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Joe Romeo
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
3/17/2004
00:34:08
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 Subject: Rough Country 2" lift installed (Gen II
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I have my $99 Rough Country 2" lift installed. The truck is a 93 LS V8 Club Cab 2wd. I'm posting this because I had a hard time getting info and opinions on this particular kit and hopefully it will help someone else. I have posted before and after pics under "93 Beater" in the photos section in the dodge dakota Owners Group.
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/dodgedakotaowners/
http://tinyurl.com/28o9f
Some bits of info on the kit:
JC Whitney lists it as coils spacers for the front and BLOCKS for the rear (not the leafs). The rear is an add-a-leaf and the front is a 2" urethane coil spacer. The final measurements showed a 2.5" lift in the rear and 3" in the front because of the front suspension geometry. To truly get a 2" lift in the front , you would need a 1 3/8 spacer, so a 1.5" would work OK for that (roughly).
The rear leafs are pretty easy to install and the provided instructions are pretty helpful, assuming you have some clue what's going on ;-) I did manage to break a cheap C-clamp =) The front spacers were a different story. The instructions call for disconnecting the lower ball joint. I could not get the standard pitman arm puller to work (the Haynes manual calls for a different-special tool), but I was able to get the upper ball joint disconnected pretty easy and just moved the caliper and steering arm out of the way. After getting the spring out, I ran into a big problem getting the spring compressed enough to get it back in with the spacer. My impact gun would reach it's limit and the spring was still too long to get the bottom of the spring back into it's little notch on the lower arm. After fighting it for way too long, I decided to just put the stock spring back and have them installed at a shop (per Joe E.'s original sugestion). This was do-able, but still tricky because I had to get the spring compressor situated so it wouldn't be trapped once it was released (like it did on the first attempt =(
**Note: I tried 2 types of spring compressor and one of them came close to letting go.
after $120 for the installation and $80 for the alignment, they were in place. This left me with 3" of lift in the front (looks good), but reduced the truck's upward travel from a resting position to about an inch (ride quality is now interesting...) The downward travel is also reduced because the spring is under more tension than before and doesn't flex downward as much. Bottom line... Full suspension travel distance is greatly reduced.
Now for the ride quality issues...
Normal pavement, the ride is fine, but road bumps are much more noticeable and body roll is nearly 0. In situations where the suspension flexes downward an back up (hitting the upper bump stops), I have the feeling like I'm flying out of my seat =) It tried trimming the stops, but there isn't much more travel with them completely out of the way and no sense in trying to replace them with shorter stops, There is simply no room. For a street truck, it's an cheap. OK solution to raise the truck. For off roading though, it will be interesting because of the lack of front suspension travel.
As far as looks, I like it. It now sits as high as my Montero Sport and my ex-Chevy 1500. the looks were the main reason I wanted to lift and the kit worked. Honestly though, I would not use the 2" spacers again. I'd go with 1" or 1.5" at the most. After I absorb the unexpected installation costs, I'm going to try the replacement upper control arm and spring from Truckin Suspension (after researching).
http://www.truckin-losangeles.com/product.asp?returnURL=default.asp&ID=47216
Joe Romeo
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rivermaniac
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
3/17/2004
16:42:32
| RE: Rough Country 2
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now try explaining that to the gen3 guys that think tey could put the fabtech 3" and spacers ................
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Joe E.
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
3/24/2004
19:51:16
| RE: Rough Country 2
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I cant see your dak on the site. What gives? I have the same setup with a 3in body likt. Im very curious to see your dak!
JOe E.
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Kenny
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
3/27/2004
10:03:32
| RE: Rough Country 2
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that spring is a b*tch to get in there lol i pulled my truck in auto tech yesterday thinkin i was gonna put some 1.5" spacers on my truck and i was there for the whole day on one side. It took over 2hr just to get the damn coil back in there am just gonna save up for the upper and lower A-arms and 3inch extreme coil from truckin susp.
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93dakman
Dodge Dakota
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3/27/2004
11:45:55
| RE: Rough Country 2
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I cant see the pics. I really want to see them because I have a 93.
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Joe E.
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
3/28/2004
18:17:46
| RE: Rough Country 2
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Message:
Be careful with truckin susp. They have had problems in the past. I was gonna et that 3in lift but they couldnt say or deny that it had been installed on another truck and worked. Didnt like the gini pig thing. Good Luck with it and let us know how it goes. Later
Joe E.
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J. Romeo
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
3/31/2004
00:02:07
| RE: Rough Country 2
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The pictures should work fine, but you have to be a member to the group to view them. The link to the groups is:
http://tinyurl.com/2v8ny
Now would be a good chance to sign up =)
If you guys can't get them to work, e-mail me and I will send them to you.
Joe Romeo
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