I just bought a '00 Dak, SLT, 2WD, QC, w/ 5.9, 58k mi. I want to install running boards, roll pan and a hitch that's hidden behind the roll pan; accessible through a license plate drop down or flip up assembly. (I want to do a lot of other things to the drive train and was advised to do body and suspension mods first.)

The problem is that there is a damper, factory installed, directly behind the bumper bolted to the end of the frame. I confirmed that it is there to dampen unwanted undulations of the rear-end by removing the bumper and the damper. The rear would flutter all over the place when hitting a bump; put everything back together and flutter was gone.

I'm hoping someone somewhere has come up with a solution. I have searched the Gen 2 forum w/ no success. I've searched the net for a hitch and called local hitch installers w/ no success. I did find a metal roll pan but don't understand how the roll pan would fit in the same vertical plane as the end-gate as the damper brackets protrude past the vertical plane of the end-gate. Regarding the hitch, I think I can mod a hidden hitch that I currently have on my '94 Dak to fit on the '00 except that !!!!##??? damper is directly in the way!!!!!


The frame on this truck seems really flimsy and I suspect that is the reason the damper was added (a band aid for poor engineering).

I searched for a year to find this truck and now this. Help!!!!

 

Do you already have a roll pan? I have a urethane one if you don't. I was going to put it on my last dakota, it being a 2wd, but never did. It's brand new and never been used. So let me know if you're interested or already have one.

 

Not sure what the damper yopu speak of is...my 01 ext cab doesnt have one, hitch from a 99 bolted right up.

 

Im pretty sure what he is talking about is a round tube that is connected to each side of the frame

 

You're right on dodgeramguy85 and I think the damper is only on the QC models which has less mass from the cab back than other models. Vibrations are all about mass, center of gravity, spring rate of the system and lever arm of the exciting force.

 

I cant really tell what its made of that makes it like a damper. I saw one awhile ago but I think it looked like a solid tube am I correct? If it is would the hitch do the same thing as the damper? My truck has the same movement at least what im thinking your talking about like if you hit a bump going around a turn the back end jumps up and slide a bit.

 

so it's basically a sway bar, but for the frame rails, not the axle? Seems like the hitch would do that job...

 

I was underneath my quad cab cleaning up my wiring today and I was banging on what was apparently the damper. It is a bar that is directly in front of the bumper and sits in rubber grommets that vibrate around.

 

The way that cylinder or rolling pin piece of solid steel works as a damper is that when the rear wheels hits a bump and the @ss end of the truck suddenly moves in a verticle direction the damper doesn't move at the same time (is delayed because it's mounted at the ends in rubber or metal springs). Then when the truck frame is coming back down the damper is going up and the ends of the steel cylinder hits the brackets (they are coated with a thick coat of rubber to eliminate noise) it's mounted in thereby limiting the vertical travel of the frame/@ss end of the truck. This all happens at a very rapid rate and each time the frame goes up and down the damper is there to whack it to limit it's travel and the whole motion quickly dampens out.

The weight of the damper, the materials used, the stiffines of the springs it's mounted in all figure into the design so as to minimize or eliminate fluttering of the rear end when hitting a bump.

Anyway from a design engineers point of view, it's my educated guess that the above is the situation. I hope this explanation makes sense. By the way I tried to get an explanation out of Mopar and they were just a broken record saying they don't recommend modifications from factory specs. Duh!!!!!

Now!!!!! --- is there anyone out there who has installed a roll pan on the Quad Cab and has somehow been provided along with the roll pan a kit to relocate the damper or figured out a way to stop the flutter wo/ the damper (recalling that the damper brackets protrude back past the face of the end gate about a 1/2") ?

 

I dont know exactly how its mounted but could you just relocate the holes and move it back enough to do a roll pan.