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IMPULSE dak
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
9/30/2008
14:12:49
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 Subject: more travel for 2wd
IP: Logged
Message:
So I decided to take a week off work and do some suspension work on my “97 2wd dak when my upper ball joint decided to fall out while going about 60mph. Finally got it home at about 12:30 at night. So the original plan was to do new ball joints and bushings, but then I got to thinking what could I do to the suspension to get more travel. Now anyone that knows about 2wd dakotas knows that there isn’t a damn thing that you can do unless you want to pay a whole lot of money for some hardcore fabrication. But I had a little idea that actually worked out quite well. First thing I did was get those old ball joints out of there and all the old bushings. Then I got to thinking and looking. I found the contact points of the upper control arm and the spring housing, after the stock bump stop was out of the way of course, then I did some cutting on the spring housing. A small arch on the outside. Then came the upper control arm. An arch on both sides to allow for it to clear the frame and spring housing. Then I used a torch to heat up the ball joint mount ant bent it almost parallel with the bump stop mount . Then some reinforcement to strengthen it back up. All this added another 2 inches of down travel, about a 1-2” lift and and centered the ball joint to keep away from strain. You will need to add a new bump stop in the rite place also. I got the cheapies from AutoZone. Don't attempt this unless u have a lot of experience with metal and welding. I also hooked up some Fabtech springs I got from my neighbor off of god knows what, a 1" poly spacer above that and some Procomp es3000 with a 2 inch lift. It handles great on the small stuff and great on the street to but I haven't hit anything big in it yet. Ball joints about $70; Bushings about $50; scrap metal, grinding, welding, pain and agony $1; better suspension priceless. Any questions or comments email me and we can discuss some pros or cons and the whole process cuz there is a hell of a lot more to it. Or for some pics to. I did all the work myself out of my garage. It took about 9 days total mostly waiting for parts and taking a few beer brakes.
‘97 Dakota 3.9l magnum 2wd
Magnaflow exhaust w/ no cat, no headers yet
Cold air intake
Throttle body spacer
10” sub that has some wicked bass
3” body lift
33” BFG all terrains
Custom built spare tire rack
Aftermarket headlights
CB, PA, radar, limo tint
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