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To Lower or not to lower the C5 ..??

  • Thread starter Thread starter BLUTHUNDER
  • Start date Start date
My personal preference would be to not lower the car - it has enough challenges with the crappy roads as is (unlowered). However, the decision to lower is purely personal. Just be prepared for the consequences and if you suffer damage as a result of lowering, don't wimp out and deny your responsibility.
 
IME, on a Z51 suspension, lowering on stock bolts improves handling with no real ground clearance issues.
 
SLAM IT!!! :D :) :D If YOU think it looks good, do it!!! About the easiest mod you can do by turning a couple bolts. Even cut bushings and longer bolts only takes a couple hours. Ride comfort and handling don't seem to be compromised and the car attracts more attention than ever. Looks rice? Well, I don't think mine looks rice at all; just LOW like a sled and agressive as hell. Hey, I didn't get this car to be a shrinking violet. It's a big Corvette world out there, plenty of room for all (heights)!

:_rock
 
tmdmike said:
Da Hawaiian Punch said:
To who's ever intrested, I just copied a response that I had made to a fellow forum member.......you'll see why I copied and not wrote it out again.....it's longggggggg!! This is the instructions for lowering the C-5 (Important Note) If you have that ride control thingy, I'd fine out if your able to do this or not, reseach first before attempting this project.
First of all, how low do you want to go? is the most important question, you see, on the C-5, it has a true adjustable suspention, so if you want to go only as low as the adjustable suspention will let you go, just jack the car up, take the tires off, look in the arm section behind the bottom part of the shocks, at the fiberglass leaf spring where it sit's in the a-arm, you'll see a bolt/nut like thing in the middle of the leaf sprinf that sits in the bottom of the a-arm, just un-screw the bolt all the way out, dont worry, it can't come out all the way, it'll stop at a curtain point, put the tires back on do the other side of course, and drive a few feet to let it settle down to it's rideing height, now if your looking at slamming the car all the way down like what you see in the pictures that I posted this is how you do it,........Jack the front of the car up HIGH!! at the right places, and support it on jack stands, now, unbolt the "sway bar", un bolt the shocks from underneath, disconnect the abs sensor (If you have one) and be very careful doing so, get a floor jack, and jack the a-arm up a little and set a stack of blocks under the wheel rotor then let the jack down, with another block of wood, set the jack under the leaf spring on the bottom of the car, now, when you set the the jack with the wood on top of it under the leaf spring, make sure that the wood is as close to the bottom of the a-arm with out resting on it, you'll just want the wood and jack on the leaf spring, now jack the jack up just a little to take a small bit of pressure off the a-arm, back the nut out a little on the a-arm ball joint untill it's flush with the bolt that it's on, with a ruber mallet of a block of wood and a hammer, strike the top end of the nut & bolt, after a few strikes, it'll break free, (note)- this is to be done only if you dont have a ball joint seperater. Once thats free, jack the leaf spring up more untill the presure on the a-arm is gone, take the ball joint nut all the way off now, and the lower a-arm it'll be free floating, you should be able to push it down to the ground, now you'll have free access to the bolt thats on the leaf spring, take off the retainer clip, and unscrew the bolt all the way out! do this on both sides. now un bolt the 2 spring retainer's thats under the car, they are 2 metal clamps, that have 2 bolts through them, which are bolted to the frame of the car which holds the leaf spring in place, take them completely off. Now go to either side and pull the spring out, just enough to where you can get a steak knife of hacksaw blade to the rubber bushing thats glued on to the spring, saw that piece completely off! (HELPFUL HINT----At the same time that your sawing the rubber bushing off, lift up on the rubber bushing, away from the spring, that way, the knife or blade will not get caught between the rubber and spring, if you dont do this, it'll take you hours instead of minutes to cut the piece off!!) Now put the every thing back together and your done!! You'll notice that the other side will be much faster once you've done the first side! It took me about an half hr to 45 min to do the first side and about 15 mins to do the other side!! I hope that I explained this clearly enough to you and that it helps you!! The rear end?! All you have to do is take the floor jack with the block of wood, jack up the leaf spring on the rear, unbolt the bolt thats on the end, put a longer one in it's place, (Grade 8) get about an 8 to 9 inch bolt to be safe! thats it! You'll have to do some adjustments to even the car out. Take it easy!! It's the same instructions for lowering the rear of the C-4 also!![/QUOTe

