If you guys have Facebook I have a lot of pictures of it on "Dodge Dakota/Durango & Proud"

 

Link?

 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dodge...03977333155324

 

Hey all, I can add an update. Well since about 2013 I bought a 2004 Ford F150, I'm a traitor I know, but hey, I still got the Dakota! So the Dakota has not been a daily driver since then. I take it out every now and then, and when I do I have a smile on my face, my F150 has no way near the power the modified 5.9 has.

Ever since the SAS the Dakota was always just way too tall (sky high). I never liked it. So lately I had some renewed interest in fixing it my way. Since it is no longer my daily driver I could take my time working on it as downtime doesn't matter.

So first of all, up front, I placed the axle on top of the leaf springs and took out several unneeded leaf springs.
Out back I removed several leaf springs as well as removed the coil spring from the rear Monroe shocks. Which gave me maybe a 4-5 in drop. I like the stance of it now. I then had to modify several things, like the front shock upper and lower mounts. As well as the track bar and the drag link for the steering system. Since I was in there I replaced some brake lines and wheel studs as well as built my own intermediate steering shaft, see my thread on it. https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...ing-shaft.html

Here is the new shocks as well as the mounts, the lowers as well as general tabs for the track bar I ordered them from http://www.ironrockoffroad.com/ and the upper shock mounts are from a 96 Ford F250, I cut and modified the housing to work for me. The shocks are from a Toyota Tacoma, I got these cheap, just basicly for mock up, I will upgrade to something HD later.


I'll post up some pictures of the overall stance when I can, I have the wheels off right now. I believe my plan is to get some deeper offset wheels as well as possibly go down to 33's from 35's as well if needed for the tight turns 10.5 wide tires up front. My current plan is to build it towards daily driver type of vehicle, and maybe moderate offroading. I'm done with getting crazy out in the dirt, and at 10mpg with that big strong motor, I don't think I'll ever take it out of town anyways.

 

Any updates of the rework of the swap

 

Not too much to report, I've been dealing with transmission leaks. I replaced and repaired much of the cooling lines and fittings and hoses, I replaced the pan and gasket and filter, as well as the dipstick O-Ring. I did find out that I will need to shorten up my front driveshaft due to how much I lowered it. The rear driveshaft seems to be at an okay length, I have to check it with the suspension fully extended and compressed. I'll see if I can post up some pictures with the new layout.

 

I got an update on my build. I ran into several issues that I have worked out. That darn transmission leaks never stop. I had to rebuild the cooler lines, I had to replace the gear selector seal and upgraded the dipstick seal. As of right now, I got all the leaks taken care of. Another problem was when I lowered it from its sky high level I had an issue with the tierod bar was hitting the drag link. So I found these offset tie rod ends and built up a new bar. http://www.barnes4wd.com/Offset-One-...Kit_p_527.html I also had to shorten the panhard bar due to the lowering.

I got a set of 33's installed. I had to do a ton of tune up parts like replaced my Accel high temp plug wires, plugs cap rotor all oils and filters, lots of maintenance parts. Including interior trims and headliner and other stuff. I like the look of it now, it is liveable.

Here are some present pictures. The old pictures were hosted on Photobucket. They used to be free for hosting pictures, now they want to charge $400 per year for hosting now, so all the old pictures don't work. I deleted my account there.

 

defiantly sits lower now, did you go from spring over to spring under on the front axle?? and did you use the same leaf spring to do it? also, have you ever considered raptor lining your truck, ive seen a few guys with older trucks do this, and it looks really good, in fact i just raptor lined my hood, grill and front bumper( check signature pic)...

 

Looking good crazy!

 

For the front, when I did the SAS I put the leaf springs on top of the axle. To lower it I put the leaf springs under the axle. I also removed a few leafs and I got new main leafs built, along with a new shackle. Probably lowered it 5-6in from original SAS level.

For the rear, I removed the leaf spring block I had which was a 1in thick steel block that shifted the axle back 1 in as well. I also, removed several leaf springs, I also removed the coil from the coil shocks I had on the back. I probably lowered it 3-4 in. Plus lowered it a little going from 35's to 33's.

I also gain a little more steering at full lock since now I don't rub on the frame like I did with the 35's.

Here it was before.