I’m looking at purchasing a 1999 Dodge Dakota for pretty cheap, but there is definitely going to be some work required on the vehicle before it’s roadworthy. Can anyone help me identify what exactly is the issue with the suspension. The owner is not sure and I’m not a mechanic. Any help would be greatly appreciated. See pictures below:
​​​​​​​

There is a piece of wood used as a support on the lower control arm.

Truck sits a bit lower in the front.
​​​​​​​

 

something is damaged or changed in the back - it's too high by a good 3-4 inches. Almost looks like they have the wrong leaf spring shackles on it. The front is proper ride height. That 2x4 shoved in there says that the torsion bar is broken or has stripped out the keys in the crossmember.

 

thanks for your quick reply! Would that be an easy fix? I don’t want to get too deep on repairs. I offered $2700. Do you think that’s a good deal?

 

What i'm about to say can come across two ways - as a donkey's butt or as constructive criticism:

You haven't said what state you are in. The amount of rust on the frame and brake distribution block tells me central to southeastern mid-west. Iowa, Kentucky, Tennesee? (or at the base of a mountain range in the western US) The heavy bumper tells me somewhat in the country, but highway tires tell me somewhere still near civilization, while the lack of window tint tells me probably north of the mason-dixon. The rust is not horrible, but won't be getting any better. That might come into play when it comes to repairing things later.

Without more pictures and details, I'm going to assume the worst in that the torsion key has stripped out and allowed the torsion bar to collapse. That's gonna be a few hundred in parts (luckily, not terribly hard to find) and a few hundred in labor, plus a front end alignment ($125-150 in most markets). I'd just go ahead and plan to put new front shocks on it, too.

The rear is really, really hard to say.
4x2 is spring-under-axle with shackles going down.
4x4 is spring-over-axle with shackles going up.
The only thing I can figure is that it has very shortened rear shackles, or it has lift blocks on the rear leafs. The lift blocks would be a quick/easy removal. I'm scared to think of what they did with a sway bar, though. It might just be gone.
The paint job is 7/10 overall and 9/10 for the age of the truck. The dent in the door and the blistering along the roof rail are the only things that tell me it's factory paint.

The hood is clearly fiberglass based on the hood pins. That's probably a $600 value any day. The bumper is also an easy $500-600 value.

Overall, north of the Mason-Dixon, I'd say that $2700 is not a bad offer in its current condition ($2500 for the truck and $1200 in accessories, but needs ~$1000 in repairs). South of the M-D, that rust is going to bite the value a little - closer to $1500+1200-1000 for $1700 total. Southern trucks just don't have the rust, so the mere presence of rust dings value badly.

Something else to check - feel around those black fender flares. They are frequently used to hide where rust has completely eaten away at the body.

That's my 2 pennies.

 

Thanks again! It’s located in WV. Still in the salt belt. I’ll have to check the fenders. The rockers are a bit rusted too as is typical for a dodge. I would probably end up doing the work myself. I am no mechanic but I do have my YouTube certification, tools, and a welder. It’s also a 4wd, 5speed, 5.2L V8. Runs perfect. It looks like a lift was attempted as the shackles looked new in the rear. I’m not too worried about that but I’m thinking the suspension modifications and needed repairs might make the purchase not worth it. The truck has 160,000 miles. No leaks.

 

The 5-speed/318 combo is highly desirable. That definitely helps the value. Good to know that I wasn't far off on location . 160K miles is nothing on that combo. Should easily get 220+ out of it.

The rockers will almost always be gone on any truck (or vehicle, really) in the salt belts. The key thing to also look at is the cab mounts. The front mounts directly behind each front tire are huge rust spots.

If the body mounts and fenders are intact, it's worth buying. A Youtube certification can actually go a long ways on these trucks - they are still old enough to relate more to the 1970-1989 generation of vehicle with only minor 1990+ electronic intrusions. The torsion bar thing is actually super simple to do with a floor jack, a pipe wrench, and alot of PB blaster and thread cutting oil (a ball joint splitter is a solid bonus). It might be as simple as being indexed one hexagon off. Dodge, Ford, and Chevy all use the same torsion bar system, so one youtube generally applies to all.

Likewise, rear lift blocks are straight forward. Shackles are a little more of a pain, but if they've been apart recently, then it won't be too bad.

If you want to be cash ahead, sell that bumper and grab an OEM one from a junkyard. Ditto on the hood.

 

I thew a lower bearing in my daughter's 1999 dodge Dakota 5.2 4x4 . I can save you around 700.00

 

I thew a lower bearing in my daughter's 1999 dodge Dakota 5.2 4x4 . I can save you around 700.00

 

That block of wood, doesn't look like an OEM part to me..... but I'm no expert.

 

So I ended up purchasing for $2400. Where can I get torsion keys at? Everything is advertised as offering a lift.