Can I just lower the back of my c5?
of course you can, theres also bolts to lower in the fron leaf spring made for doing just that also, but depending on your taste, it might not lower to the height that you might be hoping for. and if you only lower the rear, you'll have a lower rear end then your front end which for some reason most choose to do, now when I say lower then the front end, I'm reavering to the tire to fender gapping of course, not bumber to ground or fender to ground measurements.\I really hope this will help you my freind, I'd like you to be happy with the reasults of your hard work to acheive the look your wanting to acheive.
 
lowering a C5 is no big deal

Long thread on this subject. I am new to C5 or even Corvette ownership . . two months. I do remember when the first C1 came out as I was 15 yrs old and really car crazy . . mine was lowered this week (2.200 miles on odo) and all on stock bolts. My local dealer did it for me. It looks much improved. I guess it is just over an inch lower and it does eliminate the gap . . in the tire . . It was too much for such a cool car. It looks better. Any down side ? Well depends . . . I have to go a little slower coming in and out of my driveway. No big deal. Yes you can tell that it rides a little stiffer . . slightly noticeable on the "tar strips" on certain roads . . . it makes them into a little tiny bump when previously none existed . . NO BIG DEAL for me . . it may be for others. . as for handling . . . jury still out CUZ I don't autocross or anything like that . . I save the twisties (roads) for MY Honda VFR (motorcycle).
 
If anyone is in the Los Angeles area and wants to lower your C5 a bit email me it can be done in 15-20 min! I would be more than happy to help ya out!
 
Maybe someone can enlighten me on this, but how is it that the ride of the car gets firmer if the spring isn't compressed anymore?

From what I understand, the relationship between the spring and the control arm is changing to give you a lower ride height, and if this is the case, the car shouldn't ride any softer or firmer since the spring compression is the same.

-Dave C. '04 Z06
 
Get frame savers and rocker rails from A&A Corvette Specialties ti protect the body if your going to lower it. The wheeled frame savers are great to get in and out of inclined driveways and the rocker rails have prevented damage to my rockers going over large speedbumps.
 
BLUTHUNDER said:
Hi gang ,
i came across a lowered C5 today ..( lowered 1 Inch )
It looked great ! I'm very interested in lowering mine , but i am concerned that with the rear leaf springs it may impair the handling..Rather than improve it.

Has anybody had there C5 lowered ?? If so what are your thoughts..

Lowering a C5 is a double-edged sword if done to a street-driven car. Yes...lowering generally improves handling but, only to the extent that the suspension does not bottom. Once the suspension bottoms, it contacts the bump stops and the wheel rates go way up at whatever corner of the car which is bottoming. Once the wheel rates change dramatically, how the car handles will change and it may do so just as dramatically.

When you lower a car, you reduce suspension travel and the car will bottom more often than it did before. This is usually not a problem on a race track which has a lot of flat surfaces and minimal ride movement but it can be a problem on the street because those kind of surfaces cause large ride movements.

With a lowered car, especially a base suspension which needs lots of travel, if you run hard on the street or on bumpy race tracks you're going to be on the bump stops a lot. This translates into a car that becomes less predictable and more difficult to drive a the limit because the suspension is periodically bottoming momentarily and when it does, the wheel rate at the corner of the car which is bottoming goes way up. Of course, once the bump stop is fully compressed, the rate is infinite.

So, to review, lowering a car does result in better handling at the limit on smooth surfaces but usually results in worse handling on surfaces that cause a fair amount of ride movement.

Lowering a C5, especially base cars, also degrades ride for basically the same reason. If you reduce suspension travel but retain the soft springs and shocks that come with base cars, the suspension is going to bottom out more. When the suspension hits the bump stops, the ride gets significantly more harsh.

With base cars, I'd lower no more than 3/8-in, if one wishes to preserve good handling and ride, however, if one is willing to accept a noticeable compromise to those qualities, then slam that sucker into the freakin' weeds.
:)
 
Just wondering if the F45 suspension is considered the same as the base suspension. If im correct it say's that it has the same base springs but different shocks. Does lowering a car with the option (F45) create the same problem as you stated about the base suspension.
 
