I have a 3rd gen Dakota with a 3" leveling kit. Today I broke my 2nd stub shaft on my diff. I know I'm not the only person to lift my Dakota, but is there a front diff drop or something I can do? Or maybe some different struts to take the bind out?

 

Read through the myriad of posts on problems with lifting the 4wd versions of this truck.


2" is about the max you can get away with on the front end without obscene rates of failure of "bend-while-moving" bits - tie-rod ends, cv joints, etc.

 

You can buy a custom made diff drop kit from Jack my Ride (if he still makes them). Prepare to spend several thousands of dollars though. These trucks are not designed to be lifted. Anything over 2" will destroy the front end parts. Even 2" will cause premature wear. This generation of Dakota is the wrong platform for easy lifts without breaking things.

 

Well stated by both previous posters. I did the 2" level kit. Swaybar endlinks went bad early and often, cv joints bound on droop but did not fail, tie rods developed play over 40,000 mi (not bad), all four ball joints got very sloppy and noisy from being maxed all the time, and the factory struts went from poorly-performing to, useless due to being extremely limited in travel by the level kit. I will add that the diff drop kit by jmr was available with diff drop brackets only, for about 250$ as of a year ago. This would not help anything but cv axles from excessive angle and breakage.

I went fully custom, long travel ifs. It has been a nice change. if you want bigger tires, cut your fenders or obtain a proper lift or both.