On my 92, with the pressure and return line setup, my fuel lines down by the frame rail up front (where it goes to steel braided hoses) are junk from rust. I went to disconnect the fuel line assembly going up to the fuel rail, and someone (truck is relatively new to me) had boogered up the black plastic part of the 3/8" pressure line connector at the fuel rail (all the plastic tangs had been broken off, and when I tried to push what was left of the plastic in, it broke/cracked inside the fitting). I managed to get it off, but the entire retaining spring assembly inside ended up getting mangled. I thought no big deal, I'll get a new connector and some fuel injection-rated hose and clamps and engineer it up.

Dorman makes appropriate looking connectors (800-121 for 3/8" and 800-120 for 5/16"). The 5/16" return connector slid on and off the rail connection with no problems, but the 3/8" pressure connector slid on somewhat roughly, and then when I tried to get it off, it got stuck. Ended up having same problem as original connector getting it off (internal retaining spring got mangled). Anyone else tried using these? I'm wondering if I got a dud (Dorman QC...LOL), or if their connector just won't work well with the Dakota fuel rail (the aggressive angle on the rail pressure connector is pretty stupid).

Regardless, I ended up going to the "local" junkyard and found the only first gen, which was luckily also a 92, and pulled the assembly off of that one to use for now. However, I'm still not terribly warm and fuzzy about using an assembly that contains 27 year-old rubber, especially when it sits right next to a distributor. What are you guys doing about this fuel line assembly? I'm sure it's been discontinued for at least 10 years...

 

You can order new fuel rails that use AN fittings instead, and use AN-rubber adapters.

http://www.hughesengines.com/Index/p...FjY2Vzc29yaWVz

They ain't cheap, though.

OTOH, they're cheaper than a replacement truck if the fuel line breaks and sprays fuel into a hot engine bay, setting the truck afire.

RwP

 

Call me redneck but when that happened on my '92 I just replaced the entire assembly from pump to TB with 1/4" and 5/16" braided hose. Worked great until a bad off road trip crunched the fuel lines running under the cab. SO now I just have rubber line and some janky zip tie placement and it's been working for 7 months no issues. The Dorman repair kits are more expensive than the entire setup I have and from experience they don't seem to hold up all that well. Very cheap nylon for the lines and the lockrings seem to snap after a few months. Plus beautiful thing about this setup is if I need fuel for another vehicle I just detach the midway junction and put in in the filler neck and hit the pump switch.