Lowering a ZR1

[HIZNHRZ]

New tires and wheels are going to lower my ZR1 1.19" in the front and 1.30" in the back.

- How difficult is it to lower the OE suspension of a ZR1?
- Anyone have destructions for lowering?

- How do I adjust to front end alignment after lowering?

Thanks.

[Jeffvette]

Rear is a piece of cake. The front requires leaf spring removal and shimming. Alignment would be an advanced street or you could run a stock alignment.

[tccrab]

I just recently ran across this thread over at the Digital Corvettes forum.
http://www.digitalcorvettes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79763
He makes it look easy. With pics.
:mrgreen:

[HIZNHRZ]

I found instructions that seem to be fairly detailed:

http://webpages.charter.net/khasting.../lowering.html

Could someone who has done the job comment on how accurate they are?
Thanks.

[GOLDCYLON]

I must be the few or the only person who thinks the ZR-1 is already lowered enough.:rolleyes: After the daily fight with Driveways and speed bumps I could never imagine wanting to lower it at all. Are you planning on autocrossing or something? GC

[We Gone]

When I did the wife’s 95 LT1 it took all day, most of the time spent doing the front, and you will need a lift. They look good but I think the ride suffers. With that said I will not do the ZR-1.

Only Lowered about 3/4 to 1 inch all round

http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c4/wegone/p7260015s.jpg

http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c4/wegone/p7260014s.jpg

[DaveK]

I'm with GC on this one. Mine is low enough at stock, especially with the quality of the roads around here!

Happy New Year everyone! :)

[HIZNHRZ]

19" wheels and tires will increase diameter a bit over an inch. Lowering the car one-half inch will not affect ground clearance. What am I missing?

[Aurora40]

19" wheels and tires will increase diameter a bit over an inch. Lowering the car one-half inch will not affect ground clearance. What am I missing?
So in your first post you mentioned 19" wheels/tires would lower your car. Did you actually mean raise? I assume the 19" wheels/tires are larger in diameter, not shorter.

Also if you increase the diameter by 1", you'll only raise the car by .5". So I think maybe your intial statement of lowering(raising) 1.19" in the front and 1.30" in the back is maybe actually double what will happen?

While it might actually raise the bottom of the car, it will reduce the visible gap in the wheelwell. If you further lower the car you might need to worry about the tires rubbing when the suspension compresses, especially if the wheels/tires are wider and stick out a little further?

At least I think I'm thinking that through right? What size are the wheels and what size tires are you putting on them?

[HIZNHRZ]

So in your first post you mentioned 19" wheels/tires would lower your car. Did you actually mean raise? I assume the 19" wheels/tires are larger in diameter, not shorter.

Also if you increase the diameter by 1", you'll only raise the car by .5". So I think maybe your intial statement of lowering(raising) 1.19" in the front and 1.30" in the back is maybe actually double what will happen?

While it might actually raise the bottom of the car, it will reduce the visible gap in the wheelwell. If you further lower the car you might need to worry about the tires rubbing when the suspension compresses, especially if the wheels/tires are wider and stick out a little further?

At least I think I'm thinking that through right? What size are the wheels and what size tires are you putting on them?

You are thinking it through correctly. If I go with my most recent plan, I'll use 19X10 wheels with 285/35-19 tires on the front and 19X12 wheels with 345/30-19 tires on the back. The front diameter will be 1.19" larger; the back will be 1.30" larger. The larger diameter will raise the car and close the gap between the top of the tire and the inside of the fender. I don't want to raise the center of gravity of the car so if I go with this plan I would lower the car approximately .5":mrgreen:

[tomtom72]

Generally, I'd love to get rid of that 4x4 look at the rear, but I understand that the rake is needed for stability???

I'm with Dave & GC.....where I live the roads have eaten three air dam sets in 3 yrs of driving....the center takes a real beatin' and the OEM stuff ain't cheap....new set for the spring is a cheap knock off.

I'll bet your car will look real nice with what you have planned. Good luck with your project!:thumbsup:

:cheers:

[Aurora40]

You are thinking it through correctly. If I go with my most recent plan, I'll use 19X10 wheels with 285/35-19 tires on the front and 19X12 wheels with 345/30-19 tires on the back. The front diameter will be 1.19" larger; the back will be 1.30" larger. The larger diameter will raise the car and close the gap between the top of the tire and the inside of the fender. I don't want to raise the center of gravity of the car so if I go with this plan I would lower the car approximately .5":mrgreen:
Well, I don't know really, but I'd think if you took ~1.1" out of the front wheelwell (.6" from the wheel/tire and .5" from lowering), that there really won't be much room for suspension travel, and that if the tire contacts something it is more likely to be the rigid and splinter-prone hood and not the flexible forgiving wheel well.

I don't think I'd want to do that on my car unless the springs were firmer to make up for the lack of travel? But I don't really know, I'm just thinking out loud.

At least you could always put the wheels/tires on it and see how you like it, and lower it later. The idea of losing some fender gap without really losing ground clearance is kinda nice though.

Edit: also, man that's some meat on the rear. 345's!

[mrzzzr1]

[QUOTE=HIZNHRZ]New tires and wheels are going to lower my ZR1 1.19" in the front and 1.30" in the back.
- How difficult is it to lower the OE suspension of a ZR1?
- Anyone have destructions for lowering?
- How do I adjust to front end alignment after lowering?
Did you ever get the answer you were looking for and what was did you end up doing? Do you recommend it to others?

I wouldn't mind lowering my 90 ZR1 a bit if it does not hurt street driving too much. Don't want to get too radical though because I drive > 90% street and occasional track.

[Z51JEFF]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a136/FLYTYM/IMG_0002-3.jpgI just did mine about 3 weeks ago.I used an adjustable front spring from VB-P.Car came out really nice.The way it sits right now is as low as its going to get.Its not so low that I cant go over a speed bump.The front spoiler skims the ground coming out of a parking lot sometimes but not enough to fold the spoiler back.As far as ride goes the back bounces a little on the freeway but Ive got a rear shock that is leaking so thats not helping.