For sale it's for sale. Had a baby needs finished going cheap.
swwaltw@hotmail.com

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/225379

Your link goes to another company that sells anything but suspension components Thought I'd tell you.
DS79

Hello everyone.  Been a while since I've been here.  I read the entire 17 pages of this discussion topic and looks like some good info.  I have a '93 RC that I plan to lower this spring.  I've used 2" lowering shackles in the rear, but want another 2-3" or so and would like to lower the front approximately 3".  I will most likely end up using 94+ lowering springs and drop hangars for the rear.  I'm just concerned now after seeing Cruisin' had bumpstop issues with his with 3" drop in the front.  Below is a link to my truck with stock suspension other than the rear 2" lowering shackles and 235/70-15 front and 285/70-15 rear tires, both of which are 15x8 rims.  Someone mentioned how their rear rims didn't stick out as far as the fronts do and that's because the rear track width on these trucks are narrower than the fronts.  Also, anyone interested in the Dakota lowering spindles will have to use the '84-93 2wd rotors because the '83 and older use a different inner bearing unless you have the spindle machined to use the older rotors.  Only bad thing about that is the 84-93 spindles had a 5x5.5" bolt pattern and 72-83 had 5x4.5" which most people prefer.  Anyway, the rims, tires, axles shafts, drums, rotors and spindles from my truck will be for sale this spring in case anyone is interested.  The rotors have about 3000 miles on new bearings/races and the right rear axle shaft has about the same amount of miles.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2037895

Thanks for the compliment.  I actually prefer the 91-93 grills depending on what the person is doing with the truck.  If I had a 4x4 I would probably prefer the older front end, either way, I like them both.  I decided today that I won't be putting my 17" tires I have on it because they'll be too small, now thinking about 20's.  For these Dakota spindles, you won't have to change or machine your rotors at all.  The earlier Dakotas used the same inner and outer wheel bearing as the '84-93 fullsize trucks.  You won't have to change the caliper either.  I have a set of older '72-85 fullsize spindles I'm putting on my truck so I can put the smaller (5x4.5) bolt pattern on it.  I have to change the spindle to change the rotor because the older fullsizes used a different inner wheel bearing.  When you order your drilled/slotted rotors just order the part numbers for your truck (right and left are not interchangeable on drilled/slotted)  Hope this gets you going in the right direction.

James

I could be mistaken whether you need to change spindles, but the 84-93 uses a different size inner wheel bearing than the 83 and older.  It is possible that the outer diameter of the bearing race on both inner bearings (84+ and 83-) are the same size and just the inner hole of the bearing is a different size to fit each specific year of spindle.  I am going to go to the parts store this week now just to check this out with my micrometer.  I'll let you know what my study reveals.

James

ok. that sounded a little off that you'd need to machine the spindles. ive heard of lots of guys that did bolt pattern swaps both ways with no problem.

I can tell you that the 81 rotors and the bearings will fit the 85 spindles.Did nothing put them on.Tell the truth one of the rotors was off an 83 dodge van.kevin

Hey guys I have a set of lowering springs for the 94 - 02 ram, I got lost reading all the post, the set I got has three different drops 1,2,or 3, will they slide right into place or do I need something else to make them fit.  1987 D-100 Ram
 

ok, i know its been gone over many times but...i want to order drop shackles. what truck should i order them for that i dont have to modify, or too much (enlarging holes is no biggie). please list all apps that work. i won $50 to stylin concepts for getting my 89 rc in street trucks' reader's rides section for the jan 06 issue. thanks guys.

bringing it back up...

put a set of 81 d300 rotors on a 87 dakota tonight, ....we were boreded. I don't kow if that going to meen anythinhg to anyone.

ive got a job interview at a fab shop today, and if i get it i will make enough money to fast bag it by the end of the summer. i know ive been saying "ill get it bagged soon" for years, but its how stuff goes when you're young, too many plans not enough money. hope it works out. i would like to do the mods on a new frame though, and if i do, an earlier year. from the firewall forward, are the 70s and 80s trucks the same. and also, on the 80s trucks, is the frame until the back of the doors the same as the same spot on an rc? i ask, because if i can put my body on an older frame, i can get around emissions (i de-TBI'd it, no way ill pass in the city if/when i move).
im debating whether i will body drop it at the same time. run 2x3" from the firewall back. im already going to have to refab the rear floors to lay frame and keep a rear bench anyways, so replacing the front floor isnt too big a deal. i dont like the shape of the tranny tunnel and area under the seat anyways.
i hope this doesnt ramble too much, and hope it makes some sence.

