Here's whats on my mind... I've recently come to the conclusion that
until I fix Christine's more serious issues, I'm wasting time.
I have replaced all the ball joints, all the tierods, the idler arm, the
pitman arm and the steering box. The truck still klunks from the front
end. As best as I can tell, the klunking is because of seriously
deteriorted control arm bushings.
Some of the brackets and framework on the front end is rotted out (the
bump stop mounts primarily). I can only find replacement busings for the
upper control arms. Replacement control arms, if you can find them,
sell for a few hundrid bucks each (times 4 = $$$$). And... I still have
a stripped out caliper mounting hole in the passenger side steering knuckle.
All of this makes me wanna go Maskalans on the front suspension.
Here's the problem. I don't know what to put under the truck whel I
torch the old stuff off. From the very start, when I first bought
Christine... I always wanted to turn the truck into a heady duty Dakota.
I don't want to turn it into a sky high offroad truck. I want to be
able to put my snow plow back on and drive the thing every day and tow
and haul and go offroad once in a while to get her muddy. I dont want
to crawl up cliffs and I don't need huge flex in the suspension. I also
don't want the tires to stick out way past the fenders (like they do
right now) The max size tire I would run would be 33 or 35.
Mike would tell me "nothing less than a dana 44" - in fact I think he
has at one point. The problem with that is that most 44s out there are
full sie truck width axles.
A few ideas I had, go like this...
A DANA 30 front axle from a Wrangler or Cherokee. Its about the same
size as the stock Dak IFS unit. Stock is a 7.25 corperate center
section. I think the DANA 30 ring gear is 7.2? I've seen many
Wranglers and Cherokees with plows and no one I know with one has blown
up an axle yet.
Pros, good width axle, might be easiest to make fit, light axle, good
aftermarket support - can be built up somewhat.
Cons, its still a DANA 30...
If I could find an afforable Rubicon front axle... that would be ideal
width and strength. Problem is they are hard to find in junk yards and
NOT CHEAP for the ones I did locate.
Ford Twin Tandem Beam axle set up from a Ranger/Explorer set up.
Pros, Might be easy to adapt to a formerly IFS frame set up... good
aftermarket support for parts
Cons, I just don't like a suspension that flexes like that. I think it
would give me a headache to try and keep the tire wear normal.
Or... I also thought... drop Christine's body... on another chassis.
Perhaps a modified Ramcharger frame, or (gasp) a ford or chevy chassis.
Pros: instant solid axle swap, depending on what chassis I could use...
it would also solve the frame rot issue, by allowing me to pick up a
solid chassis.
Cons: heavy fab work, cab mounts, bed mounts, engine/transmission mounts
(no way would I run Ford/GM powertrain!!!)
My vote is to go with a Wrangler coil spring DANA 30...
I would really appreciate feedback from folks on this... This truck has
been a struggle for six and a half years... damn has it been that long?
And I feel even farther away than ever, from reaching my goals
-- ------------------------------------------------------------ The Zen philosopher Smasho once wrote: "A truck with no dents, is not a 4x4... and a 4x4 with no dents wasn't at a DML BBQ" ------------------------------------------------------------ three busted-ass daks, a gas hog, and a rollerskate http://members.aol.com/silvereightynine/ AIM & Yahoo: SilverEightynine ------------------------------------------------------------
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