The TeamUMI 1996 Caprice Suspension Swap
Caprice Time Capsule
If you happen to be looking for one of the most iconic multipurpose vehicles in recent history, we found it. When the 1991-1996 Caprice/Impala platform was debuted it was heavily utilized in the Police and Taxi services. The B-Body was also a hit with growing families and the elderly demographics. Although the Impala of this generation had a performance pedigree it was often overlooked in the enthusiast community. Fast forward to today and you can find these B-Bodies being used in many facets of the hot-rodding world, from PowerTour wagon builds, drag racing, and even corner carving rides.
We kick off our build with a 1996 Caprice that has just a mere 45 thousand miles on the clock. For now we are rocking the underwhelming 4.3 V8. Although this is a time capsule of a car, it is severely lacking in the performance department. Our preliminary plan is to build a corner carving sedan that we can use to haul around four guys and luggage to and from shows. To accomplish this we are going to install a full complement of UMI Performance suspension components as well as a modern wheel and tire combination.
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Caprice Suspension Swap
UMI Performance Suspension
Front Suspension
First things first, disassembly of the stock suspension. Considering the low miles and cream puff condition of the Caprice, the old components were removed with ease using simple hand tools. Looking forward to our intended use of this car, we chose the Front Lower A-arms, Polyurethane matched with our Front Upper A-arms, Delrin Bushings. This pairing will result in improved camber gain, and when used with the Viking Front Coil Over Kit, Double Adjustable- Polyurethane running the 550lbs springs, the desired stance and handling characteristics we are after. Finally we button up the front suspension with the Front Sway Bar, Tubular, 1-3/8″ to combat the body roll. Front Sway Bar installation is made easy with the use of our high misalignment end links that are provided with our Front Lower A-arms.
Rear Suspension
Installation on the rear end components will start with part number Rear End Housing Bushings, Polyurethane to replace the worn out rubber stock units. One helpful tip, removing the factory bushings can be a real challenge, just ask me how I know. We came up with a helpful tool that pulls the bushing out of the housing into a sleeve on the front side. Check it out in our build video accompanying this article. A long time complaint of this B-Body generation has been the rear tire being off centered in the wheel arch. This is especially apparent on the Caprice and Impalas without the low hanging side skirts. The use of Boxed Extended Length Lower Control Arms help to remedy this issue. Along with our Boxed Extended Length Lower Control Arms, we can really dial in the rearend geometry and add some much needed articulation. The Extended Length Lower Control Arms are +5/8″ longer and it’s important to note, an extended length driveshaft is not required. To get our stance matched with the front suspension, we went with our Viking Double Adjustable Rear Coil-Over Conversion Kit sporting 200lbs springs. These Vikings will give us the rebound and compression adjustability we are after and have a lowering capability of a 3″ drop on all four corners. For flatter cornering and improved balance we finished the rear off with the Rear Sway Bar, Solid 1-1/8″ mounted to the newly installed Lower Control Arms.
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Modern Wheels for the B-Body
In order to give the Caprice a more modern look we chose to step up to a 20” wheel in order to fill out the wheel arch. This jump in size will also enable us to move into a shorter sidewall tire that will be a help in the handling department. For the wheels and tires we went with a REV Wheels 110 Classic Series in 20 x 9.5 with 5.25 backspacing wrapped in a Nitto NT555 275/35ZR-20.
Testing the 1996 Caprice on the Track
After throwing in a quick alignment based on our new A-Arm specs we headed out to UMI Motorsports Park, our 5/8 Mile paved oval (think Charlotte Roval), for some testing. Every part we make is engineered and built in house. Before it heads out to a customer we torture test at our UMI Motorsports Park facility to make sure the design gets our stamp of approval. This past summer the B-Body was put to work at shows and events spread out over the East Coast. Dialing in the stance and proper adjustment of rebound and compression on the Vikings has resulted in a car that is a pleasure to drive in the corners and does its intended job of hauling guys around at events. We have been thrilled with the change in performance. With some paint correction, window tint, and some subtle exhaust work it has also been a real head turner as well.
