another lowering question

yet another!
i know this subject is a on going topic but i'm finding it hard to cut to the chase in reading about the subject

i'm working on a 1992 olds custom cruiser with the 5.7 and i want to lower it.i have read in a recent post that using moog 5662 in the front and moog cc 501 will lower the car. so my question is is that all i need to swap out? stock shocks, spindles, etc, nothing else to buy? and if that is the case, how much will it drop?
thanks for any replies to a well worn but yet still a mystery, at least to me, topic!

I do not know how much it will drop, but you will have a negative camber change. You need to remove  0.030" from each shim stack per 1/2 inch of drop to restore your camber settings. The spindles stay the same, and you can use your original shocks.

Measure from the wheel opening to the top of the rim before you do anything, and record the distance. Measure it again after the spring install, and subtract the second from the first. Your toe may be slightly different as well, and you can have a shop do a toe-n-go.

It lowers the car a couple of inches and will sit like this after things settle...





15x8 wheels with 255 60-15 tires.

Going on 4 years now and I have never made any Camber adjustments and it drives straight as an arrow and has no abnormal tire wear. Over 20K miles in that time.

It does sit damn near on the bump stops and not being easy on large bumps or transitions will make you aware of that really quick. Other than that it has to be a pretty steep grade for the bumper to drag.

If your shocks are original I would change them out. Depending upon mileage and overall condition it may be time to replace some bushings, ball joints, etc. I installed mine as part of a complete rebuild of a completely worn out 200K mile suspension.

You can trim the pointed part of the bump stops to give you some more travel.

hey guys, thanks for the replies.

i will be looking at replacing some things like bushings and maybe ball joints and shocks for sure. any recommendations on those parts would be helpful as well.its getting close to 200k and i'm not sure of its history as i just got it.

so 94 woody, your ride looks fantastic. you got it to sit like that by just changing out the springs?
also fred, i think it may have been a post about this subject that i read your advice on shims. seems like a good idea as well.

His advice on the shims is solid indeed. Mine is fine but others may not be and need to be adjusted.

Yes, my drop was achieved with just the springs got them new from Amazon and Rock Auto but prices have went up since 2018. I originally had 18 inch wheels on it but I hated them and went back to 15s two years ago.

I bought all of my other stuff from Rock Auto. Every thing was MOOG and from their Problem Solver line which is the good stuff. Everything was USA made parts. I replaced every bushing, ball joint, etc. Re used my old A arms but they can be bought new and ready to bolt in but at the time I couldn't find the MOOG ones. Piece by piece ended up being much cheaper anyways and I have the tools to make the job simple. Most of it just requires an air chisel, a big piece of wood and big hammer.

There's bump stops from the S10 off-road package that'll fit on the front. Dorman 31064. They are much more progressive, lots of Impala guys like them on their lowered cars because while you hit them sooner, they are much softer.

I have my car lowered in front with both springs and drop spindles. If you have considered drop spindles, the warning about them is never published. There are two things about drop spindles that you need to know. The first is that the drop spindle puts the bottom of the shock below the rim with stock 15 inch wheels. You must use 17 inch wheels with drop spindles. The other issue is that they push the wheels out about 1/2 inch on each side for starters. This will make the wheels take a different arc when turning putting more pressure on the steering components. The arc also pushes the front, or rear of the wheel out farther than just the 1/2 inch when turning. A stock tire on a stock rim will hit the fender at over half lock going over a bump/ramp. I had to go to 215-60-17 tires on Impala rims to avoid hitting the fenders excessively. You can cure this with 1/2 inch (12 mm, for a total of 18 mm) more offset in the wheels. If you increase the offset, the widest wheel you can run in the front is 8 1/2 inches. Beyond that, you will hit the outside tierod end (there is only about 1/16 inch clearance with the added offset and wider rim). The added offset will return the centerline of the wheel/tire to its original position in reference to the ball joints, and steering linkage. You may be able to use 255-50-17 inch tires without hitting, but I have not tried them yet.

When I did mine I did tie rods, pitman and idler arms. Oh and sway bar end links. Surprisingly the control arm bushings looked good. And even though you may already know it bears repeating, be careful pulling front coils. They'd love to jump out and say hello. Rears are lazy and just fall out.
Good luck. It is so worth it. Totally changes the look for the better.

Oh and to answer your original question, yes just springs will do it. Mine didn't even require an alignment. Drove straight and true on a 500 mile round trip.

If you are replacing the front arm bushings, you can release the ball joint and leave the nut on, then unbolt the bushings, and lower the arm. If you do it this way, the spring can not jump out and injure you. It will be totally controlled.

RadioFlyer wrote:

Oh and to answer your original question, yes just springs will do it.  Mine didn't even require an alignment.  Drove straight and true on a 500 mile round trip.

The alignment will stay true, but the increased negative camber will cause excessive tire wear over time on the inside of the tires.

hey ta'll,
thanks for all the info. sorry for the delay in reply, life...
have started ordering parts so i will be posting a update soon.
thanks again!