Michael Maskalans <dml@tepidcola.com> wrote:
> On May 14, 2007, at 22:00, Terrible Tom wrote:
>> Kyle Kozubal wrote:
>>
>>> I am looking at getting a small lift on my Dakota,
>>> possibly.
>>> A body lift is not an option, since I do not want to
>>> re-route my exhaust (which runs through the body panel
>>> on the bed).
>>
>> Bummer you can't do body lift. They are the best option for
>> getting a little more tire clearence. They don't screw up steering
>> and driveline angles, doesn't raise the center of gravity as much
>> as a suspension lift, and they are affordable and reaitivly easy to
>> install.
> bah, they're a cop-out.
In theory, you are correct, but when speaking of the Dakota in
particular, I'm with Tom on that one. Breakover, approach and
departure angles aside, in my mind, the main reason for a lift is more
tire clearance since the tires are the only thing that actually
increase clearance under the diffs, which are the lowest parts on the
truck. The suspension lifts which are available for the Dakota are
very expensive and have many issues such as brackets that hang down
and actually decrease clearance, durability problems, etc. If the
purpose is to get a lift for tire clearance, *on the Dakota*, a body
lift is the way to go, IMHO. True, you may be able to get the same
clearance by trimming, but a lot of folks don't want to go down that
path. A body lift is cheap, easy to install, and completely
reversible.
Now, if you're starting with something like a Ram or a Jeep which
has a solid front axle already, then yeah, a suspension lift is
absolutely the way to go. IIRC, the 4" suspension lift on my '92 Ram
was something like $600, which included 4 leaf springs and shocks,
along with a pitman arm spacer and all of the other hardware required.
When you consider that a body lift is something like $200-300, the
suspension lift is basically a no-brainer. However, on the Dakota
where the suspension lift is more like $1500+, and like you say you're
still saddled with IFS afterwards, a body lift makes a lot of sense.
--
-Jon-
.- Jon Steiger -- jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com -.
| '96 Kolb Firefly, '96 Suzuki Intruder, Miscellaneous Mopars |
`-------------------------------- http://www.jonsteiger.com --'
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