I was rummaging through the local upull JY a few days ago and I stumbled upon a 1990 Dakota ext cab 4x2 that had a rear sway bar! Now given the number of pieces required to make this work I could hardly believe that it was factory, but there it was.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Was there a factory rear bar option? I've never seen one before, but you can bet someone's going back tomorrow to get it!.

I would post up some pics but I'm just not in the mood to struggle with it.

Steve

 

Apparently the only gen 1 Dakota to come with rear sway bars was the Shelby. I have no info on the size but have read that they were small.

In process of removing the bar from the 1990 Dakota. The links are attached to special lower spring plates. It's been on there so long everything is very rusty.

Looks like the securing points for the main section of the bar require adding a reinforcement to the frame.

Steve

 

As an added note, Addco does sell new anti sway bars for the front and rear of our trucks.

For 2WD, front is a 553 or 510 (both are 1 1/8"), rear is a 416 (7/8").

For 4WD, front is a 511 for the flat faced (87-90), or a 2028 (91-96). Both are 1 1/8". Caveat - the torsion bars do a bit of anti sway action already, so this acts like a bigger one on the front. Rear 4WD is also a 416 (7/8").

The catalog lists some installation notes.

Source: Addco catalog, see at http://www.addco.net/aftermarket/catalog/dodge/ and about 50% down.

RwP

 

Thanks for the info Ralph, here's a photo of the bar assembly that was installed on the 90 Dakota. I removed it as a unit because it seemed easier than struggling undoing all the bits and then taking it out.

It seems that this Dakota had had some aftermarket work done, the rear window was a tinted slider that had some companies badge on it, and there was some other interior stuff too that seemed odd.

Anyway, I think the pic is self-explanatory.

Steve A

 

glenlloyd - I'd take that apart, get the parts media blasted and powder coated, and then either put it back on, or sell it.

RwP

 

That's some good advice, I need to spend some time with it and find new links for it. The old red poly bushings are cracked, not sure about the ones at the main mounts.

That bar measures 1.25", that's pretty hefty for a rear bar, especially on a Dakota.

Steve

 

That is; I'd be concerned with that much on the rear, without a monster bar on the front.

For the end links, you CAN buy just the poly bushings. Or measure the end links and order the "generic" ones from Energy Suspension and/or Prothane.

RwP

 

Steve,
Did you check the front bar?..... I wonder if it is larger then factory?

 

Yep and yep. If I use this I will definitely be upgrading the front to something more compatible. I actually think I can get the links undone, at least I hope, that way I can just replace the poly bits.

I did check, looked like factory thickness to me, nothing bigger than what I saw on my own truck.

The only other things I saw that were added to this truck was the tinted sliding back glass, a nice front dome light and a fiberglass rear roll pan that looked like it wasn't originally designed for it.

Also, I had a modified exhaust that exited at the rear bumper with a slight downturn.

If I'm out there tomorrow (or Sunday) I will go back and check that truck out again. I need to walk through anyway and see if I can find a 2wd truck with some small helper springs. I saw some a couple months ago but forgot to go back and get them, now that truck is long gone.

Steve

 

I checked again today, and it looks like the factory install. I haven't compared it to my sway bar but I will when I'm back down at the shop next week.

This brings up interesting question though, what was determining factor in whether your Dak got a front sway bar or not? I looked at three 4x2 Dak trucks in the JY today and the two LB models did not have front sway bar, only the 1990 ext cab truck had a front bar. I know that my 94 ext cab has the front bar because while I was under the front end doing the timing chain last year I remember looking at the rotted out front link bushings and thinking that I had some links that would work from an order I placed for my old B250 van years ago.

If anyone knows what determined whether you got a front bar or not LMK, it could be as simple as LB vs ext cab but I don't know that for sure.

Steve