shocks to hunt down a set of OEM '04 although I hear they are difficult to find. If the 04s are unobtainable, what is the next best think to the '04 specs?

Thanks

 

Just taking a stab here but.....Do you have magnetic ride shocks? If so, I believe they "leak" and you can determine if one is failing by residual crud on it. But don't hold me to this. I know when my QA-1 Aftermarket Shocks were leaking by seeing residual crud leaking from it.

Second, you can try and lift up and down underneath each panel over the tire and see if any corner is different from the other in the shock and rebound. They should all be similar in bounce/stiffness.

Or, I could be totally wrong and second your quest for 04 shocks.

 

Are you going for the Top Flight? Or just keep the Bilsteins?

The best alternative is the DRM valved Bilsteins. A bit better than the 04 Z06 shocks. Still the same ride just keeps the rear planted better under power.

 

Just get c6 z06 shocks and sways or c6 z51 shocks as mentioned in the millions of threads about shocks on here, no point in paying a million dollars for used or new 04 shocks when they hard to find. Spend an extra 5 min and use the search function

 

Mag ride was never offered on Z's.

I'm not sure there is a good way to test shocks on a car like this, outside of removing and compressing. Maybe a shock dyno could really tell you.

I went with C6Z shocks on my 2004, mine were pretty worn at 80K, streets where the car came from were pretty rough.

 

You can disconnect one end of the shock and see if the shock still had the required pressure. The shock should extend and be difficult to compress. All four should have the same pressure (resistance to compress) The key to a healthy shock is compression and rebound valving. You will never to be able to accurately determine if the shock is worn out by any specific percent with out some sort of dedicated shock dyno as ArtClassShank stated.

Shocks degrade S L O W L Y over miles. Not having the car from NEW OFF THE LOT, its difficult to see if you have lost any handling unless the shocks are outright failed.

I had a SHOCK ENLIGHTENING experience with my 02 ZO6. I purchased the car new so I knew how it was supposed to handle stock out of the box. One day I tried to take a high speed tight curve highway entrance ramp. The highway had an irregular surface. As I was into the curve the car wanted to hop side ways through the curve. HOLY CRAP,, It never did that before.

YEP, the 36,000 ish mile C5 ZO6 shocks were not what they use to be. Not worn out but not able to keep the tire firmly planted on the road. A set of C6 ZO6 shock resolved that issue 100% and I feel that the performance handling under emergent maneuvers was enhanced with the new C6 Z shocks. The Bilstein DRM shocks are also an excellent replacement shock..

JUST replace the shocks with a BETTER performance shock and enjoy the enhanced performance. You WILL notice a difference!!!!

Don't fall into the trap of wanting to keep EVERYTHING in the car 100% stock. You will just be banging your head on the wall and never getting any better. NO ONE is going to look at the part number of the shock other than your BUTTOMETER.
Make the BUTTOMETER HAPPY!

Bill

 

Tahnks for the advise! Idrive pretty sane, but new shocks might be in order. I looked at the DRM and they seem to be back ordered, so I'll look at the C6 Z06 shocks.

 

How does age impact shock performance? My 02 coupe has the Z51 suspension package and "only" 35K miles on it. So are 16 year old shocks something to consider replacing simply because of age? The car is also lowered on the stock bolts so does eventually have a negative impact on the shocks?

 

ALL C5 OEM Shocks have significant nitrogen pressure charge above the oil fill to prevent oil cavitation when the shock is put through heavy oscillations. Over time that gas charge can and will leak out. Some shocks loose their charge quicker than others. My worn out C5 ZO6 shocks still had a good charge but the valving inside was not as good as a fresh set of new shocks. I even passed my worn Z shocks down to a friend with a stock 2000 Coupe with 150,000 miles on the old original OEM SHOCKS. He was AMAZED in the improvement that my old worn OEM ZO6 shocks did for his coupe. .

If your shocks still have pressure and they are very low miles, they may still be good enough to satisfy your needs.

 

So, I'm double checking the part number on the C6 Z06 shocks that will fit:

Front 10313647
Rear 25819268

I have a Summit racing very near my house (Arlington, TX location) so it would be very easy to swing by and pick up a set for a weekend project.

 

does anyone know the OEM part numbers for the 04 F55 shocks?