Bilstein Sport Shocks

Bilstein Sport Shocks

After lowering the C5, it became apparant that the factory Z51 shocks could not handle the lower center of gravity or handle corners at a high rate of speed. Since I have used the Bilsteins in my previous vehicles, I elected to use them also in the C5. Sam at LAPD hooked up during a group purchase at the CorvetteForum.

Normally I also upgrade springs when I do shocks, but since the C5 use's a leaf spring type design, I will need to do a bit more research before I take that plunge.

The first couple of pics show my C5 on my friends lift. This last pic shows the stock Z51 shock in comparison to the Bilstein sport

Here you see the rear assembly with the Z51 factory shock still in place. The second picture shows the assembly with the factory shock removed. The last pic shows the removal process of the mounting plate that is needed for the Bilstein shock.

These pictures show the factory mounting plate now attached to the Bilstein shock. The last two pictures show the Bilstein shock mounted.

These pictures show the front assembly with the factory Z51 shock before and after removal. The top A arm assembly needs to be unbolted and moved out of the way to remove the shock. This is also a good time if you want to remove the leaf spring bolt to lower your car. See my lowering job under the Perf Mods AA Engines lowering Kit .

Installation of the front Bilstein was simple and reassembly of the front A-arm was simple also. We spent about a hour with the installation of the shocks and another 30 minutes removing the front leaf spring bolts. As you can tell from the last picture, the look of the car is much more aggressive. The is also much firmer and solid when taking hard corners. A very good up grade for under $400.