Most of the vette suppliers provide longer spring bolts that allow for lowering.
http://www.madvet.com/shop?frame=4.190.1450
http://www.madvet.com/shop?frame=4.190.1450
Understandable, that would also give you the opportunity to go with castle bolts and a cotter pin that the nylock nuts supplied.I would rather go to my local hardware store and buy these bolts myself, especially concidering that these kits are 20$ plus shipping
I had seen that thread before and stopped reading after the first page. Everyone saying to use grade 8 was correct. Not sure why the fastener store guys said grade 5 would be better. :huh:i would have thought to go grade 8 also, but i read on some thread here that a guy with a C5 was driving around and one of his bolts snapped. he went somewhere and they said it was because grade 8 bolts are only made to hold tourque and are brittle when it comes to flexing. but i would assume this is a very rare occasion when it could have been a bad bolt, that just snapped.
http://www.digitalcorvettes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72539&highlight=bolt+snapped
heres the link
:thumbsup:thanks guys, i will probably go out today and get those bolts, and Jason, your write up helped me feel much more comfortable about using grade 8's.
if i get my camera back today i will post pics when its all done
I put a 330# composite on my 77 and with the 8" bolts supplied I had 8" between the tire and the fender well. it looked like a jacked up car from the 60s. (I know cause I was driving then.) The only way I could get it down was with 10" bolts with the nuts all the way down. The end of the spring was about 3" away from the ground and almost touching the tire. Not good! I took it off and got a new 9 leaf steel. with the 8" bolts it sits level and looks good. It may even settle after driving, I don't know cause it hasn't even been started yet. Artwhat was the spring replaced with? Or was the original just re-arched? I just put a fiberglass 330# spring in from VB&P. Came with new longer bolts. Pretty sure they were grade 8 zinc coated.
Man, that rear end is way up in the air. I'd consider switching to the fiberglass spring, but if the $250 isn't in the budget I'd stick with grade 8 and probably go to 10" or 12". Nylocs should do fine. Don't think castle nuts are necessary.
wow, that's really surprising. I wouldn't have expected any composite spring to have that much initial arch to it. Who did you get the spring from?I put a 330# composite on my 77 and with the 8" bolts supplied I had 8" between the tire and the fender well. it looked like a jacked up car from the 60s. (I know cause I was driving then.) The only way I could get it down was with 10" bolts with the nuts all the way down. The end of the spring was about 3" away from the ground and almost touching the tire. Not good! I took it off and got a new 9 leaf steel. with the 8" bolts it sits level and looks good. It may even settle after driving, I don't know cause it hasn't even been started yet. Art
Corvette America. It was a TRW. I called TRW about it and the guy (Justin) that I spoke to was a major jerk! He told me there must be something wrong with the car or else I had done something to screw up the suspension. I don't believe I'll be buying any TRW products if I can help it! Artwow, that's really surprising. I wouldn't have expected any composite spring to have that much initial arch to it. Who did you get the spring from?
huh. I hadn't heard of them until just now. I'm really happy with the VB&P spring. I uploaded some pics from my installation. They show what the suspension looks like unloaded with the 8" bolts.Corvette America. It was a TRW. I called TRW about it and the guy (Justin) that I spoke to was a major jerk! He told me there must be something wrong with the car or else I had done something to screw up the suspension. I don't believe I'll be buying any TRW products if I can help it! Art