fperra

I Just installed Pfadt Featherlight coilovers on my car and I thought I would share with the forum how I mounted the canisters. I also ran into some problems with the installation related to having C5 axles on my C6 ZO6.
First, the front canister mounts. I fabricated a simple bracket out of 1"wide by 1/4" thick aluminum stock and mounted it to the sub-frame as illustrated in the first two pictures.





The canisters are fixed to the bracket using SS band clamps.





The rear mounts are quite simple as shown in the pictures.



The problems I ran into with the rear coilovers is that the outer boots of the C5 axles rub hard against the spring coils. I don't know if there are different suppliers to GM and I just happened to get a set with larger boots or if this is just how they all are. When I discussed this with Aaron Pfadt, he put his car on a lift and compared his C6 axle boots to the pictures I sent him, and he confirmed the C5 boots are much wider. Here are some pictures:





So I guess I'll be going back to my C6 axles.

JDMUSCLE

Can you use the C5Z axles with the C6Z boots? I was contemplating on getting this coilover setup (not the Featherlight version) in the near future and also do the C5Z axles for the added strength.

Can anyone from PFADT chime in here? Thank you...

fperra

Phadt's other coilovers will not be a problem with the C5 axles beacuse the coils are on the top of the assembly. With the featherlights, the coils are on the bottom.

Katech_Zach

Did you put the car down on the wheels yet? It's possible that the coil-overs are only rubbing on the CV boot when the suspension is hanging.

fperra

I loaded the suspension with a jack and it still rubbed.

Pfadt Racing

Thanks for the pictures fperra! We really like the way the front canisters mounted!

Just to be clear here, this appears to be an unintended combination of parts causing a clearance issue, and with some research there may be a CV Boot that will clear when using C5 Axles on a C6. We have customers running the Featherlights on both C5 and C6 cars with no issues, it's just impossible to test components against every combination of parts.

The Featherlights are a bolt on installation for C5's and C6's. There are Featherlight units running flawlessly on both C5 and C6 chassis. We took great pains designing solutions for Corvette specific problems. If anyone has questions please let us know.

As explained by fperra, this is not an issue with our single adjustable coilovers as the shock we use with the singles is not inverted. The spring is at the top side of the coilover instead of the bottom. Our single adjustable coilovers are also a bolt on installation for both C5 and C6 chassis.

We can't wait to see how these perform for you fperra! Please keep us updated!

Dan Wendling

Don't mean to hijack the thread but seemed like a good place to post a few picks of an alternate perhaps a little simpler install. Yes it has a ever so small fraction more un-sprung weight than the example in the OP but I really doubt that it has a measurable impact on performance.

Would like to see pics of a few other installs !!

fperra

I tried this with the car on the lift and loaded one side of the suspension with a jack stand. As I stated earlier, it didn't improve the situation much. Today, I lowered the car onto some concrete blocks to give me room to crawl under the car. With all the suspension loaded, the boot rubbing definitely improves such that it is almost clear of the springs. I think what I'm going to do is remove the inner boot clamp, compress the boot about 1/2" towards the wheel side of the axle, and put on a new clamp. I just ordered some boot clamps and the required tool. I'll let you know how it works.

0Vector Vette

You can also take a zip tie and squeeze the cv boot a little. That is what I do. If it is rubbing, it will tear. Trust me on this, I learned the hard way!
Robert

geerookie

I would be VERY CAREFUL doing this. It is my understanding there is a special process for evacuating the boot before clamping and resealing.
If not done properly they explode and make a really big mess of greenish blue grease!
There is a thread on here started by someone else who experienced this not too long ago. I had this problem twice with after-market (NAPA and others) axles, then I went to a race shop that builds Corvette axles and never had the problem again.

fperra

Update. I took a 280 mile trip yesterday. After I got back home I put the car on the lift and checked the condition of the boots. They looked fine. So it appears that with the car on the ground loading the suspension, there is sufficient clearance. I'll continue checking it for the next couple of months.

Pfadt Racing

For sure keep us updated and let us know how the new suspension is working out for you!