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Hello all,
I'm hoping maybe someone here will have experience with this and able to offer me some advice. I ordered a set of LG GT2 coilovers. After waiting a month and a half to finally get them, it took me a couple of weeks to start working on them so I've just gotten around to starting recently. Side note, the support and helpfullness of LG has been less than I'd have liked for this type of product, (for example I was missing nuts in the box that were at least pictured as included, and also missing spanners that were supposed to be included. When I contacted them about those, they just flat ignored those concerns answer only part of the email I sent. So figured I'd post here and see if any other users can offer help.
Part of the problem is all the pictures on their website, and description of the coil overs are wrong. (Or at least they were a few weeks ago, I haven't checked back to see if they upgraded them). The coilover themselves are designed differently than the ones pictured and described, and used in their very limited instructions. (Instructions don't even give torque ratings for the bolts and nuts replacing stock bolts and nuts. Kind of important numbers to have.
But, I've been muddling along getting things figured out, got both fronts installed, and came to the back and installed one side and ran into a major fitment issue that I can't see any way around. The coilover is fully touching the axle boot. It's no just that it's close, it's actually depressing into the boot a bit. And it does this at all rangers of compression. On the other side the coil over barely clears the tie rod. See pictures below.
If I were to finish assembly and drive this on the road, it's going to tear through that boot rather quickly pushing into it like that.
Anyone have any ideas what I've done wrong here if I have done something wrong? Or if not, what solutions there to get past this problem? Considering that part of the changes in design from the website pictures, they moved the spring from the top of the coil over to the bottom. If they hadn't done that, I don't think there would be any fitment issues with the axle boot. I really question if they even took the axle boot into consideration when they decided to change them like this.
This is the only orientation they will fit assembled how they sent them to me. I specifically asked them why the spring were on the bottom instead of the top like their website shows. To which I was given some basic answer of less unsprung weight.... I'm debating if I can disassemble the shock myself and flip it so the spring is on top. But i don't know enough about coil overs to know if that is something that I should or if it has to be rebuilt properly in some form to do that.
And I also don't really know what impact having the flipped if it can be done would have. If I could do it and did it on the backs, do i have to disassemble the fronts and do them like that too?
Did you try putting the tires on and putting it on the ground to see if any clearance issues? Looks like its just hanging in the air.
I haven't put it on the ground on wheels, but I jacked the lower control arm as high as it could, until it lifted the car, and it still wasn't close to clearing.
I'm going to try getting the other side done and getting it on the ground to see if it makes a difference today. But I'm not optimistic based on what I've tried. I feel like even if it does manage to clear, it's going to be barely and would still rub any time I go over dips in the road that causes it to extend.
Did you try putting the tires on and putting it on the ground to see if any clearance issues? Looks like its just hanging in the air.
Yeah, got it on the ground a bit ago, still far from clearing. And it's really close to the tie rod on the ground too. About 4mm of clearance to the tie rod.
Flip the top plate of the shock 180* and see if that gives you more clearance.
A friend of mine had those on his car, they were a lot different looking than the ones you have. Where is the adjuster for the shock at, top or bottom?
Also lets you adjust bumpsteer which is a good idea.
I've honestly looked at these, and besides the price, I'm worried about the noise from these (my corvette is not a track car, I don't want to hear clunks and stuff while driving around, the same reason I have not yet done the bushings because I can't find replacement oem rubber and don't want to hear poly squeaking). Also from what I've read they are difficult to adjust properly and it's really hard to find alignment shops that even know how to adjust them. I called 5 shops in my area and none of them had any experience with adjustable bumpsteer stuff. Right now, the tie rod is clearing, yes by a small amount, but I think it's enough to avoid contact even on bumps.
Originally Posted by SilverC54me
Flip the top plate of the shock 180* and see if that gives you more clearance.
A friend of mine had those on his car, they were a lot different looking than the ones you have. Where is the adjuster for the shock at, top or bottom?
