Pintoblades

Hey everybody...For those that commented/suggested on what my right front rattle could be, I thank you. Most suggestions were the shock might be bad. Well, after fastening down any body parts, wired bundles, connectors and such. The rattle persisted. I spent the last month going over anything on the body that might be loose, if it moved, I fixed it. Regardless, the rattle persisted. So on to suspension parts I began.

I took a chance and ordered a full set of ZO6 shocks From Gene's Culley's business as they were on sale and fit on my 2000 C5. I got them within 4 days, maybe 3....took two days to change all four shocks..taking my time between life's moments, and learning as I went. I have never changed my own shocks before and this forum and YouTube was a big help.

Now, after my test drive today with my new shocks...MY RATTLE IS GONE!!! Hallelujah!! "The witch is dead, the witch is dead!"

Plus, the C5 drives great with these new ZO6 shocks!
All I have to do now is put my sway bar back on and my baby feels like a great driving corvette again instead of a clunking noisy piece of junk!

Now I can focus on some fun stuff to personalize it, and most of all, I don't have to worry about the noise being something disastrous!

Thanks to all of you and my local friends for the help, and to Gene Culley for such a great deal on the fabulous shocks! I'm loving them!

WetteVette

I know this has been asked before (with various answers), but did you maintain your original ride height with the ZO6 shocks?

CQRT

Congrats on your persistence and willingness to turn a wrench yourself.

I got a set of Billsteins put on at a local shop at 70k miles and noticed a remarkable difference in handling - - I put Michelins on- repalcing Nittos and noted a stiffer ride- but not sure which to attribute the change.

Congrats - -thanks for sharing.

Pintoblades

Since you asked, I checked. Before I changed to the ZO6 shocks, I could put my fist between the tire and the fender with just barely my thumb knuckle touching. Now, with the new shocks on, my fist won't slide between the tire and fender as it did before. So, it looks to have lowered the car about 1/4 inch or slightly more.

With both the old and new shocks laying on the floor, they looked the same height. I didn't measure them but they were awfully close if not exactly the same with no weight on them.

Lower is good!

Pintoblades

Thank you! And, I am finding out that I enjoy turning that wrench and learning how to work on my own car. I've always hated not knowing what someone else might have done to my vehicles...with the vette, I swore to learn and do as much as I can myself. I Figured, now was a good time to start learning more about wrenching and how things work.
Plus, saving a bunch of money and knowing what's going on with my car.

I bet your bilstein's and the tires both made a huge difference. I have a big noticeable difference with these new ZO6 shocks. Some tires in the future will also be a plus. Last owner put BF Goodrich's S-force Super Sports on it. Probably have half their lives left...so I'll be saving from some new rubber.

dklowrider

Wait til you put the sway bar back on and the noise returns.

Koiler

dklowrider - that's exactly what I'm wondering as well. Hopefully that's it, but I'd it does return I'll bet the end links are the culprit.

Pintoblades I'm definitely interested in hearing how it sounds after you get the bars back on. I have bars/shocks/links on order and I'm hoping to get rid of the same clunking on my 02!

kybilt

do yourself a favor, get some upgraded end links, since you still have that part to do yet...

I find it's very satisfying to D-I-Y sometimes...although sometimes I have been known to "fix it til it's broke"

Pintoblades

LOL right.....well I took the sway bar off first to eliminate it as a possibility, which it wasn't the cause of the initial rattle.

If I have a new rattle when the sway bars go back on, then yeah...it will be considered an additional problem but I think they are good. I plan to replace the end links with the metal upgrade anyway.

Pintoblades

Sure will, I've been checking those metal end link upgrades from Gene's place. Definitely better to do it while it's already off.

Pintoblades

Yeah I hear ya....I do as much research before hand to see if it's my realm to give it a shot. With these vettes, there is much to learn!

Vetteman Jack

Hopefully the shocks were the only source of the rattle.

Pintoblades

I think so Jack....she's running over bumps and sounds great...no rattles or unusual noises. I"ll put the metal end links on before re-installing the sway bar. I can't tell you how happy I was to find that rattle!!

cramar

For those of us who are wondering about this Z06 shock business, can you provide some details on what differences you noticed? Thanks.

oldschoolvette

hope not ..get some upgraded end links

Pintoblades

Yep, those are coming next.

O4-/-C5

Pintoblades

It's a bit early yet for a full report, but from the little amount of driving I was able to do today, I can tell you this. The car feels much more stiff/stable, but in a very good way. It's still a comfortable drive/feel.

The shocks handled the familiar bumps in my area very well with no strange noises and the dampening was very good. Even without my sway bar on, I can tell the car is going to corner and handle better with less roll. The most important thing was, they got rid of my elusive rattle on the front passenger side.

The actual shock tube of the ZO6 is thicker than the stock C5s, quite a bit thicker. In comparing the compression of the two versions off of the car, the ZO6 shock dampening is more firm. The C5 OEM shocks felt weak compared to ZO6. Once I get the sway bar back on with the upgraded metal end links, I'll try out some harder cornering and see how they do and let you know. Overall, I am totally pleased with them and the price was right for all four shocks - $245 plus shipping. I believe that is the sale price Gene Culley (GMPartsHouse.com) has on them right now. If you've thought about getting some, I would highly recommend them and the price is right during the sale!

Oh 2 Fun

Wow....what a journey. Congrats!!

Pintoblades

Thanks! Yeah it was a long frustrating month looking for that rattle. Me and a friend thought for sure it was a body part, plastic or some kind of bracket rattling. The good thing about the search is...I found just about everything that was able to move, rattle or bounce and fastened it down or padded it with foam. So now, with the new shocks on and the rattle gone....this C5 is damn sure quiet going down the road now! Now I can enjoy the bose stereo and not worry about what the hell that noisy rattle is! haha