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Police suspension on 2001 Impala

My Impala is starting to tell me about every bump in the road and it seemed a little sloppy on corners- and it really notices when I have a utility trailer attached. . .

So my mechanic did all the diagnostic measuring and thinks it is borderline for new springs. Sounded good to me as I plan on keeping the car for another decade or so.

I had asked about adjustable shocks first & he says they aren't available for the Impala- but he was looking for something that might beef things up a bit for the occasions that I tow a utility trailer- without making the 98% of the time that I use the car an unpleasant experience.

One of his vendors suggested the police/taxi strut-spring assembly, but they weren't able to say what it would do to the ride without a load.

Has anyone tried them- or have another idea? Are there adjustable struts that my mechanic hasn't seen?

Thanks, Jim

Reply to
Jim Elbrecht
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I added air bags to a car once that I was towing a trailer with. It is the same thing as putting in stiffer springs, but without a load you can always reduce the air pressure for a little less stiff ride. At that time the air bags were available through JCWhitney and were real simple to install. The hardest part was finding a spot for the air line to keep it out of harms way.

Reply to
Doug Adams

I wish I could do something so simple. I haven't poked my head under to check myself, but my mechanic [who I've trusted for 20 yrs] tells me my Impala [2001] has struts that go up through those springs. Eliminates air bags and adjustable shocks in one operation.

Thanks for the thought, though. Jim

Reply to
Jim Elbrecht

Neither Bilstein nor Koni list any products for your car; I like the idea of using police-spec suspension components but you may be on your own in terms of finding out what all you need to change. I would GUESS only struts, springs, and sway bars, but there may be more to it than that (i.e. the police package may have different brakes, spindles, etc. and that would make some other parts non-interchangeable.)

good luck,

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

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