Hi all I have a 1983 Caprice wagon and I want to lower and stiffen the ride, but having trouble finding parts, certainly over here. On British roads with all our roundabouts and tight turns, the ride can be a bit wallowy and akin to being on a sea swell. Well that's the sensible, lying part out of the way.... I just prefer a low ride, both I terms of looks and feel, so that's my true motivation... Any recommendations as to what to use? Budget is not infinite as I have to factor in shipping to this green isle. Any help appreciated.
Probably not, just may not be someone with experience looking at you posting. If I were doing this (and if I had your car I probably would) I would look for front and rear sway bars from an Impala/Caprice police car from 1977-1991. Also I would look at the same years full size Buick/Olds/Pontiacs and maybe Cadillacs, as those were the years that sway bars started showing up on those cars. The Midsized GM cars from that timeframe won't work as they suspension and track width is different. Obviously get the largest diameter bars you can find, get all of the brackets, and maybe get the rear lower control arms (not sure how the sway bar mounts, so better safe and all that). Sport shocks are available for those cars, look at KYB, Bilstein, etc. As far as lowering springs, I am sure someone makes them, or you could try shortening the fronts in small increments. Rears are usually pigtailed at both ends and cannot be cut. Another source of info would be places that cater to the 94-96 Impala SS crowd, as much of the suspension on those cars (actually the rear drive 92-96 Fullsized GM car lines) is derived from the previous generation car, like yours. If you can find a site selling suspension parts for the 94-96 Impala SS's, they might be able to help you determine if the suspension bits from the newer chassis will fit yours. Hope this helps, out here in Southern California I could go to the local yards and after a few trips find those bits if I was needing them. It will be a bit harder over there, but I imagine the cars with those parts are around you someplace. Good luck, Tom
You can lower the car by having a coil or two removed from each the springs. This would in turn do both things you wanted stiffen the ride and lower the car. I have never done this myself so I do not know how to do it correctly. You would also save the cost on buying new springs. This is just a suggestion. I have seen it done and if done right you should really like the out come.
My suggestion on the Caprice would be to cut the springs, it can be done safely and correctly giving yourself about two inches or 52mm per coil, the spring should be cut directly above the end of the orginal to insure it fits properly in the spring pocket on the lower control arm. Now I'm not too familar with that year Chevy wagon, is it coils or leafs in the rear? Coils in the rear can be cut the same unless they "pigtail" on one end or the other, if it's leaf springs a block kit can be used and usually you can pick 1,2 or 3 inch blocks. Your stock shocks should accomidate the new lower stance, if you go lower than 3 inches then you would have to find shorter ones. The lower center of gravity should siffen up the ride naturally. Im sure you didn't offend anyone...this is the first time I saw this come up. PS: Chevygod makes a good point about sway bars, they really help too.
How is the rest of the front end? If you are planning a rebuild in the not-so-distant future, I would get in touch with Performance Suspension Technology in New Jersey, U.S.A. They have a complete front end rebuild kit, and I believe the bushings are available in polygraphite. The stiffer bushings that the play out of the steering. When you order the complete kit, you get a very nice discount on front and rear anti-sway bars for both ends. For springs, I would talk to them and Eaton Springs about what springs and shocks work best for your wants. You may find that adding the Performance/Handling springs and shocks does the trick. The biggest reason for float in these big cars, too, is the tires. Unfortunately GOOD tires are hard to find indeed. I believe that Vredestein makes a 235/70R15 tire that is very good indeed. With that done, you may be very surprised how much of a transformation there is in how the car handles.
Something to keep in mind is that the rear axle is wider on a wagon than the sedan. There was a post on the I believe the Impala SS forum that made reference to using a Ford Crown Vic rear sway bar with some modifications. There were some after market rear bars made but they seem quite high priced and required the use of after market rear controll arms. I don't believe the factory ever offered a bar for the rear. Poly bushings are great but new rubber ones would probably do just as well and won't make the ride as harsh.
The Impala SS that Chevy made from 1994-1996 does indeed share a lot of the same parts as your '83 Caprice, so many aftermarket parts for the Imp will fit. Springs and rear sway bars are a bit different though. Wagon rear axles are about 1 1/2" wider than sedan rears, so factory rear sedan sway bars do not fit. The Ford Panther platform rear sway bars are a great inexpensive way to get the rear end to settle down on the curves. Cut a coil out of the front springs, and look for a slightly stiffer Impala SS lowering spring for the rear, because you can not cut the rear springs. A direct Impala SS spring swap doesn't work on the wagons as the weight, and the weight distribution is much different than the sedans. Good quality shocks make a huge difference, as well as larger tire and wheel combos. Check out these links, they have some other options for you, and good info. Stickman's sweet '84 OCC. http://gmlongroof.4umer.com/t98p20-the-stickman-s-custom-cruiser-build-thread?highlight=stickman Pics of the Ford rear bar I put on my '94 Buick Roadmaster. Your '83 Caprice is not much different. http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9460 This link has a lot of general info on GM B body suspensions, have a look around. http://gmlongroof.4umer.com/f33-suspension-and-brakes
Lots of good ideas, and you don't necessarily have to change everything all at once. I'd maybe start with the obvious - new heavy duty shocks. Also, going to a lower aspect ratio tire, combined with new shocks should result in an immediate personality change for the wagon. Better steering feel might help eliminate that wallow-y feel as well. I remember reading a car magazine article many years ago where they were trying to improve the handling of a '79 Chevy Caprice (I could be off a year or two - doesn't matter). One thing they did was swap out the spool valve unit it the steering box for one from a Camaro. They said that simple change made it seem like a completely different (quicker handling) car.
hello lowtimeppl... so some thing that may be of a bit of help to you might be to go to the moog suspension web site. do a little digging. what i did was i used 94-96 impala front springs on my 84 caprice estate wagon it lowered the front end about an inch and had a much higher spring rate than the factory spring. also the frame on your car was made in 73 for the malibu wagon it later became the caprice in 77. the malibu was down sized in 78. but i used the performance front sway bars for a big block 73 monte carlo. on my wagon it is a factory part and is cheap. the front springs go for about 120. us dollars. moog makes a lot of parts as far as suspension goes and they have a chart you can go by. it made all of my choices very easy. it lists spring wire thickness. rate compressed height free height
Ok a little late to the party but here goes. One watch how low you go. There is a point for most all cars but definitely this car where the lower you go the worse it handles. Believe me been there. Also stiff springs are not needed for a better handling car. You can keep the plush ride and still handle well. What you need are swaybars front and rear. The B-body wagons nerer came with swaybars. And if you try big aftermarket swaybars on the rear LCA's you will likely twist them up. What you need is aftermarket LCA's and a rear swaybar. You can do this a few ways. if you wanna stay on the cheap side you can get Metco's billet aluminum wagon LCA's which have mounts for either an aftermarket swaybar or a stock sedan bar. So you could find a cheap sedan bar and be in business. But if you want real handling get the largest front and rear bars you can with aftermarket rear LCA's and you will have a transformed car. BTW you can't cut the rear springs as they have a pigtail on each end. Metco LCA's Stock sedan bar both mounted on the car Stock and aftermarket rear bar aftermarket rear bar mounted to the car BTW the aftermarket rear bar is so strong that when I jack up one side of the car the bar will raise the other side while trying to keep the car level. How many rear swaybars do you know that can lift the opposite side of the car?
