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C6 Corvette: How to Replace Front Leaf Spring

Upgrading to a different front leaf spring could be useful in stiffening the ride and increasing the sharpness of the handling. Learn how to here.

By Jeffrey Smith - March 3, 2015

This article applies to the C6 Corvette (2005-2013)

If you are looking for sharper handling, something to really make your car ride on rails by stiffening up the springs, here is a mod that you can do in your own garage. Changing out the front leaf springs is not the daunting task that it may seem. You can do it yourself in just a couple of hours, saving a lot of your hard earned cash otherwise spent having a professional do the job for you.

Materials Needed

  • Hydraulic floor jack
  • Jack stands
  • Blocks or tire chocks
  • Ratchet set and sockets
  • Replacement OEM or high-performance spring (optional)

These instructions are for removing the front springs. You should get an alignment after completing this job.

Step 1 – Jack up the front of the car and remove wheels

Place blocks behind the rear wheels and jack up the front end. Place the jack stands on the frame rails.

(Related Article: How to Jack Up Your Vette - CorvetteForum.com)

Figure 1. Jacking locations.

Step 2 – Move the floor jack under the A-arm

Place the floor jack under the spring in the Y of the A-arm and take the spring pressure off the A-arm.

Figure 2. It's best to place the jack directly on the Y of the A-arm if it will fit.

Warning

If you have to improvise as in Figure 2, use extreme caution when working under your car.

Step 3 – Remove lower A-arm bolts

Remove the two lower A-arm bolts, but be sure to not mix the front and rear. If you have marked their locations, make sure to line those marks back up when re-installing. If you will have an alignment done after this job, there is no need to place them back exactly as they were as they will be re-adjusted.

Figure 3. Remove the lower A-arm bolts.

Step 4 – Move the floor jack under the spring

Jack up the spring until it is almost lifting the car. This will relieve the tension of the spring so you can remove the bolts and the plates that hold it to the sub-frame of the car.

Figure 4. Jack up the end of the springs to remove the tension and take out the bolts.

Step 5 – Remove the leaf spring

Once the retaining bolts and plates are removed, the spring should come right out.

Figure 5. GM offers several package options of leaf springs for the Corvette, or high-performance springs can also be easily installed.

Step 6 – Replace the leaf spring (optional)

Reverse these steps to put the new spring in, unless you are going with coil over springs. It's recommended to get an alignment once finished.

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