I have gone through 2 chin spoilers and air dams and had to have the lower radiator support bracket replaced . I scrape all the time so I asked the dealer to check the cars height. He told me my car is 2x lower then the other vettes on the lot . I never lowered it came like that from the factory . He couldnt raise until I got new tires and then he would raise it and do an alignment . The problem is I don't want the dealer to do the alignment . I am having the alignment tomorrow elsewhere and want them to raise it before the alignment is done . How do you raise it and how much so I can tell the alignment shop ? Is there a way to measure to make sure of the height so I won't keep bottoming out ? Thanks

 

Take it to Chuck COW( he's probally close to you) and have him raise it and put the original factory splitter back on. Then get an alignment

 

I've said repeatedly that our Corvettes aren't always setup precisely at the factory. I don't doubt you but I'd be surprised if the car is truly "2x" lower than the typical C6. There's only a limited range of adjustment on the stock bolts. It really does help to have new tires when doing an alignment and/or adjusting the setup....you can have considerable variations in tire wear/tire diameter from side-to-side. Although, my dealership has a decent, dedicated alignment "team" I take my car to the Volvo dealership for alignment work....they have the best computerized, photo-alignment equipment (where I live) and one talented technician who's willing to work on a Vette.

Basically, there are adjustment bolts at each corner of the car. I don't know that I'd trust an alignment place to setup the car properly. There are specific steps and procedures to follow and it's somewhat of a process to do right. Nothing major but certain steps must be followed. Besides simply adjusting the body height the dealership will surely check and adjust the trim height. The dealership has specific tools and gauges for measuring and adjusting trim height. Sometimes, just to adjust the height adjusting bolts you may need to take weight off the leaf spring or 'spread' the leaf spring just to turn the bolt (depending on which way you're going). There are workarounds but I believe the dealership has a special tool for that.

Besides the basic body height you want to make sure the car is 'balanced' from side-to-side. You just can't turn the bolts an equal number of times and hope the car is 'level.' There's also a factory spec for the rake of the car. IMO you'd be better served letting the dealership setup the car back to factory specs. Bring it in with a half-tank of fuel when you do it. Whatever you decide good luck!

 

Thanks. I just called the dealer and he said the car should be raised about 1'' . They will do it but the alignment specs will be Gm's . I wanted to follow PFADT specs for better tire wear . Maybe I will let the dealer do this then take it to another alignment shop .

 

I had our 2009 coupe raised a little by the dealer, in two stages.

After each adjustment, the height increase was about twice what I had expected. But after 200-500 miles, the suspension settles down to its final height.

One turn of the adjustment bolts will initially raise the car by almost 1/4", but after that 200-500 mile settling period, it will end up about 1/8" higher. Whether the "extra" 1/8" will appear for every turn of the bolts (3 turns equal 3/8" extra temporary increase), or just 1/8" extra temporary regardless of how many turns, I don't know.

For small changes, I recommend changing the height and then driving 200-500 miles before getting an alignment. But with a big change like you will be doing, probably best to do an initial alignment and then redo it after the 200-500 miles.

 

Jim,

A while back you posted that you bought the trim height measuring tool. Which bolt on the control arms does the cup of the tool hang on? On the front and the back.

Thanks,
Steve

 

We just re-measured mine yesterday.
The Service Manual says to clip it onto:

Front and rear
"...the front side of the lower control arm forward mounting bolt.

It will be more obvious when you actually go to do it.

But there are other problems:

The drawing in the SM shows the front ball joint as having a flat bottom, but it's curved. The SM tells you to use the lowest point, but that still leaves some room for interpertation when you're actually doing the measurement.

The part of the tool that clips onto the control arm mounting bolt, is a little too "deep" and won't allow the clip to seat properly. That tends to put the measuring rod at an angle, gotta try to keep it straight.

The whole layout of the tool and suspension also makes it easy for the measuring rod to end up angled instead of vertical.

Here are two pictures of my car taken yesterday; first pic is standing, second pic is kneeling. Slightly different perspectives.

To me, the car looks slightly high.
But comparing my measurements with the 2009 SM, my trim height is 8mm too low in front and right on spec at the rear. Raising my front trim by 8mm would raise the front fenders about 12mm, half an inch. I think that would look seriously goofy.

 

Hi Shelly,
Take the vette to Corvettes of Westchester, Chuck knows these cars inside out, at least give him a call.

37 Old Albany Post Road Ossining, NY 10562
(914) 332-0049