Or try these:

http://www.truckn-store.com/product.asp?returnURL=default.asp&ID=95923

on this site: http://www.truckn-store.com/product.asp?pg=2&ID=96434&returnURL=%2Fproduct%2Easp%3FreturnURL%3Ddefault%2Easp%26ID%3D96434
they list a set of drop springs for 79-93 full size dodge trucks but only lists them for a quad cab. what is the difference in the front springs of the quad cab and a regular cab? it doesnt make sence to me that they are different.

update: this guy i was friends with for years thought it would be a good idea to steal 400 bucks from me. which set me back. i wasnt able to get bags. im not rethinking the whole build. i wont let this stop the project. yeah, this thing is probably never gonna be finished.

see if one of the mods will let you put it into the faqs pages.

1st gen dakota suposedly works if u ream the ball joint hole or something like that.

but what i want to try is a spindle flip. the dodge sindle is offest extremely low which raises the truck. if i can pull off a flip itll raise the mounting point several inches but ill have to look into ball joint tie rod end and caliper obstacles.

problem is i dont have access to a ball joint ream

well i got paid today, ive got about $300 to work with. one thing ive been wondering with the dakota drop spindles is this. i know they have a smaller tie rod end hole. BUT is the rod thread size the same diameter and/or length? because we have an 88 dakota parts truck in the driveway. instead of having to bore and sleeve the hole to fit mine, im hoping i could just swap the rod ends from the dakota. also, ill probably also trim the coils a bit, and make new front shock mounts. i have new and awesome shocks, and dont want to replace them yet. the back, im probably either going to flip the axle and use a small notch. or ill just do a shackle, raise the front hanger, and possibly pull the overload leaf. ill also have to modify the parking brake setup, and do something about the exhaust. its uber low. im shooting for something in the 3-5" front, 4-6" back range. any less isnt worth my time. and as far as the exhaust goes, i might just let it drag. i dont care really. and ill probably need to do something about the engine crossmember, possibly just a small skid ramp so anything that hits there doesnt hit the front but slides under. i dont want to get too involved with mods on this frame.

also, im strongly considering waiting a few more checks and bagging it. i have very minimal bills right now and so it can all go into the truck. ill put some more thought into it this weekend. static really doesnt seem worth it though, since i want the thing bagged. bad. for that, ill probably have to wait a while because i want to fab a new frame for it and drop a different engine/tranny in. its all alot of confusion what ill do. all i know is what my final results will be. i guess its probably smarter to just wait til i can do that instead of redoing stuff over and over. yeah, thats what im gonna do. but im still curious about the dakota spindles/tie rods.

email me the pics, and ill post them for you. anything and everything. perspective shots, suspension shots, exhaust, whatever you got.

There is plenty of adjustment for the tie rod ends. I did the toe end adjustment myself this will not change caster or camber. The centerline of the tie rod end to the centerline of the ball joint stock is appox. 7 1/4" the dakota is 4 1/2" which reduces your steering ratio quite a bit! Steers more like a quick ratio and feels great! The LCA needs to be eather trimmed or in my case I  2 lbs. hammered the lower lip in. Works just as well. The rotor and the backing plate sits a little closer to the LCA. The most difficult task of this job you need to control the tie rod reamer as you open the bore to fit the bigger tie rod end. I used a Vertical Mill. Plenty of material remaining on the spindle  after the ream job. 

looks good man. what size tires you runnin on that? i would have gone lower than that, like a 4/6" drop, but thats me. looks good though. i like it.

you should do a few minor body things to clean it up. first thing id do is replace the bumper feet with some carriage bolts. helps alot. super easy too. all the other body ideas i have (or did) involve paint work, so id leave it how you got it and swap the feet for carriage bolts.

my 87-90 dakota spindles from belltech and my slam specialties air bags are in the laundry room. waiting on my air valves. then im baggin the front of the rc, and doing about a 7-9" static drop in the back. bag eventually. one step at a time. i plan to use my stock a/c comp as an air comp. wont be too hard. oiler before inlet, water/oil trap after comp. then into the tank. id like to z the front frame rails, or make a new frame crossmember...but i plan on making a new from down the road. i might also convert the lower arms from i pivot point to two...weld a brace arm and some brackets. same pivot axis as the stock point. then i can ditch the strut rods. ill post some pics when i get it done.


oh, for the back im going to fab a new hanger, shackle, and flip the axle. ill have to notch the frame a bit, raise the floor a bit, and dump the exhaust out the side after the frame bend. few other minor things. but its going down soon.

well, im tossing the idea of either zing the frame and raising all of it, then dropping the motor down...or just fabbing custom lower arms all together since i havent been able find a new lower driver (it tried attacking a stump), making a new frame crossmember/motor mounts, and raising the upper arm up. this truck will mostly be used for cruisin and fast straight stuff...it wont see too much cornering. but i get what you're saying on that stuff. i hadnt put geometry design thought into it yet. but ive seen guys do that to arms and it works. thanks for the input.

Do anything to the rear end?