Currently in November:


Aside from tires, what did you do for lift?

 

modified existing parts....

what i did was dropped the torsion keys and welded about 1 inch of metal plate on top curved to go and twist as i tightened up the bars..(cheaper then buying moded torsion bar keys and easier then removing from the torsion bars , since i have welders)

for the rear i flipped the rear shackle hangers and gains about 3.5 inches roughly so i cranked the front thanks to a buddy with alignment shop to the max i could and still gain proper alignment, which still gave some flex and required shorter bump stops for lower control arms but net gained about 3 inches ~ ... then 2 inch body lift , since had my own front bumper just redrilled holes in brackets and bolted back up had to modify my gear shifter for the auto tranny and i lenghtened the 4x4 shifter with a coupler so handle wouldnt hit bezel.. other then that took few hours.. added the 33's , mind you crankign torsion adds more preload and will ride stiffer, with the 33's it was a tank with 10-12psi of air as seen in picture :O


what u see was actually over a year ago, i sold the truck in the spring and bought a Jeep TJ, not gonna lie i mis the truck but the TJ is alot more fun with 35's :O

 

Awesome. I didn't see the frame when I was looking at that picture earlier, but I see it there now.
I flipped my rear hangers when I was installing the body lift since I already had the bed unbolted and I cranked the front bars but haven't re-keyed them. I'm still running 235/75's, so just a few small things make a big difference! Glad I'm on the right path. I'll have to track down some smaller bump stops too.
Thanks!

As soon as my before and after pictures don't look like they were taken the same day I'll back in here!

 

Updated. See farther below.

 

Hello everyone here is the before and after on my Dakota. My dad bought it new in 1992. He drove it about 20,000 and in 1997 he gave it to me. It had served me well and only has 118,000 miles now. But as a spare car I left it at a buddies shop for 3 years getting the AC worked on. Time just slips by. I always had the intention to bring it back to life.
Well as a birthday surprise my wife and friends got her running like a top. And a friend put a killer paint job on it. I was totally surprised. It seems that all my friends worked on it right up to my party. They called me outside and there he sat. That truck means so much to me since it was my dads and he passed away in 2009. Just wanted to share my story. Hope it didn't bore you too much.
But I do need to find all the rubber seals, window sweeps, all of the weather stripping for the two doors. I have jumped from website to website. Some have some of the parts. Maybe for one door but not the other. All of the Vintage Dodge sites are out of stock.
I don't even know what the rubber seal that goes all the way around the door/window on the out side is called.
It's had to tell all the sites show the weather strip all rolled up. I know what the felt sweeps are and what the window channel is. But some of the moulding attaches to the door and some to the door frame. And I can't seem to find a good diagram showing each piece and what it's called.
But I have a lot of wind noise from having some it removed for painting.
Thank you for your patients here and any help you can give me. And the new paint is showing reflections of clouds in the hood. One proud Dakota ower.

 

Hi, Wesmc55!

I enjoy hearing the stories behind some of the vehicles out there. It's nice to have continuity between you and your father like that.

Now- weatherstripping. I find Precision Restoration ( http://precisionrestorationparts.com...-door-kit.html ) has a kit with everything but the interior belt line strip, and the belt line strip they also have (just not as part of the kit!)

The ONLY parts diagram I found worth mentioning is at http://www.factorychryslerparts.com/...category=20301 .

I hope that helps some.

RwP

 

Yeah nice truck, and awesome that they put that work into it...good tribute.

And RALPH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks so much for that link. ****, I didn't think I'd be able to find that stuff anywhere.

 

Hello RalphP and tbugden.

I enjoy watching people bring old cars and truck back to life. Thank you for the information of a parts source too. I am still looking. It has been so hot here in Dallas it's not fun to work on a vehicle and sweat all over it.
But today a light rain and much cooler I'm getting the bug.

Again thanks for replying. It feels like I have friends out there. And you can never have too many friends.

Take care.

 

For what it's worth on the window seals...they came quick and they look REALLY nice. I have yet to install them but that's the next project on the list.

 

So I finally got my 315/75/16's, so let's update my before and after!

So, right now, tires are 6.91" taller than stock, so divide that in half, round up to 3.5" from the stock tires, 2" body lift, v8 torsion bars (around 1.5"), keys cranked (about 1.5"), 2" lift blocks on rear axle, and flipped shackle hanger (around 1"). So... I'm estimating the total lift at around 8.5".

It's a beast, and definitely needs the axles re-geared now, and looking into some other options to reduce rubbing from the massive tires. I'm surprised it doesn't rub more to be honest.


Back when I bought her.





After she got the nick name of Lil Foot



As of Today

Thank you to everyone who contributes to this forum! I love checking out what everybody is doing to their trucks, and having a great community to bounce problems off of, and just browsing around trying to help anybody with an issue I may have dealt with already!