loverboy said:
Just wondering if the F45 suspension is considered the same as the base suspension. If im correct it say's that it has the same base springs but different shocks. Does lowering a car with the option (F45) create the same problem as you stated about the base suspension.
In a word "Yes", shocks do not support the vehicle, that's the job of the springs. The shocks DAMPEN the compression and rebound movements of the springs as the suspension travels when it absorbs bumps (compression) and holes (extension) in the surface over which the tires are rolling.
The F45 suspension has shock absorbers that are filled with a fluid that reacts to electrical/magnetic input that actually changes the viscosity of the fluid. This change in viscosity is what changes the dampening values of the shock(s) because the viscosity of a fluid directly impacts it's ability to flow. Therefore the ability of the fluid to flow through the orifaces of the valves inside each shock is changed as the ride control detects changes in the surface over which the tires are traveling. [Hib or anybody please jump in here if you see errors in my simplified explaination]
Now shocks do assist in preventing too much compression or rebound because the dampening action I spoke about is actually reducing the velocity of the vehicle movement on the suspension. By reducing the velocity of the vehicle movement on it's suspension, the momentum of the vehicle mass is reduced, and helps prevent extended excursions that would otherwise cause the vehicle to bound and rebound at high cyclic rates until the natural frequency subsides on it's own.
Sorry I got on such a roll here, I hope the first sentance answered your question, the rest was the caffein from my morning coffee at work.

vettepilot
 
Thanks! Wow that must of been a great coffee. Well I have my 02 lowerd at the back all the way up to the bushings (as far as the screws will go down without cutting the bushings). So by what i read this will effect my handling on bumpy roads, but will not cause any damage to my F45 suspesion.
 
loverboy said:
Just wondering if the F45 suspension is considered the same as the base suspension. If im correct it say's that it has the same base springs but different shocks. Does lowering a car with the option (F45) create the same problem as you stated about the base suspension.

Yes and no.
Just the answer you wanted, eh?

It depends on what level the system sets for damping. A generally-correct answer would be "Yes".
 
vettepilot said:
The F45 suspension has shock absorbers that are filled with a fluid that reacts to electrical/magnetic input that actually changes the viscosity of the fluid.
(snip)[Hib or anybody please jump in here if you see errors in my simplified explaination]
(snip)
vettepilot

F45 (Selective Real Time Damping) was offered from 1997-2002 and its shocks do not contain magneto-rehological fluid (MRF). They are simply hydraulic dampers with an variable bypass. F55, Magnetic Selective Ride Control) was used in 2003 and 2004 and its shocks do contain the MRF.

For more info on F55 see:
http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/kb/question.php?qstId=503
 
With F45 suspension I probably would not drop the car..

Same could be said of F55 ..Why mess with such an involved engineering system...?

Z51 or Z06..I'd probably suggest the 5/8ths of an inch drop as suggested by the GM video..

Just for the look..Takes the edge off a bit..

JMO
 
Hib Halverson said:
F45 (Selective Real Time Damping) was offered from 1997-2002 and its shocks do not contain magneto-rehological fluid (MRF). They are simply hydraulic dampers with an variable bypass. F55, Magnetic Selective Ride Control) was used in 2003 and 2004 and its shocks do contain the MRF.

For more info on F55 see:
http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/kb/question.php?qstId=503
Dooooh,
Here I was thinking F55, and you have the F45...... sorry, well it would have been a good explaination if I was talking about the correct system. Must have been the cafein at work that morning. :L

vettepilot
 
I have a '99 coupe with the base suspension that I had lowered about 3/4 inch all around about 1 year ago. This is as far as the stock bolts on my car would allow -- and I would not have wanted to go any lower anyway. At the same time I had Hotchkiss bars and metal end-links installed. I have not changed shocks --yet. The ride is only a bit more firm, which is probably due to the much stiffer bars, but the handling is MUCH better. It corners completely flat and responds much more quickly to steering inputs. The tail no longer wiggles when I make quick steering movements at speed, and if I do break the tail loose it doesn't fishtail as before -- it immediately stops the side movement and falls in place. It is much easier to drive fast. I'm sure that 90+ % of this improvement is due to the Hotchkiss anti-roll bars -- but lowering the center of gravity certainly couldn't have hurt!

I have never bottomed out -- but then I don't drive fast over bumpy roads. (When I want to go fast over bumpy terrain I call my son and we go out in his Durango!:D) Also, the added stiffness of the Hotchkiss bars probably aids the springs somewhat in preventing bottoming. However, the ride quality is not as firm as I would like, and I hope to change to Z06 springs and 2004 Z06 shocks soon. In the meantime I am about to change to chrome OEM Z06 wheels and GY Supercar tires. At 21k miles I still have the original runflats, so this change should really be great!
If you drive your Corvette carefully anyway I don't think you would have any problems with curbs or speedbumps or bumpy roads, as long as you don't lower it further than the stock bolts allow. :)
 

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