Front Tie Rod

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Major System Category: Brakes & Suspension
Task: Cut and attach front tie rod
Parts: Steering rack and outer tie rod
Prerequisite Tasks: Mount front suspension
Additional Costs: N/A
Time Requirement: 90 minutes
Date Started: July 21, 2012
Date Completed: July 22, 2012
There is good news and bad news about the most of the steering components.

The good news is that pretty much everything appears to be sourced from Flaming River. This means parts can be readily replaced.

The bad news is most of these parts need to be modified to fit the GTM.

Tie rod connected to suspension after trimming 1 inch. There is still a little room left for the jam nut.  Orientation is passenger side front suspension.

Here's the problem. If you wind the outer tie rods all the way to the end of the threads and attempt to bolt it to the front suspension, the rods are too long. I checked SpyTech's Blog (because I knew I had read this somewhere), and he recommends cutting 1 inch off the tie rod as a starting point. I looked in the manual and I couldn't find the spot where it instructs you to cut the tie rod. I'm sure it is in there, but I couldn't find it. I followed SpyTech's instructions and everything worked out. This may be something I read on the forums as well.

This is the driver's side. As you can see we are pretty close to the end of the threads on the inner tie rod.  Orientation  is driver's side suspension.

All I had available was a hack saw, and I used that to trim the passenger side tie rod. After that dreadful experience I figured there are easier ways tot handle this. I went down to Loews and purchased a 3 inch diamond cutting wheel for my die grinder. Wow! I trimmed the driver's side tie rod in 2 minutes. Wear safety glasses for this one! Sparks fly all over the place.

Another look at the driver's side suspension a few minutes before I mounted the tires. Note the orientation of the shocks. This is opposite from the manual. I suspect the printed manual has other items that do not reflect engineering changes or design modifications. There is a great deal of forum discussion regarding the coil over shocks.

For some reason, you end up taking a little bit more off the driver's side tie rod. I had to trim two more times. In both cases less than the width of a dime. I eye balled the alignment for now.

Front Suspension

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Major System Category: Brakes & Suspension
Task: Mount front suspension to chassis
Parts: Corvette donor suspension
Prerequisite Tasks:
Additional Costs: N/A
Time Requirement: 1 hour
Date Started: 7/21/2012
Date Completed: 7/21/2012
A funny thing happened on the way to mounting the suspension, the upper control arm bushings didn't line up with the mount points. There were turned out of phase some 45 degrees. I don't think there is anything wrong, it is just a pain. I will have to lift the suspension higher to get the mount point and control arms to line up so I can drop the bolts into the holes.

These are the upper control arm mount points. These were the fittings that were turned 45 degrees.

It was 101 here today, so I am waiting for cooler weather before I lift these monsters into place. As with the rear suspension, I have the Z06 big brakes and rotors already mounted on the suspension. I'm not sure how much more weight this adds, but it seems substantial.

The goal is to get a tire on the car. Besides the control arms, none of the rest of this came from the donor. We have new tires, new wheels, new rotors and new calipers. This is the big brake kit for Corvettes, so you need larger everything to accommodate these upgrades.

My buddy Glen came over today to help with the front suspension. I lifted suspension so the mount points aligned, and Glen cranked away with two socket wrenches. We made quick work of the problem. Once attached the bushings rotated and came to rest. We were able to get the lower control arm attached in short order as well. If everything had mated up just right, I could have done this myself.

Front Coil-Over Shock Mounting

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Major System Category: Brakes & Suspension
Task: Mount front shocks
Parts: Koni Coil Over assembly
Prerequisite Tasks:

• Mount front suspension
• Assemble coil over shocks

Additional Costs: N/A
Time Requirement: 1 hour (provided no modification is required for spacers); Otherwise, 90 minutes.
Date Started: July 21, 2012
Date Completed: July 21, 2012
The shock mounts go on pretty easy. They are packaged together in a zip lock bag under the major part number for the assembly. Everything is off the shelf with the exception of the mount itself. Ensure the 450 lbs spring set is mounted on the front. This is a good time to check that the shocks are set up the same way. This isn't to say that you are done with adjustments, but it is best to start with everything as close to same on both sides as possible.

This is the mount for the front coil over shock. It bolts to the lower control arm.  Orientation is driver's side front suspension looking from the front of the car towards the rear.

 Issue: I ran into two issues related to the spacers.

1. The spacers need to be enlarged so they fit on the bolt. This is easily handled by drilling out the center with a half inch drill bit.
2. The spacers were too wide to fit on the mount points. This is solved by filing down one spacer for each pair. I used a hand file. You don't need to take too much off. Just enough to fit.

Issue: I ran into problems with the steering rack due to excess powder coating. The same thing happened with the shock mount point on the chassis. This was handled with a Dremel tool.

This is the coil over shock installed. It is my understanding that we currently install the shocks right side up . This is a departure from the manual.

I used a small floor jack to lift the suspension so it was roughly parallel to the ground. Based on this height and the same number of turns on the shock collar, I mounted the front coil overs. I will worry about alignment and that sort of thing when I have an engine (some 13 to 14 months off).