Chevy & GMC Vans

I like plain jane but when I am driving on the freeway and the road veers right or left I often feel like she is going to tip over. Yes, I am going the speed limit Yes, I have not completely adjusted to driving a van - the last car I had (10 years ago) was a little Honda Civic.

If I lower the stro 2" how much of a difference will that make? Will it reduce the quality of the ride?

How much $ for the parts?

You'll notice some difference by lowering but the best improvement you could do for the problem is a rear sway bar.
Think the sway bar runs around 120 bucks last time I looked and to lower, you can do that for around 250. That's a flip kit and shorter coils but I'd go for the dropped spindles.

I second the sway bar suggestion. I have not done it yet, but it is on the list. Secondly, how are your shocks. Replacing even just the rear ones on the van made a huge difference to handling as my rear ones were completely shot. The front ones need to be done as well, but cash is short.

At one time I had an 87 GMC Safari with no rear sway and 120K miles and working AC and an 88 Astro with rear sway, no air and 165K miles. The 88 handled so much better than the 87. i agree with the vote of adding a rear bar first.

adding a rear sway bar only helps...nothing but positive there.....however check to make sure ure shocks are good first. if they're shot a sway bar isn't going to do anything for you.

Like the rest of the guys, I agree with the rear bar and good shocks. I installed the rear bar I bought from Peter and it made a real positive difference. If you plan to do some camping (off road type) lowering is not a good idea. Two inches won't make any difference anyway.

I lowered mine about 2.5" in the rear and 2 in the front. I did this with drop leafs, bilstein shocks in front, belltech drop shocks in the rear, and a belltech rear sway bar kit. After all that with the addition of the 18" rims its night and day on the highway. A lot more solid, and not so bouncy. I could dig up some prices later, but it's not that expensive to do minus the wheels.

Why did you lower the van 2" in the front and 2.5" in the rear? Why not both 2" or both 2.5"

My mistake, it was I believe 2.5" drop in rear, and closer to 2 3/4-3" in the front. The difference from front to back is 1/2" lower in front. I was looking for the lowest drop available, and that is what I believe I achieved. It's far from slammed, but still looks good.

pengyou, your 96 may have a rear sway bar, but even if that is incorrect, you can get upgrade swaybars. The sway bars resist the body roll. new shocks will help, but not as much as the sway bars. My bilstiens provide a progressive resistance, but they can be depressed to full contraction. my upgraded sway bars impart an added stiffness to the suspension.
the front sway bar upgrade is a simple bolt on replacement. If your 96 has a rear bar, this will be a bolt on replacement as well. If your van does not have the rear bar, get a hellwig bar for the rear. The fit up is cleaner than the belltech bar I have.

I would second that the hellwig setup I would favor instead of my belltech. Mine works fine as well, but I like how the hellwig one is above the rear axle and does not hang as low. However I have never had any clearance problems even being lowered.