I just ordered a set of poly bushings for the A-arms, sway bars, and leaf springs. anyone else done this mod.....how did it turn out?

http://suspension.com/Dodge%20Dakota.html got them from this place for 150 out the door.

 

did that on my old mustang, it was very nice and definitely worth the money. i got a little bit more road vibration but nothing real noticeable

 

I notice you have the underdrive pulley. You ever had any issue with it? I am thinking of getting one, but some say they cause problems with some systems do to the less rotations.

 

had it for about 3k miles. only problem i have is when im stopped and have the A/C on max with the blower cranked up the voltage drops to 12v because the altinator cant keep up. i did get more power and 2MPG increase, not bad for $50

 

Just finished up the leaf spring bushings, so far thats sway bars and leaf springs done. The leaf springs made a huge difference. Partially due to the new bushings being poly and part because the old bushings were shot to ****e. Its a night and day difference. Feels like a new truck. Last is the control arms, which should prove to be a project.

 

yeah, it's not easy. I've done about 12 of them and it sucks every time. I made my own press and used that to get the old ones out. my control arms are from the ram setup so yours is probably a little different if im not mistaken. still, not going to be fun.

 

Yeah I am not looking forward to doing it. The sway bars were super easy, the leafs were pretty easy, just more balancing of parts then anything, except the front mount bolt on the drivers side is wedged in behind the gas tank, so I had to loosen it and wedge some space between with a crowbar.

WELL WORTH THE TROUBLE.

 

so your talking about the back leafs? how many miles on your truck and did you take any pics? I might have to consider doing this to my ram. what was the main benifit?

when i did my CAB's they were one of the best suspension mods i'd done to date. really locked down the front end so there was no movement at all.

 

Yeah rear leaf springs. I did mine because the stock bushings were super shot. Cracked and dry. The rear end was very loose and had alot of noise coming from it (squeeks, bangs, overall noise). After doing the sway bars, didn't notice to much difference, but prob not unless I was going fast around corners and such. Did the rear leaf bushings (front mount, rear mount, and the mount itself, so 3 bushings per side) and its an amazing difference. It rides so tight and quiet now its like its a new truck again. Seriously the single best mod/maintainence I have done thus far. They are so easy there should be no reason not to do them, especially since it seems you are a mechanic of sorts. I myself am just a garage hack and I did it with little problem.

I have 62000 miles on this little truck, but its seen a hard life of off-roading. I must have knocked 5lbs of dried mud out of the truck while I was under there. Sorry no pics as I didn't press the old ones out and new ones in, I have no press that would work. I took them out and had the dodge dealer 1 mile from me press them in.

 

cool, thanks for the feedback, I'll add it to a list of things I want to do on my truck. the *** end jumps too much in my opinion and this may help lock it down a little better.