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Raised / Lifted Dakotas
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bjlindsey
*GenIII*
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4/23/2002
01:43:19

Subject: Body lift and steps
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Anybody have any luck finding side steps that look good on a 3" lift? Thanks.

01 QC 4x4 5.9L 3.92 LSD
K&N clone, Clear Corners, Carbon Fiber Tails, Aluminum Billet 3rd Brake Light Cover, Bug Guard
www.FreeGasForYou.com


Knobbyman
*GenIII*
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4/23/2002
08:42:02

RE: Body lift and steps
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I think your best bet would be to make your own. Get some tubing have it bent and weld it to the frame. I think after the body lift your frame would be low enough that you could do that. Not only would you have strong steps but it would hide what little bit of the frame is sticking out.

'01 Graphite QC 4x4
4.7 3.55 LSD
http://www.knobbyman.com
----Speed only breaks stuff faster----

2THEXTRM
GenIII
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4/23/2002
18:42:08

RE: Body lift and steps
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I just got my Manik Step Bars on Friday and will be fabbing them on this weekend hopefully. Started on Saturday and realized I needed more tools than I have available. These bars mount to the frame directly, not body mounts which took me alot of searching to find. I really don't do any serious offroading so don't need the rock bars that bolt or weld to frame and the Manik's should look pretty sweet with the Mopar Bedrail/light bar combo I ordered.

Unfortunately the brackets are made for 91-99 Dakotas(nobody told me this when I ordered them of course), Manik told me that haven't had a newer Dak in their shop to make updated brackets and asked if I would email them pics and specs after I am done, I told them for a fee and was advised it was against company policy to pay for outside R & D that they can't personally inspect, oh well their loss! The damn torsion bar mount gets in the way on the bottom of frame on both front brackets so I have to modify them to fit against frame first and then modify the bars to sit up where they are supposed to. The way the two-piece brackets are set-up will make raising them to the correct height pretty easy and should look "factory". I will be raising them about 2.5" instead of 3" as I want to have some room to actually step, my Westins were tight enough to the truck that your toes would hit rockerpanel and I had a few times when my foot slipped off(shin smasher) since it was only half way on. Will be doing this over to my friends house, he has all the necessary equipment like an arc welder, air tools, angle grinder and of course 1-4" and 1/2" steel stock.

Should take a few hours and few beers to get it done. I will be taking digital pics of the whole install and modification if anyone is interested after I am done.

Flowmaster cat back, Air Raid CAD and homemade TB connect, Poweraid TB Spacer, Splitfire Plugs
3 inch body and 1.5 Block Lift, 33x11.50-16's

2THEXTRM
GenIII
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4/28/2002
01:17:38

RE: Body lift and steps
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Well the steps are on, took about 3.5 hours to mod the front brackets, fabricate the parts needed to raise the steps up 2" and spray everything that was bare metal black. They look sweet and are a little less than an inch away from the body, just right to use them and not really have a gap between body and step that you can put your foot and leg through like it would have been just mounting them the stock way and having a 3" gap.

They are sturdy as hell, the only drawback is that I have to do a little "cutting" on the front factory molded mudflaps as the bar pushes against them and then the tire rubs the mudflap when turning. I took them off for tonight and will do a little "fixing" tomorrow so I can keep my mudflap protection.

I have some pics of the brackets mounted and the fabricated spacers too, took a little thought and preparation. Had to make a run to Home Depot for longer bolts and a 4ft length of 1" hollow square steel stock as the steel and aluminum my buddy had in his garage was either too small or big. Wasn't a big deal to raise the bars up at all the way they are set-up to begin with, best I have seen so far if you want to be able to do what I did.

Will be taking pics of the truck and finished bracket close-ups tomorrow during the day while I am installing my flushmount hard tonneau:) Also tore off the Ventshades and installed the Weatherflectors, they look awesome and NO MORE WIND NOISE!!!!:) Just waiting on the Mopar bedrail/light bar now and then I am done on the outside, possibly a pre-runner bar... and then I am done, LOL, oh, will it ever end? I hope not I enjoy setting my Dak apart almost as much as I like spending my hard earned $$!

Sorry for the really long post, hope you didn't fall asleep reading it.

Flowmaster cat back, Air Raid CAD and homemade TB connect, Poweraid TB Spacer, Splitfire Plugs
3 inch body and 1.5 Block Lift, 33x11.50-16's

scott
Dodge Dakota
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4/28/2002
10:01:00

RE: Body lift and steps
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2THEXTRM , are the wheatherflectors the kind that attach inside of the window channel , instead of getting taped to the paint on the outside? I`d like to get a set for mine but haven`t had any exp. with them , nor can I find them at any local autoparts stores.Thanks.



2THEXTRM
GenIII
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4/28/2002
13:31:40

RE: Body lift and steps
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Yes they are Scott, I have never seen these type at any auto parts store so I got mine from automotiveinteriors.com on sale for less than $50 shipped. I just checked and they are still on sale, get'em and you won't be dissapointed.

Flowmaster cat back, Air Raid CAD and homemade TB connect, Poweraid TB Spacer, Splitfire Plugs
3 inch body and 1.5 Block Lift, 33x11.50-16's

bjlindsey
*GenIII*
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4/28/2002
13:58:22

RE: Body lift and steps
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Here are some more. 59.95 plus shipping for Quad cab.

01 QC 4x4 5.9L 3.92 LSD
3" Body Lift, 305/75-R16 XTerrains,
K&N clone, Clear Corners, Carbon Fiber Tails,
www.FreeGasForYou.com


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