CHANGING OUT SHOCKS

[benny]

Hey Gentleman, I thing I read a post that talks about changing out shocks. I have 2 that are leaking. Kit includes shocks and something that keeps the light that does the active stability from coming on.Thanks

 

[05 GRAND DADDY]

Hey Gentleman, I thing I read a post that talks about changing out shocks. I have 2 that are leaking. Kit includes shocks and something that keeps the light that does the active stability from coming on.Thanks

I just switched out all 4 shocks, and all 4 spring adjuster (lowering bolt) For our 2005 XLR here the information
Bilstein Shocks
Front - B8-24-029773
Rear - B8-24-029780
I found the best price with RockAuto.com
RockAuto

Simulators (Trick the computer to think the mag shocks are still installed) Part # 109096
I purchased from JEGS If your a new customer you can get 20% off
They will still come from Casper Electronics
JEGS High Performance Parts | Aftermarket Auto Parts & Accessories

If you need to switch out the Spring Adjusters (All 4 Lowering Bolts) this is part # 624104 Use C6 Corvette Bolt Set of 4
Southern Car Parts
Corvette Parts & Accessories for C5, C6, C7, Z06, ZR1 | Southern Car Parts



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[lextoy]

great info, but i will mention two things about the spring pads grand daddy listed at the end of his post.
A. they are not integral to changing the shocks themselves, but might as well do them while you have everything opened up.
B. the pads he listed are lowering pads, many have used them, but they might be stiffer, might need more adjustment to get height same as before, or maybe you want to go lower...
Fireduck69 recently found an oem style pad that is thicker, thus not lowered, maybe not as stiff.
here they are:
97-19 Stock Spring Adjuster Bolt Stop Pad 97-19 Front 05-19 Rear | Corvette Central

hey grand daddy, did you do a thread on your recent upgrade? did you do it yourself or have a shop take care of it? i'm outside philly, if there's a competent shop that did your xlr, i could come over for a similar upgrade!

 

[05 GRAND DADDY]

great info, but i will mention two things about the spring pads grand daddy listed at the end of his post.
A. they are not integral to changing the shocks themselves, but might as well do them while you have everything opened up.
B. the pads he listed are lowering pads, many have used them, but they might be stiffer, might need more adjustment to get height same as before, or maybe you want to go lower...
Fireduck69 recently found an oem style pad that is thicker, thus not lowered, maybe not as stiff.
here they are:
97-19 Stock Spring Adjuster Bolt Stop Pad 97-19 Front 05-19 Rear | Corvette Central

hey grand daddy, did you do a thread on your recent upgrade? did you do it yourself or have a shop take care of it? i'm outside philly, if there's a competent shop that did your xlr, i could come over for a similar upgrade!

I have a Chevrolet Dealer (Renn Kirby) in the Gettysburg area that has a Cadillac XLR mechanic that knows our cars, he’s done everything I ever had done at the dealership. Their hourly rate is $105 an hour. I bought a 4 set of Lowering Bolts Spring Adjusters from Cubby and threads was the wrong size, so I called him, he told me where he bought them (Southern Car Parts) and returned the wrong size back to Cubby! Mean while I had the dealer get the thread size M 13x2.0x50M called Southern Car Auto Parts and had them shipped out overnight, but still took days, but then I get a call from the dealer that there was only 3 of bolts in the box! So anyways everything got done and I was back in business in about 10 days! The car rides about the same, maybe a little stiffer, but definitely handles better then before! I’m satisfied at about a 1/3 of cost of the OEM Magnetic Shocks


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[05 GRAND DADDY]

great info, but i will mention two things about the spring pads grand daddy listed at the end of his post.
A. they are not integral to changing the shocks themselves, but might as well do them while you have everything opened up.
B. the pads he listed are lowering pads, many have used them, but they might be stiffer, might need more adjustment to get height same as before, or maybe you want to go lower...
Fireduck69 recently found an oem style pad that is thicker, thus not lowered, maybe not as stiff.
here they are:
97-19 Stock Spring Adjuster Bolt Stop Pad 97-19 Front 05-19 Rear | Corvette Central

hey grand daddy, did you do a thread on your recent upgrade? did you do it yourself or have a shop take care of it? i'm outside philly, if there's a competent shop that did your xlr, i could come over for a similar upgrade!

Keep in mind, my XLR is a 2005 base model. Fireduck’s I believe is 2007 XLR-V and I believe the Lowering Bolt are different size, and all 4 of mine was the same size.


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[long Tall Sally]

I originally replaced the spring pad bolts with the lowering ones. you have to raise them about 1/2 inch to bring the car back to stock length .that puts extra pressure on the spring and does make the ride a little harder. If you lower the m1/2 inch the ride remains about the same but you get clearance issues with the front radiator lower support. I like the original even if you wan to lower the car. this is a rubber to metal contact so a little lube helps prevent wear and noise. I have swapped around vette and xlr springs but never ran into a size difference on the bolts. All of them seem to have been the same. Maybe just lucky.

Side note. You need to take the time to check the lower radiator supports. On almost every car I look at, at least one of the four mounts is broken. Most have two broke. when it gets to three ,you risk the radiator assembly dropping down and the support doubling up which will case major damage. Before that happens it can be removed and welded ( aluminum) and reinforced a bit .

 

[benny]

Morning, thanks for all the help. Will be ordering parts this week. Will post about job when is all done.

 

[benny]

Installed all shocks,spring pad bolts and simulators. I can not get the active control light to come off. Does anybody know if this has to be done the a tech 2 scanner ? Thanks

 

[KevinJ62]

Good question, Benny. Interested in finding out myself as I might be forced to do the shock swap if they [G7 Computers] can't get my SC module up and running. I just bought a Tech 2, but still need to do some research on usage. When it comes to 'computer stuff' I know just enough to screw it up royally!

 

[05 GRAND DADDY]

I had the dealer do my exchange, the mechanic is on vacation, that worked on mine, I’ll try and call next week and see if he’s back from vacation and ask if he did something for that, if he had a situation too. I think I recalled someone else had that, and found the simulators, may not of been in correct or in tight, so you may want to check that too if you haven’t already!


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[long Tall Sally]

you really should not have to do anything but maybe reset he battery and drive it .A couple of the sims do not snap in and have to be zip tied together so make sure the yare good and tight and there are two different ones wit ha 2 wire and a 3 I think so they are not interchangeable. I have heard they do not work on some cars but I thought that was the early 04 corvette

 

[benny]

Good Morning, I did hear back from Casper electronics, they said to drive the car for a few cycles to relearn the computer. They said the parts were made foe the corvette but to let them know if it works for the Cadillac. Will post if it works. Thanks

 

[long Tall Sally]

there have been a good number of people who have used them on the XLR so they should work ok.