0-60C6

Hi Everyone,

So I’m going to be swapping out my 05’ base leaf springs, sway bars, and shocks, with their Z-51’s counterparts, including a few upgrades to the sway bars (Moog end links)

Before I go through with everything, are all sway bars, leaf springs, shocks, etc… interchangeable with all year corvettes, excluding grand sport, zo6, etc… due to their wide-ness.

Like could I put 2013 stuff, the last year of the c6, on my 05’ ?

0-60C6

Now I’m deciding between zo6 shocks with z-51 sway bars, or just do z-51 everything. I’m running stock tires so I’m not sure if the zo6 components would upset everything else.

old motorhead

I'm running Z51 sways and Z06 shocks on a base 2013 model. Couldn't be happier. I like the ride and the handling. The Z06 shocks were given to me. If I had to buy shocks, I'd buy the Bilstein B6's. I have about 45K miles on these shocks. They had 10K on them when I got 'em. I put another 35K on them. Still very pleased with them so far. When they get where they don't do the job, B6's will replace them.

FatsWaller

“excluding grand sport, zo6, etc… due to their wide-ness.”

The bodies are ‘wider’ only because the fender panels are flared, with wider wheels to fill in the gap. The front sub frame, for example, is common, so I assume technically any of the 6 or so transverse leaf springs should bolt in, but they would have different spring rates depending on which suspension option. And I could be wrong, but the spring from a ZR1 assumes the extra weight of the SC, so it would raise the front of your car a bit unless you lowered with the adjusting bolts to compensate.

C6KWJ

I have a 2007 convertible base and hated my stock suspension it was too soft and had a float to it in the corners.

I bought Johnny O’Connell front and rear sway bar kit along with their shocks. Night and day difference car in handling and car also has a great ride. I also noticed a huge improvement in steering feel and input (almost like a german steering feel).

VolSince69

This is a good question. Think the z51 leaf springs were for 05-09. The Grand Sport introduced in 2010 might be different spring rates, it is a slightly heavier car and from what I understand replaced the z51 package.

There are several options. The Johnny O'Connell sway bars mentioned by C6KWJ seem to get consistently good reviews. I've also read good things about LG's suspension upgrade offerings including their sway bars.

I have an 05 too, it is a z51. I did replace the end links with the Moogs, as well as stock shocks with DRM's including poly bushings. Love how it handles the mountain road twisties where it gets most of it's drive time. Could see where some might consider it firm. Perfect for my taste. Suspension upgrades with good tires can make a world of difference. Best of luck with the swap.

Iceaxe

I've been down this road... the first thing you want to do is add the Z51 Sway Bars ($270). That makes a HUGE difference. This is without doubt the best performance upgrades per dollar spent you can make to a base. It keeps the car flat in the corners and stops the car from "wallowing" in the corners without sacrificing ride quality. It takes about an hour to install the sway bars and anyone can do it as it's a simple swap. Steinjager makes a set of Z51 swaybars ($240) that work great now that GM has stopped selling the Z51 swaybars. You do NOT want Z06 swaybars on a base as the rear swaybar is too large and can cause the car to oversteer at the limits, which is the exact opposite of what you want to happen.

Now how far down the rabbit hole do you want to go?!?

Next up is add a set of Bilsten B8 or DRM shocks, which are much better than anything that ever came on any C6 and only slightly more money than OEM Z06 shocks at about $400 at set. Install is a little more involved but still easy. It takes about 3 hours to do all four corners.

You can also add polyurethane bushings at sway bars ($40) and shocks ($25), but this is a step beyond OEM Z51. Zero time involved if done with above. You WILL feel the polyurethane bushings.

Next up is to upgrade base brakes (JL9) to Z51 brakes (J55). You can use your base calipers, but you will need Z51 caliper brackets ($240) and rotors ($275).

front brackets #88964166
rear brackets #88964167

I hate the OEM rotors as the left side are not drilled correctly and they rust/discolor. I use rotors from Brakemotive as they are inexpensive, correctly drilled and zinc coated so they do not rust or discolor. Installing new rotors, brackets and pads will take about 3 hours for all four corners.

If you plan to track the car you do not want drilled rotors as they will crack. For autocross or high performance street driving it's a non issue. The drilled rotors are worth it just for the appearance if nothing else.

I hope that helps. I'm sure you'll get many other opinions, I've spent lots of time playing with C6 suspensions and this is the road I'd follow with a base for high performance street or autocross. YMMV

BMF_C6

I too have been down this road with my 05. Removed the F55 magnetic ride shocks along with the leaf springs and went with Alden American coil overs & Steinjager sways with the poly bushing but chose to go with Whiteline end links instead of Moog, I just liked the Whitelines because they are adjustable and heavy duty links.

After a couple of spring changes on the coil overs and after getting the stance/height right, getting it corner balanced made a hell of a difference. The car just feels rock solid suspension wise like it never did with the F55 suspension. Selling the shocks/connectors paid a nice chunk of what I spent.

My aftermarket wheels support the Z51 brake mod (you have confirm your wheels have the internal diameter for the Z51 rotors & calipers) but I decided to stay with the JL9 size rotors and replaced my OEM slotted rotors with zinc coated slotted rotors and like stated above, the appearance of having non rusted rotors is a big plus. I have to say though, with IceAxe giving the Z51 bracket part numbers I will be looking to change in the near future,,,,,,,,,,,

My next suspension project will be to replace all of the old control arm bushings, but I have to get myself worked up for that one........

Good Luck with whatever you choose to do.

BMF