Okay, I finally added some skid plates to my '95 Dak on Friday, with Jon
and Ed's help. Actually, I think Jon did most of it.
First let me say this: if you're getting a new truck and you're not sure
if you want to get skid plates now or later... get them from the
factory. They're cheaper, and you won't have to go through the
installation hassles.
Anyway, I had some part numbers from the plates posted by Kyle:
http://csclub0.cs.fredonia.edu/Archives/dakota/0004/0503.html
Walt Felix had posted something similar a while back, but I couldn't
find it in the archives.
The problem is that usually when I try to use US part numbers at a
Canadian dealer, they tell me they've never heard of those numbers, so I
figured they were on different numbering systems. But at least I had a
list of what to get.
So I called the parts counter and told them what I wanted. He looked in
the computer, and told me that the only skid plate was for the fuel
tank. I said I knew there were two more, and he told me that they must
be aftermarket, because they weren't in the computer.
Okay, so next comes trip #1 to the dealer. I took in my factory service
manual to show them that there were indeed three skid plates from the
factory. I watched him put "skid" into the search program and it
returned only the fuel tank. I told him they had to be in there
somewhere, so he started looking in the front axle group. Sure enough,
there it was, so he marked it.
Then he started looking around in the transfer case group. Neither of
us could find it anywhere. We looked for about 10 minutes, and I
remembered that I had some part numbers. I asked him to bring the front
axle plate back up, and I compared his part number to the one Kyle
posted. It actually matched.
The counter guy said "hey! You've got part numbers?" So we punched in
the part number for the transfer case plate, and sure enough, it pulled
up a transfer case skid plate. It also said that the part number had
changed, #52058070 had been superseded by #52058469. He assured me it
was the same thing, just a different number. So we put the three on
order.
For reference, the front axle plate was $90 CDN ($62 US), the fuel tank
plate was $190 CDN ($130 US), and the transfer case plate was $48 CDN
($33 US).
Trip #2 was to go pick up the plates. I did some test fitting and
checking the service manual. The front three bolts on the front axle
had the nuts welded into the crossmember, so I needed to know the exact
specs on the bolts to use. Also, I forgot to get an extra bracket for
the front two bolts on the fuel tank plate.
The big problem was the transfer case plate. I tried it, turned it
around, turned it over, and the #$!@ thing just wasn't right.
So, trip #3. I ordered the bracket for the fuel tank (part #4279783-AB,
cost $31 CDN or $21 US). I asked about the bolts to match the existing
nuts, and it didn't say what size they were, but did give a Chrysler
part number for them. So I got three of those. And we looked up the
transfer case plate, and found that there were two different options.
I'm not sure what the difference was, if there are two mounting styles
or if the other was for a Ram or what. The picture of the *other*
transfer case skid plate looked like what was in the service manual (it
also had an older part number I didn't get, which had been changed to
#52019980-AB, cost $54 CDN or $37 US). So I traded the wrong plate for
one of those.
Trip #4. Picked up the correct transfer case plate and the mounting
bracket for the fuel tank. He couldn't find the bolts.
Trip #5. Picked up the bolts. After making a couple of trips to
Canadian Tire and Home Depot, I finally had everything.
Some notes on hardware: I just used standard grade 5 bolts for
everything I could. The transfer case and four of the bolts for the
front axle were 3/8". For the fuel tank, two of the bolts are already
there holding up the fuel tank, two of the holes in the frame are only
1/4", and two are in the bracket. I measured those, and decided they
were 5/16". I had a 5/16" coarse thread bolt, which didn't work, so I
got some 5/16" fine thread bolts. Those also weren't correct, so I took
the bracket in to Home Depot and figured out that they were 8mm. The
bracket attached to the frame with 1/4" bolts.
So I proudly took everything down to Jon's garage to put the truck up on
his lift for the install. The transfer case plate went right on, no
problems.
The front axle was a bit tougher, but not bad. The three special
Chrysler bolts went right in, but the flat washers I had for the other
four holes were too large to fit on the crossmember due to the anti-sway
bar. So Jon got to use the grinder and flatten a side of four washers.
Made lots of sparks. We have pictures :-).
The fuel tank was a bit tougher. We got the front bracket on without
too much problem (as long as you're a contortionist to reach). I had
figured that we would take off the existing nuts from the fuel tank
support straps and re-use them over the skid plate. But the more I
thought about it, the less I liked the idea of unhooking the fuel tank
while we were standing under it. We checked out the service manual, and
it looked like we were supposed to use two nuts on one bolt, one over
the fuel tank support strap, and one for the skid plate. We did some
test fitting and decided that was the way to go. So we measured the
bolts as 10mm, and made another trip to the hardware store.
Then I thought I would like to drill out the holes where the skid plate
attached to the frame rail from 1/4" to 3/8". Jon got out his heavy
duty Black & Decker drill and new titanium drill bits. He concluded
that frame material is some tough stuff. Did a good job of tapering his
drill bits, though. We managed to get one of them out to 5/16", but
left the other one at 1/4". That also had something to do with the fact
that the hole was right under the pad for the lift.
I'm not so sure we made the right decision to use the existing nuts,
because the two on the outside frame took some real convincing before
they would line up. Anyway, we finally managed to get it on there
(after more contortionism). I'm surprised it took as much effort as it
did to get it lined up, because it looks perfectly level now.
Well, this message is long enough now, I think. If anyone actually
reads the whole thing, I'll be surprised :-). Hope some of it was at
least slightly useful.
Jason
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