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Ok, more new guy questions - so I'm getting new tires and may need to raise the car a hair (it was lowered 1") for the 305 tires. My question is do I need to do an alignment for the new height on the back only? Thanks
After I lowered mine as far down as I could on stock bolts. I think the ride height looks perfect now.
I got new tires and alignment immediately after. A note, as I would / will never track my Z-51, I had them do the "street alignment". The dealership has guys that just work on Corvettes and they knew and have done the it many times.
The cheapest place for tires was my local Chevrolet dealership. I was stunned, as they promised to be lowest price and I checked everywhere and they were.
I wish you the best.
Ken
Last edited by Ken_4fun; Oct 17, 2022 at 04:19 PM.
What's a hair I would say any more than 1/8 inch and you should get an alignment maybe a 1/4 at max. However, 150 for an alignment is much less than 1000 for rear tires. Did you lower it and did you get an alignment after lowering it? If so, I wouldn't worry too much on a small change like I said. If you didn't lower it and bought it lowered I would get the alignment done for peace of mind. I have heard for every inch it's like .75 caster. I lowered mine and got an alignment, the right rear is an 1/8 inch higher after settling, so I will lower it the 1/8 inch. I will not be getting another alignment for such a small adjustment. Remember changing height also changes tow which is even more of a tire eater.
What's a hair I would say any more than 1/8 inch and you should get an alignment maybe a 1/4 at max. However, 150 for an alignment is much less than 1000 for rear tires. Did you lower it and did you get an alignment after lowering it? If so, I wouldn't worry too much on a small change like I said. If you didn't lower it and bought it lowered I would get the alignment done for peace of mind. I have heard for every inch it's like .75 caster. I lowered mine and got an alignment, the right rear is an 1/8 inch higher after settling, so I will lower it the 1/8 inch. I will not be getting another alignment for such a small adjustment. Remember changing height also changes tow which is even more of a tire eater.
Thank you - I did not lower it but it was lowered on original bolts and aligned afterwards - this I know to be true with receipt. I agree with you, probably anything over a 1/4" should get it aligned in the rear. We may get luck and not have to raise it back up.
After I lowered mine as far down as I could on stock bolts. I think the ride height looks perfect now.
I got new tires and alignment immediately after. A note, as I would / will never track my Z-51, I had them do the "street alignment". The dealership has guys that just work on Corvettes and they knew and have done the it many times.
The cheapest place for tires was my local Chevrolet dealership. I was stunned, as they promised to be lowest price and I checked everywhere and they were.
I guess I am just lucky. I have had 6 Corvettes and my last one was a C6 that I had for a little over 10 years and It was lowered and raised back up a few times over that time period. I never had it aligned and never saw any excessive wear on the tires. Now that is not to say it was out of alignment some, but I never saw anything with the tires that made be rush to an alignment shop and never had a handling issue and I auto crossed it for a few years. Now having said that, don't do what I did and seeing I have only had my C7 for a little over three weeks maybe they are different then the C6 as far as lowering.
Ok, more new guy questions - so I'm getting new tires and may need to raise the car a hair (it was lowered 1") for the 305 tires. My question is do I need to do an alignment for the new height on the back only? Thanks
when I bought my 2008 Z51 it was lowered so low I couldn’t run over a beer can laying on its side. Too low! I raised it about an inch all the way around. There are plenty of videos on how to do it. I counted how many turns I made on the bolts and did them all the same. I have raised cars and lowered cars both by counting the turns. I have never had the cars realigned and never had any problems with tire wear or anything else. Just my two cents worth. I would never let anyone align my car unless I knew them well.
That's a good question. I lowered mine when I got new tires. I put it about 20,000 miles on it and went back to original because I was scraping sometimes and didn't like it even though it was just the air dams scraping. I never got an alignment and the tires were worn evenly. I also really didn't notice the 1 inch it was lowered anyway.
Lowering bolts
