Right ride hight for C5?

[zagger]

Ive recently had my 6speed trany rebuild, new clutch etc.. To acomplish this the rear end had to be droped and reinstalled. Since I got the car back the handling feels differant to me. I had the car in two shops for an alignment and it still feels like it will bounce off the road. This hapens aspecialy while driving at higher speed or while turning or changing lanes. I noticed the other day that there is a lot more of room in the rear tire well then there was before. If I look at the space under the runing board the rear sits higher than the front. I think the bolts that set the ride hight need to be adjusted, which in turn would stiffen the rear dampening. Does anyone know what is the the stock hight if mesured from ground to the lift points (under the runing boards) on a stock C5?

PS. I'm runing run flat F1 in front and non run flats F1 on the rear. Can that cause the extra body roll or bounce I think I'm feeling?

 

[c5y2k]

I don't think the different tires will make it handle like that. I'm guessing you had the same tires on it before and it handled fine. I didn't drive mine to work today but I'll be glad to measure the ride height when it get home and post if no one has posted by then.

One thing you might check the distance between the wheels. Measure from the center of the front wheel to the center of the back wheel. Do that on both sides and compare the numbers. Maybe when they put the rear cradle back in a tad crooked.

 

[zagger]

Thank you for the reply. You are right about the tires, I had them on before all the work was done on the rear and it drove good. I've checked the distance betwean the tires and as much as I can tell with a tapemesure it's the same on bouth sides. If it's not to much trouble I would greatly apreciate if you could get those mesurments to me.
Thanks Zig.

 

[bossvette]

the ride height can be adjusted both front and rear by the bolts, mine is lowered so measuring it won't help. Quite a few like them lower.

they handle better lower also

 

[c5y2k]

At the jack points from the ground to the metal its 5.5" on both sides. From the ground to the top of the wheel wells its 28.5"

 

[zagger]

Thank you for the #'s. As I thought the rear is at 29 3/8. This translates to 7/8 difference between the rear and front ( 5 1/2 front and 6 3/8 rear ). I will adjust the hight this weekend then if time allows realign the whole setup. Thanks to your numbers I'm confident that this will cure my handling problems. I'll let you guys know the outcome as soon as I have a chance to test the new setup.

I also wont to say that it's guys like you that make this board as great as it is. It's hard to find people that are willing to go out of their way just to help someone this day. Again, thank you and good karma back at you!

 

[c5y2k]

Glad to help. Let us know if that fixes the handleing issue.

 

[C598LS1]

The ride height can be adjusted via the bolts only? is this safe? if i do this, would i need to go out and buy lowering springs/shocks/etc?

 

[zagger]

Here is a link that describes how to due it.
http://www.frankhunt.com/FRANK/hobbies/corvette/options/Lowering/C5_Lowering.htm

 

[zagger]

OK I'm done with the adjustment, and the handling difference is incredible! The car is back to feeling as if it was riding on rails! The whole adjusting process is easy however dialing in equal ride hight is a pain in the @#*. I've set the screws to an exact length on both sides ( I used digital calipers and had them dialed in to within .010" of each other). Then I went for a 15 min ride over the bumpiest road I knew of in my neighborhood. When I got back I went to measure how much they settled. I discovered I had a low rider on my hands and one side was 1/4" higher than the other. To make it short it took four adjustments to get both sides to the hight I wonted and within 1/8 of an inch of each other. It seams that a very little adjustment on the bolts makes big difference on the hight after it settles, and it gets pretty hot down there too!

PS: The trany shop mechanic had the bolts tighten all the way in, maybe he thought it was a 4/4. But all is better know.

 

[gmjunkie]

PS: The trany shop mechanic had the bolts tighten all the way in, maybe he thought it was a 4/4. But all is better know.

I wonder why he even messed with them!!

 

[zagger]

Good question. I thought they had to dissasemble the whole rear end in order to remove the dif. Now that I think about it ;squint: the cradle comes out as a unit. I might be wrong. In anyway that guy will never see my vette again. In his shop that is, he might see the @$$ end of my car when I blast by him on the road :naughty: .

 

[gmjunkie]

Good question. I thought they had to dissasemble the whole rear end in order to remove the dif. Now that I think about it ;squint: the cradle comes out as a unit. I might be wrong. In anyway that guy will never see my vette again. In his shop that is, he might see the @$$ end of my car when I blast by him on the road :naughty: .

Nope,your not wrong!!!

 

[Dr C5 Corvette]

Hi Zagger, could you give me the ride height measurments the way it is now from the wheel well to the Ground and from the bottom of the front spoilers to the ground thanks..... Dr C5 Corvette

Ps: my current ride hight is: fronts /27 1/4" Rears/28" Front spoilers bottom edge 3" from the ground

 

[zagger]

My driveway slopes a little so the numbers might be off a little. As it sits now it is 27 1/2" rear and 27 3/8" on the front when measured through the center of the wheal to the edge of the fender. I'm not sure where you measured the spoiler, besides mine is little worn so I don't think the numbers will be of any help to you. My shop has a nice level floor so I'll remeasure it on Monday and post the results for you then. I think my present hight is slightly lower than factory setting but I love the way it handles and it looks great! I also added the frame saver wheals to the front. I highly recommend it for those with steep driveways. I had to negotiate mine by driving onto it at weird angels in order not to scrape the frame. Consequently it was starting to show wear. With the car level it scrapes less and even when I'm not careful it just gently rolls down on those small wheals.
Zig.

 

[bossvette]

the trick is to find a lower point that you can still drive the streets in your neighborhood with; I had to raise mine from where it was but it is lower then stock. The average is about 1" lower then stock but you can go lower.
If I lived where the roads were better I wuld have it back down on the bottom of the bolts.

 

[Dr C5 Corvette]

Ok That Great, do you think my rear ride height just needs to be lowered to match the front ? the rear height is approx 28"+ and the front is 27 1/4.
Buy the way my car jumps over a little on uneven roads especially when going thru curves if there is a bump. Thanks Dr C5 Corvette

 

[Dr C5 Corvette]

What is the stock ride height so I know? Thanks Dr C5 Corvette

 

[zagger]

c5y2k : At the jack points from the ground to the metal its 5.5" on both sides. From the ground to the top of the wheel wells its 28.5"

These are the #'s as posted by c5y2k. I think those are factory settings. My advice is to go lower, closer to where mine is. The biggest factor is how bumpy are the roads in your neck of the woods. I would suggest to check your shocks, if there is any oil residue on them they probably should be replaced. Aside from shocks drooping mine down made huge difference. My car was doing the same thing as yours, leveling and dropping it made big difference in how it handles. Now I look forward to driving winding roads.:dancenaughty
Zig

 

[c5y2k]

Rear - from the ground to the top of the wheel well = 28.5"
Front - from the ground to the top of the wheel well = 27"

With new tires