Done. Gonna hobble her to the alignment dude Monday morning.

 

Ralph, here is my snubber setup. Cup on frame above the lower control arm. Note it has a couple barb-like tabs on the side...shove bumber in and it can't come out. Next photo shows what is left of the original snubber that I pried out. It's the piece that fits inside the cup. Note the cavity for clearance where the bolt in the cup is. Ever see one like this?

 

My ratchet story.

I used an old Craftsman 1/2" drive ratchet wrench on this suspension repair. This was my father's ratchet so it has sentimental value to me. Dang ratchet might be older than me. Well yesterday I stressed the hell out of it using a cheater bar and it blew up. 28 years to the day my father died. But the show must go on. I tossed the ratchet and what bits lay below it to the side and used the breaker bar. Today I cleaned up the garage and gathered the ratchet carnage and discovered I had all the bits that went to it EXCEPT for the little ball bearing. No doubt that little sucker shot off to some unknown destination. But wait! I remember coming across that ball bearing and wondered what in the hell it was for. Usually I'll put stuff like that in a cup and the answer will find me later. But I remember thinking I mighta tossed it in the garbage along with the rest of the greasy mess I made. Well, an 80% chance I thought. The wife volunteered to sift through all the greasy paper towels, old parts, sweepings, and other indescribable vile in that garbage can to find that ball bearing. I told her it would be easier to find Jimmy Hoffa. Don't worry about it. I'll order a $28 repair kit and fix it. Nope, she was determined to find that little ball bearing. I thought she was nuts. About a half hour later I hear in the garage. "AH, HA"! Damn if she didn't find that little sucker!

So now I have all the bits to that ratchet and it lives on. My dad smiles from heaven. Rest in peace, Pops.

 

I don't blame you for fixing the old one; but do note that now, Craftsman is being made in the USA again.

As to the suspension snubber, no; but that's not much Heck, mine may have supposed to have one, and I didn't notice it because both were missing.

*checks exploded parts diagrams*

Nope, my upper was a single bolt into the upper control arm; the lower pops into a retainer on the lower control arm for 1987-1993; yours is 1994-1996 (again, according to the exploded parts diagram.)

Huh. Today I Learned (TIL) .

RwP

 

I've owned (and inherited) a metric assload of Craftsman tools. All 25+ years old. Good stuff. Heard they went to crap. Did not know they came back to US. Are they back to high quality again?

I'll have to dig more for that snubber. Not sure how many times I've needed that snubber. It's not like I offroad the thing. Would be easy to drill a hole in the receiving piece on the control arm and put on one of those bolt-on snubbers.

Incidentally, how much you suppose a dealer would have charged me (parts n labor) to replace the 4 ball joints, both inner/outer tie rods, 2 bellows, and 2 end links?

 

You'll need to keep careful attention on the shocks though.

Also may need to keep stiffer shocks on.

Yah, they seem better, and have been getting good reviews.

Their Dallas/FT Worth plant is entirely for Home Depot and Lowe's, though. But yah, since the Black and Decker group took them over, they've moved mostly back on shore.

And quality has gone way up.

As to the price, I dunno. I'm too cheap to pay the dealer anything if I can do it myself

RwP

 

I'm seriously considering bolting a snubber on the control arm where it would normally hit. Just let the pitcher and catcher swap positions. You can see that square "landing pad" where the snubber from above would hit. It's about a 2" x 2" landing pad. Bend the barbs in on the cup so it doesn't snag the bumper and pull it off. Just gotta figger out if I can get a drill in there to drill a hole.

 

The other thing would be to compress the spring after removing the shock; and letting the weight of the truck settle it in for you, as far as I can tell.

I dunno.

Were there no instructions in with it?

RwP

 

I haven’t ordered any snubbers yet. Can’t find the one for my truck. Looked at the parts catalog on this forum. Doesn’t look like mine and the OEM part nos yield out of stock everywhere. I think I’m gonna have to rig sumpin.

 

Well, Energy Suspension shows the same set for all 1st Gens; but looking at the parts listing at Energy Suspension's own web site ( Energy Suspension 5.6102G Front C.A. Bump Stop – Energy Suspension (teamenergysuspension.com) ) , it will NOT show the inside! Guargh!!!!!! HULK SMASH PUNY WEB SITE!!!!!!!

(Yes, it frustrates me when they hide the ONE view that I want to see ... )

I tell you, that tall one won't fit my 1988; it's not that design.

THAT design is 1994-1996, which is what you have.

The factory number for that top one is 52057998 - but yes, I can't find it either.

I'd consider that Front Bump Stops - Dodge Dakota - 5.6102 (energysuspensionparts.com) in either red or black; at least the UPPER control arm snubber is good in that part set, and I think the ribbed one will replace the one off the frame.

RwP