Lowering bolt install C6 how to (with pics)
 

Installed lowering bolts today on my 2013 GS and though I would do a quick little write up on them for future searchers. Got them from forum vendor Corvette Mods. It was really easy with a lift but could be done with jack stands.

First off, the front and rear is the same process. There are different mounting bolts for the upper control arms and lower shock mount up front than the rear but they are in the same place. Watch out for the washers behind the upper CAs up front. The below pics are all form the rear.

I removed the sway bar, unbolted the upper control arm at the frame, and unbolted the the lower shock mount all in that order. This allows the assymbally to come down enough so that you can thread the stock bolts out and also thread the lowering bolts back in. They must come out/go in through the bottom of the leaf. It helps to pry up on the leaf with a pry bar or handle of a mallet or something so you can get the last little bit of clearance to get the bolts in and out. You don't have to pry much,
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Stock vs Lowering bolt. You can see how much shorter the pad is on the lowering bolt. This allows the lower control arm to come up closer to the leaf when the weight of the vehicle is on the suspension, thus lowering the ride height.
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Once you have the old ones out simply thread the new ones in and re-asymble everything in the reverse order of how you removed it. If you thread the new ones all the way up to the leaf you will be achieving maximum drop. I threaded mine all the way up then made a mark on the leaf and the pad with a paint pen. I then turned mine out one full turn at all four corners. This gave me a tight one finger gap between tire and fenders.

Kind of hard to see the gap in these pics because it was dark by the time I got done and got back to the house with the suspension settled. I will add some day time pics sometime this week. I am super happy with the new stance, it really finished off the exterior for me.
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Awesome looking for daytime pics!

Keep an eye on them...especially if you drive hard.

Nice writeup and looks sick

did ya need alingment? hows it driving? any pulling?


oh yeah? why? the top rubber bushing will fall apart or something?

Good luck. Myself and many others have experienced very short life from those lowering bolts. The rubber pad will tear in no time exposing the metal bolt underneath allowing it to rub on the arm directly. If you drive the car every day plan on replacing them in a month.

^ oh dam. yeah I do drive it almost everyday.

how bout cutting down the stock bolt? they have to be more durable?

Thanks for the great product and super quick shipping! :cheers:

Thanks. :thumbs:

I keep an eye on everything. Thanks for the heads up though.
Thanks. I will be getting an alignment this weekend just to be safe. Anytime you significantly change your ride height it is a good idea to get an alignment. It is driving fine as is, no pulling or anything and the change in ride quality is barely noticeable.

I will keep an eye on them. It is not a daily driver.

Cut bolts....lowering bolts...could go either way. I've had lowering bolts and took them off after 5000 miles and they were shredded.

this sucks.

do the front wear out quicker then the rears? im hoping to atleast lower the rear a 3/4 to 1/2 an inch just to level it out

IMO, the rears take more abuse due to the fact that with lowering bolts, the spring can separate from the lower control arm during hard dips when coming up. (This is why the stock rear bolt bushing is so thick)

When I had them in, I could actually feel the bolt pad smacking the lower control arm pocket. That type of abuse kills those pads. Of course this is during hard driving. If you drive like Miss Daisy...You shouldn't really have any problems.

um I see

so there is another low costing mod to lower it?


(sorry for the highjack op ;) )

On C5's and C6's ...I've always put a little grease on the contact pad of the lowering bolts, it really helps the aftermarket ones!

Remember, unless things have changed, GM doesn't sell the stock bolts by themselves and you have to buy the entire spring. Makes it expensive to go back to stock. :cheers:

:lol:

jk...not really. As long as you don't track or drive too aggressive..should be ok.

Thanks for the information. Beautiful Corvette. :thumbs:

A very reasonable way to lower the car price wise is to use Hardbar bolts. Some people have complained of squeaking with them, but mine have been silent since day 1. And they won't wear out.

^ whered ya get yours? what brand? thanks




yeah I hear ya it was kind of a funny dumb question...

Becareful with Hardbar bolts....the spherical shape of the delrin pads dug a slight pocket in the control arms when when I had them. Not sure if that would eventually cause any harm, but I didn't like it... Yes I have been through it all when it comes to lowering! LOL!

Just an update. These lowering bolts are complete garbage. I have already gone through my 2nd set on the rear. Yes, I used plenty of heavy duty grease. My car is not a daily driver. I got about 1k miles out of each set in the rear before that delrin pad was completely disintegrated, like it's not even there, just metal on metal now. Real easy to tell because it starts making an awful noise over the smallest cracks and you can actually feel the metal to metal contact. I will be cutting down the pad on the stock bolts this weekend for the rears and will see how those hold up. That rubber pad on the stock ones seems much more durable than that delrin crap on the corvette mods ones. Don't waste your money on them unless your car is a trailer queen show car, seriously.

I am reading all these threads about after market lower bolts. I get the idea of the improved look/stance and so I am not critiquing anyone's mods. But I cannot believe that cars so lowered don't scrape on every dip on the road? I guess I am the only one that actually raised the ride height because I was sick of the scraping.

Reading other threads, the consensus is that any major change in ride height dictates that alignment should be checked.