Hello,

Just wanted to throw this out there, even before I make my formal introduction. I'm prepairing to put a 3" lift on my 93 Dakota 5spd 4x2 3.9 and while doing some previous front brake work, I saw that my front brake hoses won't let me go up even another inch. I'd like some advice as to whether I can get longer hoses, or extensions, or if its a good idea to try to move the mounts for the hoses (which seems bad to try to bend the 24 year old hard line), or if i can bend the end of the solid line that attaches to the rubber hose on the caliper side.

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

 

Here's a try this result is for a 93 Ram You could probably call them. Or you can ask a local shop.
http://www.autoanything.com/brakes/61A2872A0A0.aspx

 

Unless you're going to change out the control arms or their mounting location on the frame, the existing brake lines are designed to work for the limits of the control arm travel. You shouldn't need to alter the lines at all. The same is true for a body lift, no alteration to brake lines (unless you need longer lines from the master cylinder to the proportioning valve).

 

So I am new to the truck world, but what is the point of a lifted 2WD truck?

 

Looks.

RwP

 

Years ago I raised my Ram 1500 about an inch and a half for a little extra ground clearance. Using a limited-slip rear and over-size tires (with about 12psi pressure) I could run around on the beach anywhere the 4X4's could, without carrying around several hundred pounds of additional drive-train and the maintenance required. I liked doing things different sometimes. Sometimes its just fun to do what's not supposed to be done I guess.

 

[QUOTE=ragged89;3349779 Sometimes its just fun to do what's not supposed to be done I guess.[/QUOTE]

I had a friend who would take his road bike on the mountain bike trails and blaze past the mountain bikers. He liked to mess with their heads that way.

 

 

Wow. It all sort of fell into place in my mind after reading your post. The only person I really know that has a lifted truck has a Ram with a solid front axle, so I wasn't really used to my setup with an IFS.

Makes perfect sense now, I don't need different brake lines. I guess I didn't really realize that unlike a solid axle, with my IFS, whatever I gain with a lift, I loose from my downward travel.

Well unless your goal (when offroading) is to get your 4WD drive truck so stuck that you actually need to use your 4WD, you can have a lot of fun offroad with a 2WD truck.

I don't like mud to begin with, even with a 4WD truck some mud can be tricky, so I never aim to go mud bogging. Thus I basically have no problem offroading with my 2wd truck, except for certain inclines which is what it is. I still splash through all the puddles that anyone else does, and cruise down the trails everyone else does.

Basically what I'm trying to say is that I don't do anything crazy for the most part. I can't imagine myself needing to use 4WD if I had a 4WD truck, with the places, and the way I drive offroad. That said, my 2WD sits (supposedly) 1.5" lower than a stock 4WD, and I've come close to bottoming out the suspension many times (did once, didn't feel good), so considering a "nice" (Best I can get for a 2wd first gen) Doetsch 3" front and 2" rear lift kit, with extended nitro shocks costs around $300, it seems worth it.

So far though I'm still quite a ways away from putting that lift on, even after solving the non-existent brake line issue as I've spent a lot on this truck just replacing everything that needs to be replaced. I got the truck for $500 and then promptly spent over $1700 on it lol.

It is what it is, its my first Dakota, as well as my first truck in general, and I really like it. Its at the point now where it stopped getting older, and started getting newer with all the parts and time I put into it, so I do plan on keeping it for quite a while, even after the 3.9 quits (which is nowhere in sight, performs and runs great, just a bit of valve stem seal smoke on startup).

Sorry for the rambling, thanks for the help!