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  #1  
Old 10-18-2000, 07:45 PM
SLICKWILLIEDJ SLICKWILLIEDJ is offline
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Question

ANY ONE NOTICE LEFT FRONT SITTING LOWER THEN RIGHT SIDE?
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  #2  
Old 10-19-2000, 01:58 AM
Mopar_Maniac Mopar_Maniac is offline
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Take a wood yardstick up to any car or truck and measure from ground to wheelwell edge.
You will find that none of them match up exactly.
My 98' Neon R/T didn't, until I installed Progress performance springs.
My 00' Dakota is the same way. About a 1/2" lower on one side than the other.

Consider it "normal", as they say at the dealership.

Later,
Jeff C.



------------------
"There's no such thing as too much cam, just not enough motor"
-David Freiburger

00 Dakota RC 2wd, IB 4.7 V8 5spd. 3.55's. Decal free, 255/60-15 Firestone's, loud pipe's, homemade intake and traction bars, removed overloads, and more to come...
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  #3  
Old 10-19-2000, 04:03 PM
SLICKWILLIEDJ SLICKWILLIEDJ is offline
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hey thanks for the repply mopar maniac but is your 00 dakota 1/2 lower on left or right?front or rear?or is it 1/2 complete left or right side? sorry to be so technical. hey since you work at a dealership next chance you get take a walk around and see if ya notice the offset axle i was refering to in previsous post on dakota's with t&h pkg right rear wheel stick out further then left.maybe you could poke around and find a answer to why it is cause i can't...
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  #4  
Old 10-20-2000, 02:21 AM
Mopar_Maniac Mopar_Maniac is offline
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1/2" lower on the left side, both front and rear.

Yep, every Dakota I have seen (newer ones) have the rear axle offset to the right.
Mine is the same way.

I'll ask around tomorrow and see if I can find out why?

Talk to you later,
Jeff C.



------------------
"There's no such thing as too much cam, just not enough motor"
-David Freiburger

00 Dakota RC 2wd, IB 4.7 V8 5spd. 3.55's. Decal free, 255/60-15 Firestone's, loud pipe's, homemade intake and traction bars, removed overloads, and more to come...
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  #5  
Old 10-23-2000, 07:30 PM
SLICKWILLIEDJ SLICKWILLIEDJ is offline
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Smile

WONDERING IF YOU FOUND OUT ANYTHING ABOUT THAT OFFSET REAR AXLE ON THE DAKOTA Q/C'S
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  #6  
Old 10-24-2000, 04:44 AM
Mopar_Maniac Mopar_Maniac is offline
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Not yet.

There is one more guy that's been on vacation, he's due back tomorrow.

By the way, it's not only QC model's that are effected.

I'll post tomorrow night what, if anything I find out.

Later,
Jeff C.



------------------
"There's no such thing as too much cam, just not enough motor"
-David Freiburger

00 Dakota RC 2wd, IB 4.7 V8 5spd. 3.55's. Decal free, 255/60-15 Firestone's, loud pipe's, homemade intake and traction bars, removed overloads, and more to come...
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  #7  
Old 10-25-2000, 04:40 AM
Mopar_Maniac Mopar_Maniac is offline
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I checked with the guy today, he couldn't tell me why, or even if it was "normal".
So I got on the phone and called 2 other dealers and talked with the driveline tech's, they said they have never noticed the axle offset.
I guess if it drives straight, and doesn't cause problems they consider it "normal".
I also checked the system for any TSB info about the rear axle...none found.

We are going to pull mine in next week and do some measuring.

I'll let everyone know if I find out anything.

Later,
Jeff C.



------------------
"There's no such thing as too much cam, just not enough motor"
-David Freiburger

00 Dakota RC 2wd, IB 4.7 V8 5spd. 3.55's. Decal free, 255/60-15 Firestone's, loud pipe's, homemade intake and traction bars, removed overloads, and more to come...
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  #8  
Old 10-25-2000, 04:49 AM
GS - GS - is offline
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Since I installed new front coils on my dak, I had to trim the passenger side coil to make the truck as level as possible. The drivers side sits less than 1/4" lower than the passenger side. I decided to leave it this way in case I relocate the battery to the bed. I've made some adjustments to the rear springs as well. Its not a Hotchkis suspension but its close. Now its on to traction which brings up my next question,

Mopar_Maniac, what kind of home made traction bar system did you come up with?



------------------
98 5.2L 5 speed, 3.92SG
Hurst stick, MP R.Rockers
MPI/M1 manifold,Ported TB, Flex dual electric fans, MP 7.5 mm plug wires, Accel coil, 3923 autolites, ARE tonneau, Lowered 2/3 by Western Chassis, 20 mpg hwy.
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  #9  
Old 10-25-2000, 06:26 AM
Mopar_Maniac Mopar_Maniac is offline
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It's kind of long, but you asked for it.

I bought two new spring mount plates. (didn't want to use the original ones so I could switch back if needed)

I bought 6' of 1"x2" rectangular tubing. (the heaviest gauge I could find)

I bought two rubber bump stop's. (off a 96' Dakota 2wd, front upper ones)

I bought two U bolt's that are 3" ID and 6" long, they came with a flat strap and a flat end instead of the typical rounded end. (found them at Menard's in the hardware section)

I cut the bar into 2- 30" long sections, then held the bar under the truck flush with the stock spring plate, then moved the front up until it was the distance I wanted and measured the gap at the back of the bar. I came up with a 3/4" gap. This allowed me to have the bars follow the arch of the springs as much as possible. We had some scrap metal laying around work, that's where I picked up 2 pieces of 3/4" x 2" solid steel.
I centered the bars in the purchased spring plates with the 3/4" stock in place. Then the bar was mig welded to the plate at the front, and to the plate and spacer in the rear. Then I welded the plate that came with the U bolt to the top edge of the bar stock appx. 4.5" from the front edge.
I coated the inside of the bar with epoxy paint. Then painted the exterior of it in flat black.

