OK, i may just be dumb but...
The other day i used some instructions on "how to lower your C5"
The directions said to TIGHTEN the bolt (i forget what its called, but for those of you who have done this before should know about the bolt i am talkin about), until there is 1 thread showing, so you have a little safty margin. The directions said that the car can be lowered about 1" without having to cut the bushings. I tightned the bold so 1 thread was showing, and then put the car back on the ground (also i know that when the car is raised the wheels tend to point inward and so when you put it back on the ground you have to go back and fourth a few times before the tires sit as they should on the ground). WELL....to my suprise the car had actually RAISED about 4 inches!!!!! WTF!!!
So then i though, well, ill try cutting the bushing and tightneing it more...well...that didnt work, the car only went back to where it had been before! and thats with the bushings cut!
Also, LOOSING the bolt instead of tightening it just makes it worse too...
I am thinking that if i get longer bolts, that will allow me to tighten it more and maybe get that 1" of lowering that i am looking for.
Have any of you guys had this situation happen before? ANY advise would be great! thanks!
Dan

1997 Torch Red C5 M6 (stock)

 

Welcome to the Forum. Are you talking about the rear bolts? You need to back them off (not tighten them) until a few threads are still showing. It might take a few up and down stints to get the height right. Turn the fronts so as much of the bolt is showing on top of the spring as possible. Doing this will lower you about 1 inch, though you will have to experiment because you have cut your bushings. :yesnod:

 

yeah i was talking about the rear, because of my troubles i decided not to touch the front quite yet...
thanks for the post though! i will try it again.
Dan

(evenbthough i cut the bushings, i can still put them back togather since the bushing slides through the bolt.)


[Modified by torchred97vette, 9:17 PM 12/18/2003]

 

righty tight leftie loosy doesn't work on these bolts. You have to work them in reverse, so in your case counterclockwise...

 

ok thanks for the tip , ill keep that im mind :D

 

Dont cut your bushings. You can get grade 8 bolts at Home Depot for just a few bucks. Just get the bolts 1/2 to 1 inch longer depending on how low you want it.

 

Dan,

You will also need to give it a while with some driving time. It took mine about 50 - 60 miles before it didn't settle any longer. I went with the longer bolts to get the rear a little lower and left the bushings alone. I really like the look that it now gives me.

Jeff

 

cool, thanks for the advise guys :thumbs:

 

I've done several of these and, contrary to popular belief, the threads on both front and back are right-hand threads. That means that, looking at the head of the bolt straight on, if you rotate it counter-clockwise it will unscrew. The head of the front bolt I define as the square end on top while the end of the bolt has the bushing. When you unscrew it, it backs out of the spring. The rear bolts are conventional metric hex-head bolts that you can buy regular right-hand thread replacements for. You need to unscrew both the front and rear bolts to lower the car. On the front, the bolts are specialty pieces that have bushings attached to the lower end that rests on the lower A-arm.

The fronts work by threading through the spring and pushing against the A-arms. The further they are screwed in, clockwise, the more they push against the A-arm and the higher the body is relative to the A-arms and thus the front wheels. If you unscrew them, they back off the spring pressure and allow the body to settle relative to the wheels. The bushings are there to eliminate scraping of the bolt against the A-arm and cushion the force a bit.

The rears work similarly by spacing the end of the spring from the lower A-arm. The more space you create between them by backing the bolt out of the nut, the less force the spring puts on the A-arm, allowing the body to drop downward. When you turn the bolts clockwise, they draw the nut, and thus the A-arm, closer together, creating more force from the spring and raising the car. Below is a pic (not a great one) where you can see the driver rear bolt on the left of the pic. I turned that bolt CCW while holding the nut static with a wrench in order to lower the car, leaving about 2 threads showing beyond the top of the nut.

 

thanks guys i appreshiate all the info! wow i didnt realize id get such great feedback, you guys rock :flag

 

Another way to help visualize this is that to lower the car in the rear you want to increase the distance between the bolt head and nut/washer. That's why you go to longer bolts (although I stayed with stock hardware).

On the fronts the spring is pushing against the lower control arm. So, if you reduce that distance (i.e. screw the adjuster bushing up tight against the control arm) you'll lower the front end.

In all cases these bolts are standard thread. Oh, and there's a couple of topics in the C5 Tech Tips (under the Tools pull down menu) detailing this procedure.

HTH, and have a good one,
Mike

 

I have 11 threads showing on each side in the rear. It dropped it around 1 to 1.5". Looks great. I also cut my bushings.