I have been just like a lot of other members here and complained about my Dakota's front suspension since I got it. Here's one thing I can tell you though. I finally got my new tires mounted on the 17" Durango rims I bought and installed them on the truck yesterday and, holy crap, what a difference they made. Don't get me wrong, the Dak's front suspension is still crap, but just installing these new tires made it go from feeling like it was going to fall out from under the truck to feeling like a completely new suspension. I would have never believed that just changing tires would matter that much, but apparently from my old tread being so worn, along with the Wranglers that were on it before being total crap, these new SRAs made a world of difference. Maybe I was getting a lot of rough feel from the belts in the tires and from the 'cushion' of the rubber being gone or whatever, but I can't believe how much better the truck rides and feels now.

Don't in ANY way take this as me making excuses for the suspension. [8D] I just wanted to let it be known that tires can appaently make a HUGE difference in the ride and feel of the truck.

Oh, and I went up to a 255/75/17 from 265/70/16 with absolutely NO tire rub. Even though I haven't had time to intall the leveling kit yet. I've tried everything I can to get them to rub and they won't.

Edit: Sorry, typo. They were 16s from the factory, not 17s. The 17s I have now are about an inch taller but slightly narrower too, so I get no rub whatsoever. Hell, I'm not even sure if I'm going to install my leveling kit now. Even though I would still like to get rid of that gay rake it has from the factory. [&:]

 

I currently have some 265/70 17's, and I get rub all the time when i am backing out of my drive or a parking spot. How did you never have any rub before?

 

Just a note for anyone who cares (or doesn't know already), supposedly the Monroe Senstracs will be available for the front of our trucks January '08. Not that I'm holding my breath, but that's the word.

Shock warehouse's website shows that they have two styles of rears available for them now when I search an '05 4X4 QC.

 

Here's the URL for those:
http://www.shockwarehouse.com/index....cted_year=2005

You get no results when searching for 2006 or 2007 models, but when you search for 2005s you get the above results.

 

This is good news, and I hope it is the truth. We've been waitin' way too long.

 

This is their description of the front shock:

"Monroe Sensatrac.
This is a twin-tube low pressure gas unit (similiar to most units that would be OE your vehicle).
The Monroe SensaTrac unit with PSD (position sensitive damping) and the Safe Tech" system combines exclusive precision tapered grooves in the pressure tube with application engineered valving and Fluon banded piston.
These features allow the Monroe Sensa-Trac strut to adjust more rapidly to changing road and weight conditions.
The tapered grooves are manufactured into the inside of the tube of the unit where the piston travels up and down, around the middle of total travel. "


Note in the first sentence, they say: "similar to most units that would be OE to your vehicle."

I certainly hope they didn't just buildtheir shock to emulate the OEM shock. Our trucks need stiffer shocks than the pieces of mush thatthe factoryinstalled.

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Ihered that the 08 has stiffer shock wonder if you could put the 08 shocks on a 06 just a thought. i have to agree my 06 has a plush ride not very good for anything but blacktop

 

Hey Thunderstick and fellow Dak owners,

I also have a problem with the last sentence, "the grooves are around the middle of the travel". I have a feeling they are soft in this area for smoothness then firm up above and below the groves. OK, IF this is true, what happens when you add a TM levelkit, it stretches the normal shock position to probably the top of the groves, giving a longer soft travel "mush" on compression before they firm up out of the groves.

I am speculating here but I think it is a valid concern. That's all we need is more MUSH!!!
on the other hand it may be perfect, but I DOUBT IT...

Maybe Rancho will take this into consideration since they do lift kits?

Just make some decent shocks already!!!

Thanks for listening,
LB

"The tapered grooves are manufactured into the inside of the tube of the unit where the piston travels up and down, around the middle of total travel. "

 

Valid point, there, LB...
As I understand,, so far there is no suspension lift availble for 3rd. gen Daks, only body lift...

Anyone have an update on Bilstein shocks??????

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ummmm I have a suspension lift on my Dakota? I think.