Hi Everyone;

I have a 96 Dakota 4x4 SLT Ext Cab that is in serious need of new shock towers. The ones that are on there are hanging on by a thread. She's a good old girl with almost 300,000 miles on her..and she still has original everything.

To clarify; The piece to which I refer is the part that is welded onto the frame, where the top of the shock goes thru and the nut for the top of the shock is attached. It also encompases the tube to which either end of the upper control arm is attached. If that makes it any clearer.

My question is this:

Can I buy replacement pieces and have them welded on to the frame..(after I take the old ones off) or do I start looking for an ingenious metal worker?

I'm not sure how much time she has left. There is some rot on the body..but the frame is still good. Any help or direction that anyone could give will be greatly appreciated. https://dodgeforum.com/forum/images/...con_violin.gif

We're coming on winter her in Rhode Island..and I need this fixed.

 

Raoul, are you referring to the whole upper control arm/shock tower piece? I know that's a common problem on Dakota's that have been around a while and have collected a lot of crud in those little divets where the upper control bolts on. I'm not a welder, but I think that could be tackled by salvaging that area of the frame from another Dakota and welding it in.

Crazy4X4 probably has some ideas in this area, maybe he'll weigh in.

 

Thanks Raggedy...I'm trying to find a way short of buying another truck and using it for salvage.

If anyone else has a workable idea..I'm listening!

 

can always see about getting the shock tower made and welded on.. assuming frame dosent get blown through when welding

 

I can't remember what the stock setup look like exactly. Take a picture. But if it is welded to the frame I'm sure it is non replaceable part which means it must be custom built.

 

This. Personally, I would just make a new one. But if your old one is completely rusted out, there's a good chance the frame isn't much better. You might be opening a big can of worms.

And this. IIRC, it's pretty hard to cut that piece off the frame in any way that would allow you to re-use it. So it looks like custom fab is going to be your best option.

 

Raoul, please keep us posted on what you end up doing. I'm very interested in seeing how it comes out. After pictures would be great if you can!

There's a couple of good pictures of what that control arm bracket/shock tower looks like on Crazy4X4's old thread about his SAS install. Crazy probably doesn't remember what it looked like because he was just happy to get rid of it and get that Dana solid axle on!

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...ld-thread.html

 

IMO if you are not able to do the repairs yourself, considering the truck has 300,000 miles on it, I would really look into replacing the truck with another truck. That shock mount also mounts the upper control arm. Again, IMO to make that would take a lot of time and talent, and that equals money. FWIW here is a picture of the mount on my truck before I cleaned it up.

 

Do the "ingenious metalworker" route. The upper shock mount isn't a precision-needed affair so it wouldn't be all that difficult to fab togeher a new one - a new place for the upper shock to bolt into. There's a lo of guys who could easily put something together that works using assorted scrap from other projects. Might not be pretty but it could easily be stronger than the OEM version.

It would depend on whether the frame is solid enough to support a new mount at all.

Most any hobbyist 4X4 enthusiast with a mig welder could do it up easily. If you were near me I'd say "Bring it over". I've got too big a pile of scrap steel and could use a reason to get some of it gone.

 

Actually with the control arm being mounted to it, its more precision then you think since it will mess up a lot like toe/chamber/caster etc kinda like the lift on my jeep causing death wobble after it was lifted till aligned, my caster was so far out ....

even welding back on would have to be perfect alignment otherwise above gets effected...