I was stopped at a light today and realized that if I move my body left to right from the drivers seat that I can shake the van from side to side. I'm not a heavy guy so I was surprised by this. It seems to me that the front springs should be stiffer than that. The springs look fine visually, and there doesn't seem to be any sagging, wheels gap height looks fine.

Is that normal for these vans with good springs? Are there stiffer springs available?

Mine is a 2002 1500 conversion van, not a high-top.

 

Yes, vans do move; In fact, there's an entire market out there related to the saying, "If This Van's A-Rockin' Don't Come A-Knockin" for a reason.

 

Sadly I don't expect my van to be engaged in that kind of rocking....

 

It sounds like your shocks aren't dampening as they should. Does your van bounce excessively after a dip or speedbump? Also, worn swaybar bushings would prevent the swaybar from doing it's job of preventing side to side tipping.

 

this ^^^ and

Shocks were out quickly on these vans.
I found the Monroe for RVs work very well on these Dodge Conversion vans...also the rear shocks have more to do with rocking than the front I have found.
I did have to replace my springs with 2500 versions and have been very happy with the results. That was about 160k miles - I now have over 200k

 

No, my shocks are brand new Bilsteins, less than 100 miles on them. They feel great on bumps and dips.

I just replaced my swaybar bushings, but I picked up a HD set of poly bushings that I'll install and see if it makes a difference.

 

I got a chance to install the new sway bar end links yesterday, and they made a big difference. I can barely shake the van now. It was a generic Prothane poly set that I picked up from Advance or Autozone. They looked like they were approximately the right size and for once my eyes did not deceive me. They replaced a brand new set of end links from RockAuto that had never looked impressive to me.

I also put in a set of aftermarket seats and now the van is starting to feel a lot better. When I first got it the driving feeling was like floating on a cloud that hovered above the road. Now it feels like a normal vehicle with soft steering. Tomorrow I'll install new wheels with 245/60 tires, and I expect this to tighten it up even further.

My goal in all of this is to tighten things up and make the van drive more sporty. I realize most people are looking for comfort in a passenger van, and that I shouldn't try to make a Ferrari out of a Yugo, but I'm looking to have a little fun with this vehicle.

 

It's a van... I don't think 'sporty' is anywhere in it's job description. But, that said..... Once I finally got the steering/suspension on my 96 2500 4x4 sorted out.... it actually drove rather nice.... and I would find myself driving it like my old Firebird Formula..... until I remember it wasn't a 3500 pound sports car, it was a 6000 pound TRUCK.

I wish my 98 drove that nice.....