Side views, before and after:
Three quarter views, before and after:
This page details an experiment I performed to lower my '89 Caravan turbo. The project evolved over the course of a few months... until I decided I didn't like the setup and I put my van back to stock height. At the bottom of this page I'll share some other ideas I've had which might be better ways to go... but keep in mind I haven't tried them yet. Let this page be an inspiration for you to experiment on your own van.
The rear end would not be quite as easy. Ultimately I decided to fabricate a pair of custom "blocks" and--borrowing from my Jeep background--convert to a "spring under" setup. This sure did drop the tail end, all right, by about five inches! This leaves me with an inch or less of suspension compression before I hit the bump stops, which is bad, but I have plenty of room to clear the 3" exhaust system and the 225/60s on 6.5" crab wheels, which is good. Here are some comparison shots:
If you'd like to lower your own minivan in this manner, here is some info you'll appreciate. As I said, I made some custom "blocks" for the spring under conversion. I keep putting the word blocks in quotes because the items in questions are actually not blocks at all; they are essentially four 'fingers' of steel, drilled through, then welded to a flat 1/4" steel plate. Due to how the rear axle attaches to the leaf springs, this was the elegant way to clear everything while allowing for new (longer) U-bolts to hold it all together safely. Here are a couple shots to illustrate how I did it:
Hopefully this info is sufficient to help you build your own custom project. In other words, don't ask me to build you a set of lowering blocks--I didn't build this set myself. I don't even weld. I'm sure you can find a competent machinist in your area to help you out.
Dec '01: My shackles have been built. However, I decided I didn't want to pursue this exact project so I never installed them. In fact, I put my van back to the completely stock suspension setup.
Why did I undo the lowered suspension? Because the van's ride was, in a word, total and complete CRAP. Even with my van's serious diet (no bench seats, no spare, no spare hoist, no hoist bracketry, no rear wiper and motor, no sound deadening in the back at all, etc) there was still only an inch or less of suspension compression available. This results in a ride which is highly uncomfortable at best and flat-out dangerous at worst... so I don't really recommend it.
What about the shackles? Yes, I still have them. Yes, they would give me another inch or so of extra compression travel. But even still, I think 3" of travel ought to be the bare minimum for a street vehicle. And when you're measuring travel, be sure to start out by measuring static height when your van is laden with its typical load of people, cargo, etc!
Another idea was to shave the bump stops. While this sounds good on paper, I don't think it is wise to shave more than perhaps 3/4" off them (if that) so IMO this isn't really the way to lowering nirvana, either. It's a slight fine tune, not the main method you ought to use.
After having thought about it at length, I think I have a better, more elegant solution to lowering the rear... an idea which, again, borrows from my Jeep experience: remove one or two leaves from the rear springs. It's common for leaf sprung pickups to raise the tail by adding a leaf, so why not do the reverse? My idea is to leave the bottom (shortest) leaf alone, but remove the second-shortest leaf right above it. (This is where trucks add their extra leaf.) Then you'd have to bolt it all back together and see how much the tail was dropped. If that's not enough, I'd take out the next leaf also. Again, this is just an idea kicking around in my mind--if you try it, you may need to experiment and exercise judgement to decide what works best for you. And remember: removing leaves will reduce the cargo capacity of your van! So don't go hog nuts wild if this is your family's daily driver.
Do you have other thoughts or ideas about lowering your van? Feel free to drop me a line (follow the link on the site's main page).
Modified 9-19-04.