Just wanting some opinions on something that has been on my mind, I'm building an 1988' R/T (somewhat Shelby) package and decided to go with a racerback and visor on my reg cab/short bed with a 5.9L and as far as "sport" goes I'm not building it to beat a time but I will take it to the drag strip...will the visor create a lot of drag? Even highway and street performance reduction or MPG?

The other thing is as much as I like a mini RWD V8 truck I find I get stuck everywhere since it's my daily driver, it's horrible in snow...in mud you can forget it. I planned on building a short bed/reg cab 4x4 chassis this summer to drop my body on with 9.25" axles @ 3.9:1 but the thing is an R/T & Shelby did not come in 4x4 I do not think. Besides the little extra weight of an active front end what kind of drag is produced when disengaged? Will the front drive shaft still spin or does it disengage at the hubs themselves??

 

Drive shaft disengages. But the entire front axle assembly keeps spinning. Hubs are locked always.

As for the visor I don't have numbers but I heard of one guy driving 65 on the freeway and his visor ripped right off the roof. (He didn't have it properly attached)

 

No aftermarket hubs advalible or retrofittable?

ON ANOTHER NOTE- With the whole "drag" thing in mind I swear I have something weird going on with my RWD 88' that I'm not sure where to start. On colder days even with the engine fully warmed up I have to push a little more on the gas pedal to get the same acceleration and it seems to coast smoother on warmer days (sometimes it will do it on a warmer day I have to pay more attention) I do not have overdrive (3spd) so the transmission is always engaged but would that be cool/thick tranny fluid? I **** people off by slowly accelerating because I know if I step on it I'm just throwing gas away in my mind, and there is a fine line for me with throttle-to-acceleration ratio; sometimes it does very little for the extra throttling. Could this cooler drag be a dry pumpkin?!?

 

the visor will cause drag , but not enough to care about.

Get a front axle and transfer case with a CAD from another dakota if you go with 4wd. Manual locking hubs would be the better way to go, but could cost a LOT of money and time as nothing is available as a direct bolt on that i know of. At least a CAD will cause a slight reduction in drag. the axle shafts and spider gears will still spin , but the ring and pinion will remain stationary for the most part.

Colder fluids will always cause more drag than warmer fluids. Make sure you have the correct amounts and don't worry about it. A dry pumpkin would probably make enough noise to hear in the cab driving down the road, but if you haven't changed the gear oil yet, you may as well as a tube of RTV and a few pints of gear oil is pretty cheap.

 

Never heard of a CAD what does it stand for?? What years did it come equip?

Honestly I'm going to scrap my rear axle within 2 years anyway not even worth changing the oil/grease.

 

CAD is Central Axle Disconnect. 93-down 4wd Dakota's have it. On the front axle there is a vacuum activated actuator that shifts a fork over that locks the front passenger axle together or disconnects it. There are no replacements for the CAD actuator if one has failed.

So the only moving internals is the driver side shaft to the spiders. That reduces a lot of rotating mass which saves a bit of MPG and HP.

You can not convert the stock setup to an manual locking hub system.

 

Thanks! Why did they stop making them in 94-96 unreliable? Is the passenger axle much longer then the drivers like in most cars with the sideways motors?

I'm having the hardest time finding a short 4x4 frame in a scrap yard to build off of. If I found one without CAD it can be easily swapped in?

 

Now maybe it's just cause I hear nothing but everyones problems rather then good stuff but all I ever hear about is problems with the CAD. I Don't have it and I'm happy with what I got. I really don't think it makes THAT big of a difference in HP and MPG. Got to pick the happy medium bud. Don't settle for something bad for a couple HP.

 

Your a wise man WRXCarl, looks like I gotta draw my line.

 

Hello Pink Have you ever thought of just swapping the rear diff? Like you I had a major problem of driving in "rougher" spots. It was bad enough that if one of the tires is on the road while the other is in the dirt, I would spin and coulldn't do anything. My solution was that I replace the open diff for a limited slip diff. Cost me 125 bucks and a day for the swap and a case of beer. and it is well worth it. I just dont want to see you invest all that time and money for a 4x4 swap without knowng that there were other options you could have done. By the sounds of all your post it and the problem you keep mentioning on how you are getting stuck this might be a simplier and easier fix, and if you are still wanting to go the 4x4 route you can still use the rear end. You can get it out of a newer dakota jeep grand cherokee and some rams.

Second question about the visor it will cause drag and weight gain, but honestly you won't see the difference. They are made out of plastic and fiberglass. "well mine is" and it is purely for looks. It is your choice, if you want to go that route.

Now Pink my final response if you forsure want to do the 4x4 route and can't find anything or donor dakotas I can help you get one from where I am at. We see them all the time, its like 4x4 heaven around here. I only ask that if you want to do a donor switch, I have been lookiing for a 5.2 dakota thats 2wd. I can't seem to find anything. Also to hjack the thread a little but soon I will be posting the pictures of my dakota that I am building up for the Western Canadian Power Cruise in july. Have fun and Pink I would suggest you do that rear end swap before anyhting else unless you already did that and in that case you are going through some pretty heavy stuff.