Wilson's Slammed C5 Corvette Page #2

Lowering

I completely removed the adjuster screw in the front. After a few hundred miles a started hearing (more and more) a creaking noise from the from suspension whenever i went over a bump. This was caused by the metal plate (under the spring) rubbing on the lower A-arm. To correct this i glued a 1/4" thick piece of urethane bushing under the spring on each side.

The RK Sport kit has the ability to lower the rear even more than i wanted. It can go so low that the wheels tuck in to the body. I wanted the space between the wheel and body in the rear to match the front, so i ended up showing ~15 threads on the bolts. As RK Sport suggested i used the stock rubber bushings to maintain more of a stock ride stiffness. After 1,000+ miles i noticed the car was sinking! The RK Sport washers are much smaller than stock and the stock upper bushings had engulfed the washers and most of the nuts! I had to replace the upper bushings because they were damaged. I also bought larger upper & lower washers.

The fender height before i lowered it was 28.5" (front) and 29.5" (rear). After lowering it is 26" (front) and 27.5" (rear) so i lowered it 2". This gives 1.75" between the wheel & body. There is 2" of clearance between the ground and front air dam. The middle of the car has 4" of clearance.

I verified the shocks can operate at this height by putting a ramp under one wheel and another ramp under the opposite wheel. So with the front left & rear right wheels on ramps, the shocks can be seen at their fully compressed position. The rear wheel was tucked into the body nicely, but the front looked like it could go farther. I wanted the wheel to have as much travel as possible before bottoming out on the shocks' bump stop, so i reduced the front shocks' compressed length by cutting the foam bumper in half.
Modified Bump Stop

Alignment

I purchased Camber & Toe Gauges from ART for $600 to allow me the do the alignment. I had to add 1 washer to the front upper A-arms to achieve spec camber.

The camber alignment was difficult because the stock C5 wheels had .4 degrees of runout. This means that the measurements were different when the wheel was rotated. I had to take 4 measurements and average them. Another difficulty was that the rear camber was off a lot more on one side than the other. If i brought them both to -.2 degrees it made the steering wheel not be straight. I wanted to avoid having to correct the steering wheel using the front tie rods, because i was afraid the car would end up going sideways! So i instead adjusted the cambers the same on both sides, which left me with .3 degrees cross camber (in spec).

The toe was easier to do because the adjustment can be made without lifting the car. I had over 200 minutes of inward toe on the rear! (The spec is for about 1) This may have made the camber more difficult to do, so after i corrected the toe, i did a second pass at bringing all the cambers to -.2 degrees and then did the toe again. Make sure you roll the car back and forth after making adjustments.

It's possible that the front toe setting will not stay because the steering tie rod does not have enough threads on it. If it goes out of spec in 50 or 100 miles then get the Bump Steer Kit from RK Sport for $175.

Set your tire pressures exactly the same on left and right sides and take a trip on the highway on a dry day. If you see one side's pressure going up significantly more than the other's, then that tire is hotter because its toe is set incorrectly.

Frame Saver-Rocker Rail COMBO

I purchased Frame Saver wheels to bolt to the front skid bars and Rocker skid Rails to protect the body from A and A Corvette Specialties. Besides protecting the bottom of the car, the Rocker Rails make it so i dont need lift pads with my Two Post Lift.

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