Suspension drop

[94HeavyChevy]

Does anyone have a 91-96 caprice that is lowered. i want to lower mine real soon but not sure what to get. if your caprice is lowered let me know what u have for a drop and how u like it. right now im looking at hotchkis 1 inch drop springs all around, and air lift bags in the rear. i read that with the air lift bags you reduce any sag and also can raise the vehicle slightly. are new shocks or Extended Upper & Lower Trailing Arms necessary or can i just go with the springs?

[silicon212]

Don't use drop springs on the front - use offset spindles. If you use drop springs on the front, you will throw your suspension geometry off, and your cars' handling performance will suffer. Drop springs are fine on the back, though (within reason). Install new shocks.

[94HeavyChevy]

ok so drop spindles in the front and springs in the rear. have you ever heard of air lift bags? they actually go inside the spring and are pretty cheap- 70 bucks or so. what kind of shocks would you recommend?

[94HeavyChevy]

And would a 1.5 inch drop really ruin the geometry that much?

[silicon212]

Originally Posted by 94HeavyChevy

And would a 1.5 inch drop really ruin the geometry that much?

Does a 1mm clearance on a space shuttle rocket booster O-ring ruin the O-ring that much?

Yes to both questions.

[96capricemgr]

If you stay reasonable springs in front are fine. The Hotchkis system is nice though I would not recommend doing extended rear control arms unless you understand it is strictly cosmetic.

The stock rear lower control arms are WEAK and any aftermarket swaybar is capable of breaking them. I would recommend UMI rear lower control arms in stock length, good combination of price and quality. LCAs alone make a HUGE difference in the feel of the car. The stock pieces are so weak if you grab either end of a loose one in your hands and twist you can deflect it by hand and I am not that big a guy.
The stock upper control arms are fine.

[GreyGoose006]

to me, it seems like only using spindles would be bad as well because the suspension has less travel but the same rate.
i know that the actual travel is the same, but the usable travel is less because the car is lower.
if it were ME, id get 9c1 or equal springs for the front. the key is that they be stiffer but not shorter.
you can usually find them for around $70 online.
then do a spindle drop.

[silicon212]

"Drop spindles" actually place the spindle higher on the steering knuckle, effectively lowering the knuckle in relation to the road, but in so doing they keep all aspects of the suspension and steering geometries in spec. Shorter springs actually result in less travel.

[red88jeep]

"The stock rear lower control arms are WEAK and any aftermarket swaybar is capable of breaking them." You are correct in that GM had some problems with the rear lower control arm links. There is a recall for the 1993 model "JAN 31, 1996 | Recall ID# 40425" It says that under severe duty they can crack and fracture. This was also a problem on the earlier models used in police service too. I ran across a TSB somewhere on this and the fix was to replace the lower units with a re designed unit. (I saw some of them when I was looking through a wrecking yard and saw some retired ex police Caprices with the stronger links installed.) They were strengthened and the bars were through bolted instead of just bolted to a bracket bolted to the lower links. There are stronger aftermarket lower links available. I discovered this when I was researching bolting a bar onto my 1991 Caprice wagon shortly after I purchased it. The surprise was the Chevy bar from the Chevy parts did not fit. The 91 wagon has a wider rear axle than the sedan. (parts did not identify a different bar for the wagon.) Ron