zdeckich

Hello im new to the corvette world. I have done a search but found nothing. Im looking at the West Coast Corvette lowering bolts. my question is, will there be anything else i need? new bushings? or do i just put them in and go? im wanting to lower about 1 1/2 inch in front and 2 in back. Thanks for the help.

http://www.westcoastcorvette.com/p-4...c5-c5-z06.aspx

ktlocklear

I've got the same kit.....nothing else needed. Just install, adjust the ride height, and go

pcbunn

Once you have finished adjusting the ride height all around you should proceed directly to a qualified alignment shop to have the alignment adjusted.

ktlocklear

Agreed.....

I forgot to mention in my above post that i just bought a set of LG coilovers, so the WCC lowering bolts will be coming off. I'll sell them cheap if you're interested. It'll be a few weeks before the coilovers go on.

zdeckich

yea for sure let me know what you want for them. how much did you lower it?

Solofast

Before you go jacking around with aftermarket bolts and screwing up your ride and handling, take a look at this link and understand what you are getting into. Just replacing bolts is a recipe for bad things and while there are screws to adjust height there are limits as to how low to go with stock shocks, or without going to coilovers.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/1576940245-post92.html

Read an learn a bit and then figure out what you want to do. Being new to Corvettes there is a lot to learn.

zdeckich

OK great! thanks for the help. like you said im still learning with these cars. never hurts to learn to much.

Z06_Chris

I agree with Solofast on this. I purchased lowering bolts myself and then later on got into road course event's only to find out that by going beyond what the factory bolts limits are made the car handle poorly due to the reduction in shock travel, so now im about to buy coilovers because I wont sacrifice handling for looks.

zdeckich

to be honest, I really dont plan to track the car as of right now. I more want it for the looks right now. I drive the car everyday and go to a few car shows/meets that's about it.

Solofast

It's not a matter of tracking the car, but if you have zero suspension travel you will find that the car rides like a buckboard just driving down the street. If you go around a corner and if you are driving briskly at all, the rear suspension will bottom out and the tail end of the car will come around because the rear roll stiffness is so high that this causes the car to oversteer. It's much more obvious on the track, but if it happens to you on the street it's even more likely that it could ruin your day.

Finally if you hit a decent bump the rear shock acts like a wedge and that causes the rear adjuster to slip and you will be headed back to the alignment shop because the rear alignment is gone. You will find yourself crawling over rail road tracks, and scraping the bottom of the car on speed bumps and getting in and out of driveways, and that is lowered to the max on stock bolts. Lower than that is a royal pain to live with.

While some folks do it and if you drive like a little old lady then you might be able to get away with it for a while, but it is after all, a sports car and not a minivan, it was meant to be driven and not puttered around with. Do a search on the tech forum and see how many folks have lowered their cars and eventually raised them back up because it basically ruins the driveability of the car.

Do what you want and enjoy it either way, but at least now you are informed.

ktlocklear

I dont have any issues on the wcc lowering bolts. I've had mine on for a good year now. Yeah it is more firm than at the oe ride height...but it does not ride like a honda civic on cut springs. I do have an '04....i had read that the '04's have better shocks.

Solofast

There is no question that if you use longer bolts in the back you will be on the bump stops. If you find that it is riding "more firmly" than before you are on the bump stops. The bump stops in these cars are more progressive than simple rubber stops, and even when there is essentially no travel the car won't ride like cut spring Honda and just bounce around, but go around a corner briskly and when you are looking out the side window at where you are going it all comes into perspective.

As I said above, lots of folks drive these cars like little old ladies and never have a problem but if you drive it like it was meant to be driven it becomes a handful in a hurry.

As the person who posted above found out, lowering the car that much without going to shorter shocks, or coilovers is not a good thing. You just have to drive it a bit more briskly and you will figure it out too.

ktlocklear

Trust me...i drive the **** out of my car. it is mostly driven on the track, and very little on the street. With a track alignment and t1 sway bars, it does great out the the track, and i have lap times to prove it. Now with saying that, I don't have the car slammed on the wcc bolts. I want to say the front bolts are 10 turns from the lowest and the rear bolts are 15 turns from the lowest. I can see it being dangerous if you slam it completely down on the bolts, or removing the bolts completely like i've read some members on here doing. In any case my lowering bolt days are coming to an end as my car goes in next week for LG G2 short bodied coils with 700 lb springs front, and 650 lb springs rear, bump steer kit, poly control arm bushings, and a corner balance
Anyway, my reference to the Honda had to do with that being completely unsafe. The roads here are horrible, and i have never felt unsafe when i hit a bump, curbing in a turn on track, etc. I'm not saying lowering bolts is the best way to lower our cars......as with anything else there is a good, better, and best way to do things, but it is up to the OP on what is right for him and his budget.

quick04Z06

For what it is worth, I had my first 04 Z professionally lowered and aligned, along with different sways and bushings, and some other track mods, and I hated it on the street. The idea was to make it more trackable, but any speed bump was a nightmare and most driveways were a scrapefest with the front air dam and the underside of the front clip, etc.

If you plan to lower the car, even on stock bolts, I'd sure study it carefully. I had my old car raised back to normal height.

P.S. Edit--also, handling does not necessarily improve, as some suggested above. If you are serious about high speed handling, and doubly so on-track handling, then you need to make small changes and measure the results after each change. By results I mean your confidence level and your lap times. Also, as I said I had my car professionally set up, but I later found out the tuner, who has a fine reputation, likes his cars extra stiff and manages the rear end stepping out a bit. He likes it that way. Your preferences may vary. Mine did.

If you are lowering just for looks, I understand, but do be careful with it. Especially on '04s (or using '04 parts and settings), the stock set up is pretty darn nice with a good alignment.

zdeckich

Thanks again guys for the info. this was very helpful.

phoebeusfenix

I'm going to attempt a quick thread jack here. I'm trying to reinstall the wcc lowering bolts on my 02 zo6 and cannot for the life of me get them to thread through. It gets 3 or 4 turns in and stops dead. The stock one threads fine, but I cannot get these to go in.

Does anyone have any tips? Should they be a extreme challenge to install? I've cleaned the threads and lubed things up.

Did you guys drop the a arm out altogether to help in installation?