Gary
I did try rotating it 180, still contacts the axle boot, and also contacts the tie rod when doing that. Adjuster on this set are all at the bottom. That is one of the things they changed in the redesign apparently. Their product page and installation instructions and all still reference their old design that used a remote adjuster on the back through a gap in the top of the mount. This is honestly the primary reason that made me go with the LG GT2 coil overs when I was shopping for a set, I refused to drill holes in my trunk and have the adjusters just poking up in there like other adjustable coil overs haha. They said that remote adjuster had issues with binding because of bending to come back out in the wheel well and so they moved the adjuster to the bottom.
I think you have the left on the right and vice versa. They will however contact the tie rods, which all coilovers do. I would suggest getting offset tie rods to run them.
LG is usually pretty good with their products. Call them or maybe @LG Motorsports can chime in and help.
I have sent them an email about it a couple days ago, but no response yet.
I've got one more thing to try before I'm out of ideas. Just haven't had time to get back out there and work on it more. The car is definitely sitting quite a bit high right now after I finished the initial install. I had just guessed at where to position them since I could not find any info on how to set them up or what the ride height would be at extremes so that I could make a better guess. The way they were shipped would have slammed the car as low as it could go on them and I figured I probably didn't want it that low (My goal is to actually raise the car back up a little from where it was sitting on the lowering bolts because the previous owner had it pretty slammed where I couldn't even get my jack under the car without first driving it up on a set of low profile ramps). So I went about halfway. They also had the springs completely loose when shipped (not just no preload, but the locks nuts weren't locked down at all). So I guessed there too and put a 1/8" preload on the springs themself. Their instructions mention heavier cars possibly needing 1/4" to 3/8" so I figured 1/8 was a starting point to try out.
So if I lower the car more the axle boot should come up some, I just don't know if it's going to be enough to clear. I'm not very optimistic that it will based on how much it's impacting right now.
Originally Posted by BmoreRnsDeep
I think you have the left on the right and vice versa. They will however contact the tie rods, which all coilovers do. I would suggest getting offset tie rods to run them.
I don't think this is the case honestly. Even though the instructions they have are outdated and shows pictures of the old design, they specifically call out the offset in the top mount on the rear. And I have it installed with the offset in the same orientation that they show in the picture. They specifically call out that this offset is to give additional clearance for suspension components (IE the tie rod). Otherwise they don't have a left to right orientation. Also, the way I have it has the LG logo on that top part facing outward and I feel pretty certain they made sure to have that logo on the side that would have the highest chance of being visible lol.
Hopefully it's an easy fix and you didn't miss the "fine print".
Fine print = needing offset rear tie rods.
I'm curious what the outcome is because LG didn't reinvent the wheel when it comes to installing standard 2.5" coilovers on a C5 and MOST of the time you need offset rear tie rods for this application.
Hopefully it's an easy fix and you didn't miss the "fine print".
Fine print = needing offset rear tie rods.
I'm curious what the outcome is because LG didn't reinvent the wheel when it comes to installing standard 2.5" coilovers on a C5 and MOST of the time you need offset rear tie rods for this application.
Yeah, if I end up having to replace the rear tie rods, I'll deal with that. Right now they are clearing though. My immediate concern is the axle boot that has negative clearance lol. I haven't even looked, are there aftermarket axles with slimmer boots? Also, I just had this thought, I wonder what would happen if I put a hose clamp around the boot there and compress it down to try and get clearance =/ I've never looked at axles much before, I'm assuming the boot is protecting some kind of u-joint or something, and probably filled with grease.
It's fully possible I've missed some fine print somewhere, but I've gone through the instructions a few times now to see if I missed something and coming up empty.
Yeah, if I end up having to replace the rear tie rods, I'll deal with that. Right now they are clearing though. My immediate concern is the axle boot that has negative clearance lol. I haven't even looked, are there aftermarket axles with slimmer boots? Also, I just had this thought, I wonder what would happen if I put a hose clamp around the boot there and compress it down to try and get clearance =/ I've never looked at axles much before, I'm assuming the boot is protecting some kind of u-joint or something, and probably filled with grease.
