Hey guys,

Lookin to get some new suspension truck is starting to creak going over bumps and seems to ride really rough over bumps. I was looking on jegs and saw they had Rancho's for my truck on sale: I want front and back was wondering if you guys could help me out.

Truck: 2006 Dakota AWD 4.7l v8 quad cab.

Heres the link I was looking at:

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/store...rchTerm=RS5000

In the future I am looking at doing the leveling kit. Probably 1.5 maybe 2.

Any help I would appreciate. Thanks

 

Rancho:
Front struts, part # RS5757.
http://www.jegs.com/i/Rancho/801/RS5757/10002/-1
Rear shocks, part #RS5315.
http://www.jegs.com/i/Rancho/801/RS5315/10002/-1

You have to put in 2005 to show the Rancho's as available for the Dakota. If you search any later year, they are not listed. Stupid, but they will fit your 06 perfectly.

And, you might as well put the leveling kit on at the same time, since you will be taking it all apart twice if you don't.

 

what he said

 

Please forgive me as a truck noob (I have upgraded several motorcycle suspensions) . . . last time I replaced struts - Infiniti sedan - it was around a grand and the (front) strut included the spring and the shock absorber inside of it. So to replace/improve my suspension . . . . would I not be looking at parts/costs additional to these links?

I know this is obvious stuff and I cringe in embarrassment but looking for the easy answers here!

 

You shouldn't need anything else, just those parts and the cost of labor if you're not doing it yourself. Should be maybe 2 hours labor for the front struts.

 

I purchased my monroes for @$70 each and $350 to install which included an alignment. You should not have to replace the spring, just the strut inside it.

 

Thanks guys - that looks like a worthwhile and economical upgrade.

 

There's a thread on this forum that gives a link to a parts list pdf file - this file gives an exploded view of most of the trucks assemblies & is an excellent supplement to the service manual to allow you to picture the disassembly/assembly instructions. In a nutshell, after you take the whole strut assembly off the truck (coil-over spring included) you need to compress the spring to remove the tension from the upper strut mount (you'll need a spring compressor for this) and then you may need a "through hole" style socket & rachet to take off the upper strut nut if you can't reach it with a wrench. I find that as long as I'm comfortable with the task, the cost of any additional tools that I need to buy is usually a lot cheaper than having a garage do it.

 

That is true, I usually get loaner tools that I need for a job, for example, autozone will loan you tools (you pay for them, but get it back when you return them). For the one of a kind repairs (ball joint press, for example) it makes sense for me just to get the loaner. For the spring compressor, you need a special kind for our trucks, preferrebly a wall mounted. Something about the coil spacing makes it difficult to use one say from harbor freight tools. If you do attempt this yourself, be extremely careful. Flying springs can kill. For me it was worth the money to have someone else mess with it.