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I received a very pleasant surprise on my front porch today! My steering column from Ididit showed up today! Talk about a ridiculous amount of padding on their delivery estimate. I was told 16 to 18 weeks, which would have put the delivery sometime in June this year. It will be added to the parts inventory until the time to start cutting on the firewall arrives. On another note - I go in for knee surgery on the 23rd of this month. Luckily the torn meniscus only requires arthroscopic surgery. It will be a 20 minute procedure, so it's outpatient. Hopefully the healing and Pt won't keep me out of the shop for too long. I really can't do a lot right now, anyway. But the sooner this knee gets fixed up the better.
Last edited by TheSneeze; Apr 4, 2026 at 12:05 AM.
Wow, that was quick. And more along the lines of the timeframe I thought it would need..... There estimate just seemed REALLY outrageous. I've seen their shop, (it's about 20 miles from here.... ) they have some cool toys.
Do what your doc tells you for recovery from your surgery. You want it to heal properly, before you start abusing it.
Using the stock Dakota gas tank support cross member, it is bolted to the rear cab mount holes. The cross member needs to be match drilled to the hole pattern in the cab. 3/8" thick rubber pads are used between the cab and cross member for vibration. The rear bed mounts are already positioned, so the bed will have to go back on. Then the cab can be positioned to get the gaps to the front of the bed dialed in. Then the front cab mounts can be positioned and welded to the chassis. There is quite a lot to be done to get all of the body parts aligned properly. In these pictures, the cab height has not been established yet. It is just resting on the chassis. Centering the hole pattern in the cross member is critical for the cab to be aligned side to side, as the cross member is a snug fit on the outsides of the chassis. Get the hole pattern wrong, and the cab is misaligned side to side.
One trick is to use a slightly smaller bolt diameter to create some wiggle room. Washers can be used to shim the vertical axis. I am using all grade 8 bolts on the body mount points.
When you need to support the weight of the cab, and make fine adjustments to the height to set the body gaps. If you look hard enough, there is a tool for every job - economically. This is an adjustable pipe support off of Amazon. I ordered it yesterday afternoon, and it get's delivered on Easter Sunday! After tax, it was around $100, and has the height range right where I need it. Even when the vehicle is up on wheel cribs!
And more along the lines of the timeframe I thought it would need..... There estimate just seemed REALLY outrageous. I've seen their shop, (it's about 20 miles from here.... 
) they have some cool toys. 