Note:
I removed my overload spring (2nd from the bottom) so my ride height and yours may not be the same. Measure before welding!
You will want to fab up the bar to find the best place to drill out a hole for the snubbers. Have them "hit" ON the front spring mount, not the spring itself.
The U bolt is there as a safety measure, it will keep the bars from dropping to the ground in case of failure. Not very likely, but I'd rather be safe. I double nutted the U bolt to positon it with about a 2.5" gap between the spring top and the bottom of the U bolt, then cut off the extra.

I found by trial and error that the stock snubber length puts slight tension on the mounts. (you can feel the back of the truck lift and plant in normal driving)
I trimmed mine down to leave about a 1/4" gap for street driving. I picked up another pair for racing, and am leaving them stock length.
With having them gapped at 1/4" I can drive a little harder on the street without squeeling the tires constantly. I also ran the bars this way the last time at the track, and my ET dropped by .43
I was still spinning the tires, even going into 3rd gear, but not nearly as much as before.
I'm going to try some spring clamps on the front half of the springs next season.

Any questions? Feel free to e-mail me.
If there is any interest in the factory part numbers I can post them at a latter time.

Later,
Jeff C.



------------------
"There's no such thing as too much cam, just not enough motor"
-David Freiburger

00 Dakota RC 2wd, IB 4.7 V8 5spd. 3.55's. Decal free, 255/60-15 Firestone's, loud pipe's, homemade intake and traction bars, removed overloads, and more to come...
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  #10  
Old 10-25-2000, 07:33 PM
GS - GS - is offline
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4.s wow! We've been thinking along the same lines Jeff. I removed my overload springs back in July and have been thinking of buying new spring plates to use with spring stock for a slight stealth appearance. The leaf spring route may be to wide to use tho. Excellant reading/ideas! Thanks!

------------------
98 5.2L 5 speed, 3.92SG
Hurst stick, MP R.Rockers
MPI/M1 manifold,Ported TB, Flex dual electric fans, MP 7.5 mm plug wires, Accel coil, 3923 autolites, ARE tonneau, Lowered 2/3 by Western Chassis, 20 mpg hwy.
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  #11  
Old 10-26-2000, 11:01 AM
Hemi 'Kota Hemi 'Kota is offline
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I hadn't noticed/measured any hieght differences yet, but my rear end is off-center (this is actually fairly common on any car). My front bumper was also off-center by quite a bit...I got the dealer to adjust it (after much arguement), but gave up on the rear end, which they insist is in spec. I have never seen a shop manual with a rear end offset "spec". I'll fix that latter . I guess I'll need to break out the yardstick next .

------------------
"...they don't make no seatbelt for the mind, so I can't buckle up for this ride..."
Jason (aka Mr Belvedere; aka Ford Fairlane)
2000 Dodge Dakota Sport. 4.7L V8, 5-spd, and 3.55gears.
<A HREF="http://www.zing.com/picture/p86280a12d704e4e6f4dacb6bc42d96e2/ff8e920d.jpg.orig.jpg" TARGET=_blank> </A><A HREF="http://www.zing.com/picture/p356034aa25684e60016ebd075f142002/ff8e920e.jpg.orig.jpg" TARGET=_blank> </A><A HREF="http://www.zing.com/picture/p4a618746da283caf32d6c7335db24330/ff8e920c.jpg.orig.jpg" TARGET=_blank> </A> <A HREF="http://www.zing.com/picture/pb64675cd7e4c9768be00493f5f1322d1/ff8e9209.jpg.orig.jpg" TARGET=_blank> </A> <A HREF="http://www.zing.com/picture/p865e226ce7720ad3d94e91393ef83c14/ff8e9206.jpg.orig.jpg" TARGET=_blank> </A>

[This message has been edited by Hemi 'Kota (edited October 26, 2000).]
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  #12  
Old 10-26-2000, 10:13 PM
SLICKWILLIEDJ SLICKWILLIEDJ is offline
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Cool

jeff i keep ck back for your info will countinue glad to see your following up. i think once your driveline tech sees what your telling him he'll understand better. its very noticable about the axle offset on the dakota's rear..
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  #13  
Old 11-13-2000, 11:26 PM
SLICKWILLIEDJ SLICKWILLIEDJ is offline
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Lightbulb

I posted my concern earlier on this topic and this sagging left front end on my 01 q/c still bothers me. so while i was getting a bumper fixed on my old nissan truck at a body shop. i questioned the owner after finding out they do all the body work for the local dodge dealership. i explained my problem with the sagging left front end on the dakota i just bought he said he used to work at a chevy dealer and they ran into this problem all the time seems when the truck are loaded on the car carriers the drivers are in charge of anchoring them down and amny of them get carried away. he explained they anchor them by using a chain around the frame all 4 pts and depending on much the driver decides to crank the wench down he can actually bend the frame at one of those 4 pts.(ever notice the trucks look like low riders on the carriers they actually are bottomed out on the shocks!) thus, causing a sagging corner of the truck or side. seems this is a very common happening with full frame trucks only correction is to bend the bent corner back up or bend other corner down same way.... he explained i needed to measure both front and rear portions of the frame all four corners to see if they are off more then a 1/4 inch if so chances are car carrier bent frame while wenching down. he's est to fix. $100.00 for frame machine to fix problem he says he fixed many of chevys and other trucks with problem and its not a big deal. well to say the least i feel it is a big deal since its my new $25000.00 truck! any way just a little fyi sorry so long.. so if your truck leans to one corner u may want to ck into this being your problem..later
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