i have an 01 dakota and i want to lift it but i cant find and lift kits out there that arnt going to cost me an arm and a leg so if anyone knows where i can get a cheaper kit or if anyone has a used lift kit and is willing to sell it i will pay good money for it.

 

Well you could always go with a body lift. And if you think about it do you really want a cheap suspension lift. Theres a reason it would be cheap and I bet its cause they cut corners while making it

 

I have a 3-inch body lift on my 2000 dakota, with 305 70 R-16's. If you look at my pics you can see what it looks like and decide if you like it. I personally think that if you're not going over 3 inches, a body lift is the way to go. I paid about $189 for it from performance accessories, ALOT less than a suspension lift.

 

yea man i like that body lift alot and i went ahead and ordered one but i am looking for about 6 inches of lift that is why i wanted a suspension lift. but thanks for the idea and when i get it on i will show it to you

 

hi_nuf, I'd like to lift my 99 and I've been reading up on suspension and body lifts and have heard that body lifts give terrible handling and driving. What differences have you experienced in handling after the lift? Oh and what about the difference in gas mileage?

 

Hey dude sorry about the slow reply I haven't been on here for awhile. I haven't noticed any difference in handling or driving, as for gas milage IT SUCKS! but I think it will be much better if I can ever find a programer to change some stuff around. If not thats ok, I'm not biulding it for gas milage, i have a little 4 banger Izuzu Trooper for that. If your worried about power loss, you can do a few inexpensive mods to make up the difference. My truck is actually running about a half second faster in an 1/8 than before I lifted it.

 

I was looking for a particular lift company, but their site seems to be down at the moment.

The jest of it...
For vehicles with independent front suspension, it's difficult and expensive to lift them. If you go too high you have to go to longer cv shafts, and change lots of suspension components to accommodate. Most guys I know which go to lift a dakota are using a solid frond drive shaft out of an older cherokee (actually taking most of the front suspension). I don't think it's a difficult swap, and I think there's a company(s) out there that have kits for the pieces not included for a pretty reasonable price.

I had a friend with a 1999 dakota who did some research on the subject and I'll see if he has some links and info he'd like to share.

I'll try to get back to y'all in a couple days.