Thursday, December 8, 2011

Dropping it lower

The Dakota I bought is a 4x4.  This was not a deal breaker for me but I also don't want a truck like this sitting too high.  After some research and looking at my options I got rid of the huge tires (265/75/R16) which stand about 31" high.  I found a great guy on Craigslist that sold me some innexpensive used low profile tires which he even mounted for cheap.  The new tires are 215/50/R16 which puts them at about 27" tall.  This drops my frame 2" and give me more fender clearance.  Wanting a bit more I found that the Dakota has a torsion bar that can be adjusted.  Changing this will soften the ride and likely create more camber with the tires but that doesn't worry me for now.  There is a company that sells an aftermarket lowering key if I need to swap it out later. 

Last night I was working on adjusting the keys when I found out the Dakota must have had a run in with a large rock.  The adjustment bolts sit recessed in a crossmember brace.  The passenger side was collapsed blocking access to the bolt.  You can see in the photo the collapsed section with the bolt up behind it.  An hour or so of a crowbar, hammer, and a lot of leverage finally opened up access to the bolt.  Tonight I plan to finish adjusting the level up front.  After this is done I will get working on the permanent cab/frame mounts  followed by the front flip clip.

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