I got the rear done but I am having trouble turning the bolts on the front. I know I read somewhere a trick to it but I cannot find it. The Bolt is on the top of the leaf spring correct? Please anyone with help or advice? let me know as soon as you can. :banghead:

 

I did mine yesterday and the rear was a piece of cake.
The front was a B1TCH!!! :cuss
I lifted the car removed wheels and even shock bolts on one side.
Used the jack to raise the wheel and everything.
I ended up stripping both sides and I was using a socket.
I used a pair of vise grips and cranked on them to get them where I wanted them. I have a number of cuts and bruises. It was a real fight. :boxing
I am going to crank it down a little more but I thought I would let it settle in a little. There was rust on my bolts and I even applied WD-40 and let it set for a while before starting. I sure hope there is a better way.

 

Sounds to me like you didn't have the leaf spring pressure relieved enough. I used a bottle jack and a piece of wood to protect the leaf spring. I jacked it up enough that the rubber bushing was completely off of the lower control arm. There was a little tightness, but once I got the threads moving I could actually move the bolt by hand.

Hope this helps,
Mike

 

I know. I am struggling with the front bolts. I read somewhere to Jack the leaf spring to take out the tension but I don't know where. I am begining to wish I had done the front first, becasue I might not of gone the whole way with it.

If anyone else knows how to make this easier please let me know. The car is sitting on Jackstands and I really want to finish it.

Thanks

 

:iagree:

 

That's what I did too. Jack the spring up with the jack as close to the wheel side of the spring as you can get. Releasing the pressure off of the bolt allowed mine to turn by hand.

 

French,
Do as others have said. You must relieve the tension from the spring so the bushing part of the bolt is not touching the lower control arm. That is where the drag is.
As a last resort, disconnect the suspension and lower control arm. Then get channel locks on the bushing part of the bolt. It is much easier that way but more time consuming. You may be able to reach it without lowering the lower control arm. Do everything you can not to round off the 10mm top of the bolt.
It will round off very easily. Use more wd-40 if needed.
It will be worth it when you get done.
dave

 

This was likely your problem. You need to jack on ONLY the end of the spring itself...If you jacked the control arm up, you just increased the pressure on the adjusting bolt, making it even harder to turn. By jacking on only the spring, you are jacking the bolt off of the control arm, or at least take most of the tension off it, and it's easier to turn.

:cheers:

 

Ahhhh ;)
Now I get it.
Well my bolts are laready rounded :cry
How much work is it to get them out of there and replaced?
If it is too much trouble I will just leave it as is....seems to be where I want it.

 

If you jack the end of the fiberglass spring to relieve the pressure on the bushing end of the adjusting screws, you should be able to turn them with your fingers, so you shouldn't worry about rounding off the hex flats. When I did mine, I changed shocks at the same time so I was able to lower the rear control arm enough to screw the adjusting bolts all the way out. This made cutting the bushings easier and more accurate.The hex has to be small enough to go through the threaded hole in the spring. If you buggered up your hex with some of it sticking out, be careful you don't mess up the threads if you ever decide to remove these adjusting bolts. You could ruin your spring.$$$ :yesnod:

 

I am pretty sure I have it now. But, just to be clear I should see more of the bolt at the top when I have completed the process, Right? I am painting my calipers at the same time so I won't know how it looks for a days or so.

Thanks to everyone for the help, I know I will probably need more on the future. :cheers:

 

Yes, that's exactly what you'll see.

Glad you got it worked (working) out.

Have a good one,
Mike

 

Wish I read this thread a few hours ago. I could have used an excuse to take the Vette out for a drive :auto: and helped you out with the lowering.

 

I would have loved some help. But, I think I have it. At first when I tried to jack up the spring I was lifting the whole car off the jack stand. That scared me but in the mean time of me posting my troubles and thinking I should not have done it, my friend figured it out and went ahead an did it. I had all the instructions for doing printed out and setting around the car. Now I have to wait for the paint on my calipers to dry so I can see how it looks.

A big thank you to all for help.

Man I love the Forum. :D

 

Sorry to bug everyone again, but, I have another question. How long does it take roughly for the car to settle down and look at all lowered. The rear looks better but the front I can still put my fist in between the tire and the fender. It was on jacks stand for an entire tire and it has now been about 24hours sine I put the car back down. I really don't want to take it apart again but I am beginning to wonder if I did something wrong. :skep:

 

I drove mine around (as suggested here) right after lowering on roads that really worked the suspension out. Not jarring potholes but you get the point. Then it had completely settled within 24 hours. That I know because I went through this a few times due to unhappiness with the front. I ended up cutting the bushing, having to lower the control arm and all that fun crap :eek: to get the bolt out.

One last note, I had alot of email support from forum members, pics, etc.. yet I still screwed the front screw the wrong way. I backed it out of the garage and I thought :( WTF!! My car looked like it had a hydraulic suspension system in it with the front up in the air. I proceeded to drive it around the neighborhood hoping that any minute the front would drop so I wouldn't be looking up at the sky :lol: (barely see over the hood). It didn't lower and I didn't want any more of my neighbors seeing the dorky vette guy driving around with a jacked up vette. It was that obvious.

So a fist is not great, maybe your fist is really small and then you are okay.
:cheers:


[Modified by thegypsie, 7:39 PM 2/5/2003]

 

:iagree: this is the trick and it will amaze you when you do it..

 

I am doing this right now too.

More bolt showing on the top, for the front and less bolt showing on the top for the rear? Is this correct? It SEAMS correct, as the front is pushing the lower control arm away from the spring, and the rear is holding the control arm to the spring... so to speak.... right?

- C5B

 

That is correct. Both front and rear you "loosen to lower". (thats not a technically correct description, but it is applicable for the direction you need to turn the wrench).

:cheers:

 

As has been kinda alluded to, but not stated directly, it's not a matter of how much Ttime has passed, but rather how much mileage has passed under the wheels. Road time will settle the suspension; I waited a week before I measured mine and made final adjustments.

Hope this helps,
Mike