It's fully possible I've missed some fine print somewhere, but I've gone through the instructions a few times now to see if I missed something and coming up empty.
I would not look into different axles nor compressing the boot. And yes the boot is there to protect a greased joint. My assumption here is that you need to get the springs to clear the boot = tilting shock rearward (which most CO setups do) = maybe hitting stock tie rod = need offset tie rods lol.
My Viking coilovers are not inverted like yours are, BUT I still had contact to the stock tie rod due to where the spring seat collars were in relation to the tie rod. I got by initially by grinding some of the locking collar tabs off but final solution was offset tie rods.
My big problem I see is axle boot contact. Sometimes contact issues to the tie rod can be lessened by choosing a different length spring and or a higher rate spring but that 1) makes the ride a little stiffer and 2) tends to need a tender/helper spring since short springs will "unload" when the car is lifted off the ground.
I'd call LG directly and get it sorted...and do it before the big Christmas chaos happens lol
Looking at this again I see two things:
1) It seems you have some sort of silver spacer on the back of the shock body (pushing the CO forward)
2) It seems you should rotate the upper mount to offset the shock more rearward. Currently it looks offset forward)
3) Maybe you have the upper mounts on the wrong side of the car?
Last edited by smitty2919; 12-05-2023 at 04:23 PM.
I would not look into different axles nor compressing the boot. And yes the boot is there to protect a greased joint. My assumption here is that you need to get the springs to clear the boot = tilting shock rearward (which most CO setups do) = maybe hitting stock tie rod = need offset tie rods lol.
My Viking coilovers are not inverted like yours are, BUT I still had contact to the stock tie rod due to where the spring seat collars were in relation to the tie rod. I got by initially by grinding some of the locking collar tabs off but final solution was offset tie rods.
My big problem I see is axle boot contact. Sometimes contact issues to the tie rod can be lessened by choosing a different length spring and or a higher rate spring but that 1) makes the ride a little stiffer and 2) tends to need a tender/helper spring since short springs will "unload" when the car is lifted off the ground.
I'd call LG directly and get it sorted...and do it before the big Christmas chaos happens lol
Looking at this again I see two things:
1) It seems you have some sort of silver spacer on the back of the shock body (pushing the CO forward)
2) It seems you should rotate the upper mount to offset the shock more rearward. Currently it looks offset forward)
3) Maybe you have the upper mounts on the wrong side of the car?
That silver part isn't a spacer, it's part of their spherical bearing design there. I didn't install that, it came preinstalled.
As for the mount orientation, this is from their instructions. It shows the old design, but the way they are saying to install it is definitely with the offset forward.
I think you have the left on the right and vice versa. They will however contact the tie rods, which all coilovers do. I would suggest getting offset tie rods to run them.
I did try changing the ride height, went as low as these coil overs can go, screwed all the way in with 0 preload. I managed to get 1mm of clearance to the boot on the ground with that... That is not enough lol, it will for sure still impact and rub when going through dips that cause the suspension to droop.
However, I did notice something else that seems really odd to me that I just can't think of anything else to do about. In their instructions, after reassembly it says "The car should be lowered 0.400 to .700” from stock at this point". No where does it really say how the coil over is configured for that. But, with these things as low as they can go, I'm measuring over 6 inches to the frame just behind the rear jack point. From what I've read, that is supposed to be around 5.5 inches stock. I have no idea why these things would be riding 1 inch or more higher than what they say. Other than screwing the shock all the way in and setting 0 pre load, I can't think of any other way to lower it more. If I could somehow get it another inch lower, that might give enough clearance on the boot...
You can see in the picture here, the car is still sitting way to high.
You need to roll the car back and forth to let the suspension settle. If you lowered the car as far as the CO will allow and you are still high then maybe they are the wrong springs.
12-03-2023, 01:59 AM
LG C5 GT2 Coilovers fitment issues
