body mounts
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Registered User
Joined: Mar 2009
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From: ontario canada
body mounts
ok so i am doing a frame off for a 1990 dakota sport and up here in ontario everything is rusted on, so i had to use the cutting torch to get the body mount bolts out.. damaging the retaining washers that hold the rubber in place... i had plans to buy polyurethane bushings anyway so i wasnt to worried about it.. until i come to find that the kit does not come with hardware.. so now i need to get all new "washers", the ones for right next to the cab (on top of rubber bushing) and the very bottom under the rubber that the bolt head sits against.. any idea as to where i can find this hardware? i checked all local parts stores and they do not even have a listing and so i tried the dealership and they had a listing for what they thought i was tlaking about but it is no longer manufactured.. any and all help would be extremely helpful.
Professional
Joined: Jan 2012
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You have 2 options. Find a dakota in a junkyard and get the "washers" from there. (I'm not sure how popular these trucks are up there) Or, make them yourself. Get a sheet of 1/8 inch thick steel and find some steel pipe that is just big enough to slide the bolt through.
cut the steel plate into 3 inch x 3 inch squares. You will need 2 squares for each mount you are replacing.
drill a hole into the center of all the squares the size of the bolt.
Cut the pipe into sections that are as long as both bushings combined. Do not add the thickness of the steel between the 2 bushings to the length.
when both bushings and the washers are on the truck, you want at least an 1/8 inch between the pipe and the bottom washer if you will be using poly bushings.
If you get rubber bushings instead, leave a 1/4 inch of room between the pipe and the bottom washer.
You do NOT want the pipe to hit the bottom washer. If it does, it would be almost exactly the same as bolting the cab to the frame with no bushings.
Weld the pipe to the top washer. If you are not good at welding, take it to a professional. Stick a bolt through the washer and the pipe so the holes line up perfectly before starting to weld.
If needed, Use a knife to remove some material away from the top bushing so that the bushing is resting on the washer. If you do not do this with a poly bushing, it will just rest on the weld and not put the weight on the washer where you want it. This will lead to the weld failing within a few years.
paint or galvanize the new washers so they do not rust.
Finally, install them and enjoy your new bushings!
If this is too much work and there are no dakotas in junk yards near you, you could have someone here in the states send you the washers. Probably to a forwarder to save you the cost of going through customs.
cut the steel plate into 3 inch x 3 inch squares. You will need 2 squares for each mount you are replacing.
drill a hole into the center of all the squares the size of the bolt.
Cut the pipe into sections that are as long as both bushings combined. Do not add the thickness of the steel between the 2 bushings to the length.
when both bushings and the washers are on the truck, you want at least an 1/8 inch between the pipe and the bottom washer if you will be using poly bushings.
If you get rubber bushings instead, leave a 1/4 inch of room between the pipe and the bottom washer.
You do NOT want the pipe to hit the bottom washer. If it does, it would be almost exactly the same as bolting the cab to the frame with no bushings.
Weld the pipe to the top washer. If you are not good at welding, take it to a professional. Stick a bolt through the washer and the pipe so the holes line up perfectly before starting to weld.
If needed, Use a knife to remove some material away from the top bushing so that the bushing is resting on the washer. If you do not do this with a poly bushing, it will just rest on the weld and not put the weight on the washer where you want it. This will lead to the weld failing within a few years.
paint or galvanize the new washers so they do not rust.
Finally, install them and enjoy your new bushings!
If this is too much work and there are no dakotas in junk yards near you, you could have someone here in the states send you the washers. Probably to a forwarder to save you the cost of going through customs.
ok so i am doing a frame off for a 1990 dakota sport and up here in ontario everything is rusted on, so i had to use the cutting torch to get the body mount bolts out.. damaging the retaining washers that hold the rubber in place... i had plans to buy polyurethane bushings anyway so i wasnt to worried about it.. until i come to find that the kit does not come with hardware.. so now i need to get all new "washers", the ones for right next to the cab (on top of rubber bushing) and the very bottom under the rubber that the bolt head sits against.. any idea as to where i can find this hardware? i checked all local parts stores and they do not even have a listing and so i tried the dealership and they had a listing for what they thought i was tlaking about but it is no longer manufactured.. any and all help would be extremely helpful.
Thread Starter
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Registered User
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 22
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From: ontario canada
hey, thanks for the sugestions, i like the idea of the pipe and making my own, but im gonna ocntinue to look to find some as i would rather pay for them and have the proper set up, but if spring comes and i still cant find any then i will be going that route.. as for anyone that has some or knows where to get them, i would gladly buy them from you, i need a full set tops and bottoms from a 1990 reg cab.. so thats two for each bushing times 4 cab mounts plus each front fender mount,
