Hey guys,

I am a new z06 owner. I know there are several ways to lower the car...including "lowering on stock bolts"......can someone please point me in the right direction to a thread where this is maybe discussed?

If not, can someone briefly describe the ways to lower a 2008 z06, and what is involved parts and costs.



Making a suspension sticky may not be a bad idea....

Thanks!
JB

 

You can turn or replace the stock bolts with "lowering" bolts to lower the car. Make sure you get it aligned after you do this.

To lower with the stock bolts, you need to take all the load off of the spring. After that just turn the bolts counter clockwise to lower the car. You will need to drive it to see the effect.

 

http://www.vetteweb.com/tech/vemp_07...ing/index.html

 

Maintaining or increasing performance at a reasonable price is my goal.

Thanks for the links, I will post if I have anymore questions.

JB

 

Cost of using the lowering bolts?

Your time and effort.
The cost of an alignment.
The cost of re-aiming the headlights.
The cost of giving up suspension travel.
The cost of frequently bottoming the suspension.

 

pulling it down on the "wedge bolts" will ruin the handling that you had and will not "increase performance" the "search" button?

 

Not trying to be a jerk so please dont take it that way but.... how does running the stock bolts down limit the travel of the suspension? If we use that way of thinking then if we run the bolt the other way we gain travel? I dont think so.
Also, if you drop the car on stock bolts you only gain 3/4 of an inch or so, I seriously doubt it would effect the headlights all that much especially if he lowers the front and rear the same amount.
I will agree with you on the alignment and the decreased ground clearance.

 

have any of the people that bitch about lowering the cars ever ridden in a lowered car or compared the handling of the 2?

Or is it just your opinion?

 

so lowering the car can be done with no aftermarket parts? Please help point me to a post, or writeup...Id greatly appreciate it.

Btw...please refrain from any arguing in this thread...I would like to figure out a solution....thanks.
.
JB

 

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...ower-a-c6.html

turn those counter clock-wise (i think) till it's tight or low enough for you... it should get close/tighter against the rubber spacer the lower it gets.

 

Lowering the car limits the travel of the wheel. No need for measurements, just common sense. The wheel/tire can only move up so far before contacting the stop that limits the travel. If you take away an inch by lowering (raising the wheel/tire in the wheel well) then you have taken away an inch of up travel of the wheel.

 

So why is there a rubber spacer that limits how much the car can be lowered on stock bolts?

I cannot imagine that the car will handle or feel any differently as long as the stock bolts are used and the spacers aren't cut.

 

good point, i think most naysayers are guys who lack in one area or another or just like the debate without the facts.
I know for me the car handles better (its not alot on stocks but if you get an inch thats worth the effort) its only takes a very short time to do it. The headlights will only loose that inch of height and if leveled evenly wont need re-aimed, you dont loose travel unless you talking about bottoming the tire out against the wheel well, and for mine the alignment wasnt changed enuf to even notice (the camber lowered .1 and the toe stayed the same,,,bump steer effect i guess) and the main reaon for changing the height? BEcause it looks so much freakin cooler sure you will drag more then stock but the drag on the front is the air dam anyway and its like 75 bucks to swap out,,,,,big deal, i gas mine going out of driveways and that lifts the front end, something i did from new.

 

Yes, you can lower the car some with the stock bolts. Not a lot but enough to improve the way the car looks without having to adjust the headlights (why would you need to do this if you lower the car the same amount front and back?), or do an alignment (although it's not a bad idea *anyway* as the cars often need one fresh from the factory.

BE SURE TO MARK EACH BOLT'S STOCK SETTING BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING so that (A) you know what you have done (B) you can go back to normal if you want!! A white grease pencil is good for this.

And count the number of turns you make so that the changes you make are even.

If you subsequently decide that cranking the stock bolts down (up?) to the maximum doesn't lower the car enough then the next step is aftermarket lowering bolts. Note: many folks will tell you that the way to get more lowering is to cut the stock bolts down. Yes, that works, but it's a "permanent" fix. As far as I know you cannot order NEW stock bolts without buying the entire spring for $300+ each if you wanted to undo this. So you'd have to buy aftermarket bolts anyway

Do *not* use the West Coast Corvette bolts. They are junk. Ours lasted 2 days:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-t...olts-pics.html

Use either the Hardbar bolts:
http://hardbarusa.com/hardbar/produc...products_id=48

or the Eibach bolts:
http://www.tirerack.com/suspension/s...510&perfCode=P

There are lots of positive reports on the forum for both. My wife's C6 is lowered *way* more than you're talking about using the Eibach bolts with no issues whatsoever. You *will* want a good alignment afterwards, though (again, not a bad thing anyway.)

