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So last October I purchased a 96 LT4 CE (silver of course) and drove it halfway across the country to get it home. It had 54k miles on it and was in good original shape. Its original except for 3:73 gears and a clutch.
On my third drive after getting it home I was coming home from Home Depot when I noticed steam coming out from the headlamp-body gaps, it was the water pump. I ordered a new one and ripped off the old one, decided I might as well have the opti rebuilt by Optiman. Now I'm in the middle of might-as-well land...
I might as well replace the opti and water pump oil seals while I'm in there. I'd rather not mess with the crank seal, but I've cleaned up the whole area now and am not sure if it was or wasn't leaking. There was oil behind the opti, so it was definitely leaking from st least one of the upper ones.
The car is in good shape but it was throwing the nose up and to the right under acceleration and diving under braking so I removed the original shocks and will be ordering new ones. I'm sure the Ridetech ones are awesome but I'm trying to decide between Bilstein HD and Ridetech. I could certainly use the money for other stuff... I don't plan on racing the car, at least not seriously...
Since I got the water pump and opti off I started messing with the steering rack bushings, I dumped the fluid which was no loss as the steering was a bit stiff sometimes at low rpms.I really think thing EVERYTHING on this car was original. I'm trying to get the rack off, everything is disconnected except the two lines I need crows foot wrenches for, I ordered them tonight. They really crammed that rack in there!
I'm going to replace all the bushings and I'm thinking superpro, but I think some are missing from the complete set, like the swaybar bushings. Any downsides to poly here?
I ordered new Moog ball joints and tie rod ends, the original ones rubber were dry rotted and split.
So far everything has been more difficult than expected, except for the fog light bulbs, which I replaced with LEDs today, and the shocks removal, which couldn't have been any easier. Thankfully no bolts have been frozen or rusted yet, the car must have lived indoors or in good climate for at least most of its life.
The car is in good shape but it was throwing the nose up and to the right under acceleration and diving under braking so I removed the original shocks and will be ordering new ones. I'm sure the Ridetech ones are awesome but I'm trying to decide between Bilstein HD and Ridetech.
Could be that one or more shocks are bad. But also check the two U-joints in each halfshaft. Those halfshafts serve double-duty: they are also the upper lateral links for the suspension. IME, when one of their U-joints goes bad, the car tends to steer under acceleration. If it turns out one or more is bad, your best option is the Spicer coated U-joints without the grease fittings.
As for replacement shocks, I get wanting to save a little cash. I'll never say Bilsteins are bad dampers. They are true monotube shocks with a good valve mechanism. IME, Bilsteins for all cars tend to ride a little harsh. It seems like they have a higher ratio of compression damping to rebound. I don't know why. The Ridetechs are also true monotubes with Fox internals, and are really a bargain at their price. By all accounts I've seen, they have the potential to ride a lot nicer on the street and their adjustments are easy to access. The Koni yellows are also like that: very good ride at soft-medium settings. But the Konis are twin-tube (not as good) and the rears have to be removed to adjust them (PITA). They are priced pretty similar to the Ridetechs.
I'm going to replace all the bushings and I'm thinking superpro, but I think some are missing from the complete set, like the swaybar bushings. Any downsides to poly here?
I think the Superpro bushings are a good choice for any street C4, and they are especially good for the rear suspension links (you don't want regular poly there). There is little downside to putting regular hard poly bushings in the swaybars - only a very slight increase in ride harshness, and the potential for squeaks if they dry out. They are cheap and not hard to replace, and Energy Suspension sells them by themselves IIRC.
So far everything has been more difficult than expected, except for the fog light bulbs,
The rear swaybar is a walk in the park, as is the spring. So are the front hubs/bearings. So there are things to work on that will make you happy.
Last edited by MatthewMiller; 03-28-2020 at 11:24 AM.
I researched many different options regarding shock replacement, but in the end felt that Bilstein was the way to go. I ordered all 4 from shock warehouse..$365.00 delivered!
My new Bilsteins were delivered yesterday, so I will be installing them this week.
Hhhhhmmmm, surprise you need new shocks on a low mile car, but then again these are not new cars age wise. Just note, if you have the F45 option on the car you will need to by-pass the controller so no error codes are thrown. You can buy modules although I've heard you can use a 10ohm 10W resistor, just do a search here.
I'll have to check the U-joints, thanks. Just did the ones in my trucks front axles recently and spicer without fittings was the best option there too.
I'd like the Ridetechs, just not sure if I require anything that fancy, or if I'd be fine with Bilsteins for the price. Since the Konis are the same price as the Ridetechs I'd go with the Ridetechs if I decide to spend that much $$$.
Forgot - the front swaybar super easy to remove too..
Originally Posted by MatthewMiller
Could be that one or more shocks are bad. But also check the two U-joints in each halfshaft. Those halfshafts serve double-duty: they are also the upper lateral links for the suspension. IME, when one of their U-joints goes bad, the car tends to steer under acceleration. If it turns out one or more is bad, your best option is the Spicer coated U-joints without the grease fittings.
