The T-man

Anyone in Norcal, Sacramento / Chico / Yuba City
that has a lift or home shop where I can work w/ you to lower my C7 Z06 on the factory bolts?
I feel silly taking it to a shop for something so simple, but I'd like to work w/ someone who's done it before
thanks guys!

tf02

If you have a jack and a few jackstands you can do it in your driveway pretty easily. Just be very careful when lifting the leaf spring -- I used a thick towel to prevent marring it up.

RichieRichZ06

What you have to keep in mind is that even though the lowering seems simple, the car will require an alignment once you lower it. Changing the ride height on a C7 will change camber, caster and toe settings which will need to be corrected. If you're lowering for aesthetics you will definitely want to correct the alignment or you will increase tire wear significantly.

Homer3D

If you can’t find someone with a lift or maybe a quick jack, you can try to find one of those DIY garages that let you rent space by the hour. It is a super simple job to do. Did it on my 2005 C6 when I was getting headers installed. Since it was already in the air, just a couple of turns on the bolt and done. Might need a little bit of WD40 to get the bolts moving.

tf02

+1 to this, my caster was out of spec after lowering and you guys fixed it right up

The T-man

Since it was already in the air, just a couple of turns on the bolt and done.

so it's this simple on C7? I thought there was more involved than that, or if it's suspended and all wheels off ground it's this easy?

Homer3D

The key is to get the leaf spring off the lower control arm so that you can back off the bolt.

Here is a video of someone doing in their garage with 2 jacks. One to lift the car, the other to put a little pressure on the leaf spring to lift it off the lower control arm.

RichieRichZ06

Yep, lowering a C7 will change camber, caster and toe on both front and rear. I've seen customers lower their C7 without doing an alignment and take out a set of tires in less than 5k miles. I've also seen people lower them, have somebody like Les Schwab or America's Tire do the alignment and cause handling issues due to not adjusting the rear caster correctly. The C7 is a different animal than the previous C5/C6 cars.

Just don't go too low or the leaf spring will contact the control arm when the suspension is compressed. The composite spring usually loses when up against an aluminum control arm.

Rdubfalco

I can get you access to a lift in Vacaville and Suisun City, shoot me a PM.

Konnor1212

I have a lift in my garage I can let you use it, I might lower mine too while at it.

The T-man

Konnor...PM me

The T-man

anyone else? I have some time this next week or 2

RichieRichZ06

Have you been looking to do this for over a year? I'd be happy to handle it for you if you don't mind driving to Rio Vista. You're going to need an alignment after you lower and you should program the suspension control module to "learn" the new base ride height so the MR shocks are working correctly. The suspension control module makes the shock changes based on ride heights (compared to static height), steering input, brake pedal pressure and several other inputs. If you do not learn the new base ride height all those changes are being calculated off the suspension being in compression due to the ride height being lowered.

If the car is here for lowering, an alignment and learning the new ride height values, you're all in for about $300 out the door. Most dealers will charge $150 just for the programming of the suspension control, let alone another $150-$200 for lowering and another $189 or more for alignment to specs they're pulling out of their ***.

383vett

I had my 16Z aligned by Rich and company at Abel last year. They are meticulous and the alignment was perfect. They are one of the few outfits that can align the rear caster. It's worth the drive to Rio Vista for peace of mind that the job is being done correctly.

Nokones

I would listen to Rich unless you don't mine f**king things up. Just do it right and save some money and headaches in the long run. And I would "NEVER" take my car to Wheeler Chevrolet.