Ride height measurements
There was another thread about this topic that got polluted, and this may be better in the Tech Section, but there is more traffic in General right now and would be good to get input from owners.
I measured the ride height tonight in the garage. I measured this using a ruler along the width of the tire extending far enough out to the wheel well lip and a tape measure. These are not from the "shoulder" of the tire, which obviously curves down. The second measurement is from the floor to the outer edge of the wheel well lip. Left front, just a touch under 1.75" and 27.25". http://imageshack.us/a/img833/4061/56b2.jpg http://imageshack.us/a/img209/9633/0q1f.jpg Left rear, just a touch under 2.75" and 29.25". http://imageshack.us/a/img845/6659/bijq.jpg http://imageshack.us/a/img812/1600/jezq.jpg This is how the car sits on flat ground. http://imageshack.us/a/img545/9134/h3n9.jpg I'm tight on clearance at my driveway apron (~1") in and out and really plan to see if there is any change over the next month or so. Also note, this was with ~1/4 tank of fuel. An additional 60# may cause the car to drop slightly in the back. If anything, I would dial in ~.5" of drop in the back and leave the front as is. S. |
Should you do the measurements, left and right with you in the drivers seat? Or you an a passenger if that is normally the way you drive. Especially for driveway clearance. You don't want to have to have your passenger get out before you pull into the drive.
If you are considering full tank versus 1/4 tank, this may be a bigger factor. I realize that people weight is more evenly distributed on front and back, than fuel weight is. I however, weight more than 120#s, YMMV. |
If you intend to track your car aggressively, I would do that prior to lowering it. I noticed, while aggressively driving some of the curves on "The Snake" on Highway 421 in the Tennessee mountains, that the front air dam would occasionally scrape on the pavement simply with .8–.9 G cornering on some of the curves. Also if you look at some of the GoPro captured images of tires during some of the magazine drives on curves you will notice the incredible amount of compression that the suspension will take.
Just saying, GM determined the ride height for a reason, directly related to handling and cornering. If you lower the ride height, you may be in for a real surprise if you intend to corner aggressively. It's all you want is a boulevard cruiser with a low-slung, Lowrider appearance, go ahead and do it. |
Snorman - Thanks for posting the picture. Very helpful!
Rad 22 - Great comment! |
Z51 option
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Rear of car sitting in the garage with 3/4 tank of gas. Vin # 2560 with less than 60 miles. About a inch lower than snorman's car. Factory stock .
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Outside shot
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Z51 sits about an inch lower in the back than snorman. This is stock from the factory.one week old and 60 miles on her .
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That looks really high....lower it.
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Another z51 with a vin 2154
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Car @ dealership notice how high this one sits and it has a high vin #
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Maybe the suspensions have yet to "settle"?
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Originally Posted by LFZ
(Post 1585112414)
That looks really high....lower it.
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Originally Posted by Houston Z33
(Post 1585112503)
Maybe the suspensions have yet to "settle"?
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C6 ride heights and wheel alignments were all over the map on "identical" cars, and they also changed the specs several times during the production life. Hopefully GM will get it right this time.
The Service Manual for our 2009 C6 says that ride height should be measured with a full tank of fuel, but no luggage or people. You should also bounce the suspension up and measure, then down and measure. But since the suspension is so stiff that any hand-bouncing is liable to crack a fender, I prefer to drive over the 2" lip of our garage to settle the suspension. You might try using a couple of 2 x 6's as rumble strips. Also, the proper measurement is from a flat floor to the top of the wheel well arch, not from the tire to the top of the arch. In a perfect world, the results would be the same. But life and Corvettes ain't perfect. |
Originally Posted by 450hp mike9
(Post 1585112394)
Z51 sits about an inch lower in the back than snorman. This is stock from the factory.one week old and 60 miles on her .
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yeah I agree. looks amazing.
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Originally Posted by HollywoodC7
(Post 1585113056)
If this is stock....I cant even slightly imagine that...There isn't One shot of a machine out there that is as NICE as yours my friend...It totally looks lowered....
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Originally Posted by Snorman
(Post 1585108855)
Left front, just a touch under 1.75" and 27.25".
Left rear, just a touch under 2.75" and 29.25". |
Are the current batch of C7's lower than the one's on this post ? Need to see some pics.
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Originally Posted by 450hp mike9
(Post 1585112316)
Rear of car sitting in the garage with 3/4 tank of gas. Vin # 2560 with less than 60 miles. About a inch lower than snorman's car. Factory stock .
Interesting how there is that much of a difference. S. |
Originally Posted by Gearhead Jim
(Post 1585112995)
Also, the proper measurement is from a flat floor to the top of the wheel well arch, not from the tire to the top of the arch. In a perfect world, the results would be the same. But life and Corvettes ain't perfect.
S. |
Originally Posted by Snorman
(Post 1585128967)
Is that an MSRC/FE4 car?
Interesting how there is that much of a difference. S. |
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