As for replacement shocks, I get wanting to save a little cash. I'll never say Bilsteins are bad dampers. They are true monotube shocks with a good valve mechanism. IME, Bilsteins for all cars tend to ride a little harsh. It seems like they have a higher ratio of compression damping to rebound. I don't know why. The Ridetechs are also true monotubes with Fox internals, and are really a bargain at their price. By all accounts I've seen, they have the potential to ride a lot nicer on the street and their adjustments are easy to access. The Koni yellows are also like that: very good ride at soft-medium settings. But the Konis are twin-tube (not as good) and the rears have to be removed to adjust them (PITA). They are priced pretty similar to the Ridetechs.
I think the Superpro bushings are a good choice for any street C4, and they are especially good for the rear suspension links (you don't want regular poly there). There is little downside to putting regular hard poly bushings in the swaybars - only a very slight increase in ride harshness, and the potential for squeaks if they dry out. They are cheap and not hard to replace, and Energy Suspension sells them by themselves IIRC.
The rear swaybar is a walk in the park, as is the spring. So are the front hubs/bearings. So there are things to work on that will make you happy.
Hhhhhmmmm, surprise you need new shocks on a low mile car, but then again these are not new cars age wise. Just note, if you have the F45 option on the car you will need to by-pass the controller so no error codes are thrown. You can buy modules although I've heard you can use a 10ohm 10W resistor, just do a search here.
No F45 on my car, thankfully. Thanks for the help though.
I replaced all the mounts and bushings with urethane...am very happy with results; just remember to generously lube every thing, and it gonna take a lot more than the dinky little packets that come with the kits.
I finally got my crows foot wrenches and had a chance to remove the rack today. I'm on kid duty (3) so I don't have as much time as I'd like to mess with the car.
So I got the rack off and removed the boot from the end and put on the first prothane bushing, the one that goes over the end of the rack and looks like an O. The old bushing was a tight fit but the new one I can wobble a bit when installed. Will this snug up properly when I mount in to the car and tighten the clamp down? Its the Prothane R&P bushing kit for 84-96 corvettes P/N 7702, I checked on their website and its the right one...
In a related matter, can anyone recommend a good place to purchase small items like the steering rack boot clamp I now need?
For anyone following who needs to replace the steering rack bushings, I was able to order the steering rack boot clamp for ~ $4 at zip corvette. Another place wanted ~ $26!!
I ordered the energy suspension bushings, I'll see how they are once they arrive, hopefully not loose like the prothane...
I've had KONIs on mine for about fifteen years and have never regretted the decision to try them. Noticeably better than the original Bilsteins and Edelbrock IAS that I've run.
I've had KONIs on mine for about fifteen years and have never regretted the decision to try them. Noticeably better than the original Bilsteins and Edelbrock IAS that I've run.
I had a set of Konis on mine, and I agree that they were excellent street shocks. For stock springs they would also be good for autocross work at their stiffer settings. I do think you get more for about the same money from the Ridetechs, but I think both work very well for street duty.
I've had KONIs on mine for about fifteen years and have never regretted the decision to try them. Noticeably better than the original Bilsteins and Edelbrock IAS that I've run.
I have Konis on another car and am happy with them, but since its the same money I'll probably go with Ridetechs as the adjusters are easily reachable.
I was talking myself into them until I saw that thread with the guys having problems with them coming up through his shock mount. Going to wait a bit and see if that gets resolved
I have Konis on another car and am happy with them, but since its the same money I'll probably go with Ridetechs as the adjusters are easily reachable.
I was talking myself into them until I saw that thread with the guys having problems with them coming up through his shock mount. Going to wait a bit and see if that gets resolved
Yeah, I still don't understand that issue. I understand that the stock bushings are different, but I think literally all aftermarket shocks come with the same "standard" kind as the Ridetechs, including my super-stiff custom-valved Bilsteins. As stiff as they were, I never had an issue like that. The other big plus for the Ridetechs is that they are monotube shocks, which is a big step up from the Koni twin-tubes. Albeit the Konis are really good twin-tubes.
I got the new shocks and let them have a quarantine period before I messed with them. The box felt really light, I wasn't sure if there were only two inside, so when I opened the box I was happy to see there were 4.
Since the lightness was surprising, I figured I'd weigh them just for S&G.
I'm not sure how accurate my bathroom scale is at low weights like these, so I weighed all 4 old shocks together and then all 4 new ones together to hopefully make things a bit more accurate.
All 4 old shocks weighed 15 lbs even, so roughly 3.75 lbs each. This was with all bushings etc installed.
All 4 new shocks weighed 6.6 lbs. This was without the bushings though. Still, they are light!
I finally started to put things back together. I got the rear shocks on. Baby steps!
I installed the new oil seals for the water pump and opti, but I should have watched some install videos first as I messed up the water pump seal. Note for anyone else, there is a trick to installing this one, you can't just pound it in like a regular one.
This is the new Opti as received by Optidoctor. It looks good!
Here's a pic of the new vs. old front shocks. You can see that the Ridetechs are smaller in diameter.
Here's the front cover with the new seals installed even though I'll remove the upper one and replace it. Wasn't going to do the crank seal, still thinking about it...….
03-27-2020, 10:58 PM
96 LT4 rehab
