Hey guys. I had installed an add a leaf in the rear due to sagging springs and to level out the rear. Once I did this, it gave the rear about a 3" lift, even thought it was suppose to be a 1.5"-2". I drove with the racked look for a while, but then decided I would do a 2" strut lift to not have so much rake. I ordered a 2" strut lift off ebay, only to find that once I dropped the truck, they had sent me a 3" life. Did a quick internet search to confirm this. A 2" lift should have only had a 1" spacer, but the ones I received measured at 1.5". I wish I had did this search before installing. Anyway, during the install I was wondering why I was having such an issue getting the 2" spacers installed and this explained it. It was a total nightmare trying to get everything aligned. I could tell that this kit was really pushing the limits of my balljoints and control arms. So now my truck is pretty well level, but I'm afraid that the 3" spacers will weak havoc on my front end. What do you guys think? Should I go to the 2" spacers that I should have got, or leave it as is? I did want to mention that I really loved the add a leaf. It brought the suspension back to life and firmed up my ride and made it handle better and sportier. I would totally recommend if you have sagging springs to do an add a left. I really can't say enough about it. Here's some pics of my truck now, please let me know what you think. My profile pic is without the add a leave. I wish that I had taken a pic before with just the add a leaf. Now, I'm really concerned about the hyper extension of the front in parts and possible issues in the future. My truck is a 4x2. Let me know what you think. Thanks.

 

Yes. It will destroy your front end. Sooner or later depending on how much flexing you do.

 

Yeah it's going to prematurely wear out the front suspension, You'll need fab or find a transfercase lowering cross member, Seems to be a lot of people lifting only to find out these issues. Nice stance though +1. I like those rebel wheels I think they might look good on my truck, I was going to get some night runners and black out some features on my Flame Red 2006 Dakota R/T. The purists might rap my knuckles though ... lol

 

My truck is mainly highway use. Seldom go off road. But still have the fear destroying the front components. I will be going down to 2" in the near future. But at this time, I'm stuck with these.

 

Thanks. I do like the way it looks leveled, but if it's not functional, what's the use. The Rebel wheels would be a good contrast on you red R/T. I got lucky and scored these for $200. I don't think I need the cross member. My truck is a 4x2. I'm going to ride it like this for the next week, but will probably go with to the 2" in the end. I just hate to have to redo everything once again. What a pain!

 

Mine was a garage queen with a 2" leveling kit. Blew out a CV boot within the first 100 miles.

 

Ofc ... if only rear wheel drive, why would you need a transfercase cross member ... lol. I wanted to ask, in your initial post you mentioned you added another leaf to to your set of springs. Was this in the form of a 'Helper spring' or a whole new leaf all together. Dakotas that came with or added the 'Tow Package' had the 'Helper Spring' installed. I'm not sure if the raider had this option but I can't see why not.
Husky Helper
$114 CAD for that part

 

Man, don't like hearing that.

 

Not sure what ofc means? Or what you mean by ".. if only rear wheel drive, why would you need a transfercase cross member ... lol." I'm not ASE certified and feel like I'm missing something here. If you wouldn't mind to explain yourself, please do.
I added the "add a leaf" shown below due to rear of truck sagging, bottoms of leafs were flattened out, and right side was sitting up higher than the left. My truck does have the factory tow package. It came with 4 leafs per side from the factory.

 

I'll explain my canadian lexicon ... "ofc" meaning 'of course' So translates to 'Of course why would you need that part/mod if you only have a 2wd drivetrain'.

I did however find the perfect wheel for what I think would be a nice build, keeping true to the mopar R/T theme but giving the truck a more present day aesthetics. The plan is to add more black to the already black accents the truck has. '18 TRMAAA these came stock on the Dakota '08 sport package. I also would like to add some black stepbars/nerfbars and some night runner headlight assembles, assuming I can still find some OEM. if not aftermarket 'ANZO' will have to do.