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[Z06] Installing $1200 USA made coilovers on my C6Z
C6 Corvette ZR1 & Z06General info about GM’s Corvette Supercar, LS9 Corvette Technical Info, Performance Upgrades, Suspension Setup for Street or Track
I’ve been doing a lot of research for affordable coilovers for the C6Z. My options were BC (China), Stance (China), LG GT2(China/US) or Aldan American (US). I settled on the Aldan’s because they are American made and come with a lifetime warranty and the customer service seems to be great and everything comes from CA so shipping and support is close to me. Also, there is a C5Z that has won a few SCCA awards running these coilovers. I plan on doing an install with pictures and comments as I couldn’t find any specific to the C6 Z06. Post install will see a corner balance and track alignment. I will then review their behavior on the street, mountain roads, autocross at Marina airport, autocross at Crows landing, and on the track at Thunderhill. If you are local you are welcome to meet up and check out the install and go for a ride. More posts to follow once I install them.
You didn't mention DRM's.. They were brilliant on my old C5 FRC..
I was on the waiting list for over 6 months, called Randy and he couldn't give me a time frame and said he had no idea if they would be making them again. A month later I order the coilovers and 2 days after that DRM got in a shipment. If I don't like these coilovers, probably going to go to the DRM route and unfortunately will probably have to get on the new waiting list :-(
I just installed a set of Viking double adjustable coilovers with the pro touring valving myself.
Curious about a few things with the Aldans when you get them. Are the front lower T-bars on rubber bushing? Can't tell if they're rubber, poly, or delrin. Also notice that the rear rebound only adjustment is at the top of the shock body, curious to see if you are able to adjust it with the tire mounted with the tires on the ground once it settle. Seems like it would be difficult if you have little to no gap between the tire and fender?
I just installed a set of Viking double adjustable coilovers with the pro touring valving myself.
Curious about a few things with the Aldans when you get them. Are the front lower T-bars on rubber bushing? Can't tell if they're rubber, poly, or delrin. Also notice that the rear rebound only adjustment is at the top of the shock body, curious to see if you are able to adjust it with the tire mounted with the tires on the ground once it settle. Seems like it would be difficult if you have little to no gap between the tire and fender?
Still waiting on the shipment. My order was placed 2 weeks ago. I’ll post pics showing the lower T bar when I get them and front compression and rear rebound **** accessibility once I get them installed
I received the coilovers last night and unboxed them. I had ordered the 550 front and 650 rear at the recommendation of TPS Motorsports as my intended use as you can see from the original post is autocross, hpde and canyon carving, however the coilovers I received had a 600 front and 650 rear spring rate. I called Garrett this morning at Aldan American who stated the 50 lb difference should not be noticeable if I lower the compression setting on the fronts, it will likely also help reduce oversteer. Garrett mentioned that if I was not happy with any of the spring rates just to let him know and he would be happy to swap any of them out.
TTX350Z, all the bushings are polyurethane including the ones that go through the t-bar.
I plan on starting to install them tonight and will keep everybody posted.
I received the coilovers last night and unboxed them. I had ordered the 550 front and 650 rear at the recommendation of TPS Motorsports as my intended use as you can see from the original post is autocross, hpde and canyon carving, however the coilovers I received had a 600 front and 650 rear spring rate. I called Garrett this morning at Aldan American who stated the 50 lb difference should not be noticeable if I lower the compression setting on the fronts, it will likely also help reduce oversteer. Garrett mentioned that if I was not happy with any of the spring rates just to let him know and he would be happy to swap any of them out.
TTX350Z, all the bushings are polyurethane including the ones that go through the t-bar.
I plan on starting to install them tonight and will keep everybody posted.
I'm of the opinion that your 600/650 spring rates will be more conducive to your intended use as well. If you were 100% street car...yes, 550/650. Just my opinion...
Here is an unboxing video I made when I first received them. The compression and rebound ***** were extremely tight and it turns out that they just needed to be rotated multiple times for proper break in to loosen them up.
Check the adjustments and make sure they work. Here's a very recent member's Aldan's where the rebound doesn't work. I don't think his replacement is working properly either.
Check the adjustments and make sure they work. Here's a very recent member's Aldan's where the rebound doesn't work. I don't think his replacement is working properly either.
The rebound **** on one of the rear coilovers was really really stiff and difficult to turn, I rotated it maybe seventy times and it didn't get any easier. I contacted Garrett at Aldan and he's sending out a replacement right away. The rebound looked correct on the other shock that had a functional **** that turned easy and had a very identifiable click for each setting, the one that was hard to turn didn't click. Just for the record, just like the video on the post that TTX350Z linked, the new shock would rebound very quickly for the last two thirds of the stroke however after compressing it about 60 times, it worked all of the nitrogen out of the inner tube and had proper rebound through the entire stroke.
Subbed to hear more about these too; nice to see a review specific to the C6Z and with HPDE, so thanks in advance for that! May be worth cross posting into the autocrossing/racing subforum area too.
Re: the DRM coilovers mentioned earlier, I remember speaking to Randy about a year ago and he wasn't able to confirm when/if he'd have more available as Bilstein's motorsports division was doing some restructuring which messed up his supply chain. I really liked that option as it was a proper Bilstein motorsport damper (rebuildable, race proven etc.) like the LG G2. I have the DRM Bilstein dampers with oem leaf springs now and while it's extremely capable, the 'cross talk' feeling becomes apparent and reduces confidence/compliance on track, so this is definitely an option worth exploring.
01-10-2019, 04:47 PM
Installing $1200 USA made coilovers on my C6Z