If you don't lower it a lot (just stock bolts all the way down) then you should have no problems with bottoming the suspension. You *may* find that the air dam underneath will be scraping over driveways and such more often depending upon your environment. But those parts are is designed to do that and it's relatively inexpensive to replace after a few years of abuse (approx $100 for all three components at the moment and you can do it yourself.) As long as the noise doesn't bother you...

Z//

 

the people thinking this is going to botom out the springs have no clue how suspenion in this car works. if you just put a stiffer/ shorter spring in a traditional independent suspernsion car, then yes you will have a rougher ride like drop srings on a civic.

but thats NOT the same as these cars. the springs are not changed, it changes how the body sits on the springs, so the ride is the same becasue the springs are the same. yes I assume if you are trying to BOTTOM out the tire in the fenderwell. you have less room, but thats the main point people lower the car is because of the wheel gap.

You are lowering the senter of gravity, so some do say they hanle better.

The ONLY thing that could effect the ride, is the fact that the shock absorber, is all ready compressed an extra 1/2 inch becasue you are not changing anything on that, so it is commpressed a little extra, but nothing that you will notice.

Its great when people argue about soemthing they have either no experince with, or know idea how things work. If you are going to argue that it rides different, at least argue the facts about it, the spring is NOT changed, the shcok absuber is, so the rebound, or dampining is changed if ANY THING. But again nothing you wil notice.

I lowered mine on the stock bolts up front and the rears all the way, with 1/2 the bushings cut.

 

I disagree, the suspension has exactly the same travel. By lowering the car you only change where that travel starts. So, theoretically if you originally had say 5 inches of wheel travel up and down from the starting point, until you hit the snubber, then when you lower it you might be more like 6 inches up and 4 inches down although I seriously doubt that the ratio would be one to one. I would also be willing to bet 95% of Corvette drivers have never reached that limit since the suspension is stiff to start with and the car would have to be have to be driven close to if not beyond its limits.

IMHO, HANNY has hit the nail on the head! "BEcause it looks so much freakin cooler"

To the OP, do what you want. I have lowered the rear on mine to "level" it out and I love it. You do have to watch it a little more in driveways, speedbumps, etc.. but to me it was worth it for the look. It takes literally 5 minutes a side once in the air. It might take 20 miles or more and could be up to a couple of days of driving for the suspension to "settle" due to jacking it up and compressing the spring. I would wait until it has before an alignment is done. While possibly not necessary an alignment is recommended, especially if you have never done one. The factory tolerances are wide ranging. I asked for a before and after print out and my car was way off although within limits. Ask around and see what machines they use as some I found out cannot correctly do a Vette because of how the sensors mount on the wheel, the tire lip that protects the wheel was what I told to me by my dealer(a tech I trust).

Good Luck and I am standing by for before and after pics!

 

Exind- if you only lowered the rear. then the front scrapes less than the stock. emagine you car like a lever and a fulcrum. the front tires being the fulcrum. when you lower the long end of the lever, you raise the front of the bumper/air damn. (granted not by much, becasue the lever is only moving by maybe an inch, and the lever is WAY longer on the side that is being lower) but it for sure is not going to make the front lower by JUST LOWERING THE REAR.

 

I'm actually lowering my rear for this reason... decrease the large rear wheel gap just slightly and maybe raise the front a bit so it scrapes less.

 

Keep in mind that the car has rake to it..The rear is supposed to be higher than the front. I have a friend with a Z06 that we are working on to get it back to stock rake. Previous owner flattened the car to "look cool" and now the front end gets light at high speed.
Old rule to live by, "Form follows function"..
If you do lower with stock shocks, there will be times you bottom your shocks out. Bilsteins are a little shorter shock and will cure that.
The C5 Z06 manual even tells you to lower the car 15mm for track use.

 

Lots of good info in this thread. I will be adjusting the ride height on mine in a couple weeks at a (special place) that designs alignment and balancing equipment and will leave a slight rake in the stance.

Regarding the Bilsteins being a little shorter...I was considering going with the Koni's, do you know if they are the same length as stock or the Bilsteins? Thx John