& From: John Walker <dakota@WKU.CAMPUS.MCI.NET>
& Subject: Rear drop
&
& I know I've asked this question before, but It is descision time and I'm not
& sure what to do. Has anybody dropped there rearend to level out the ride
& height? My rearend is 3" higher than the front. I measured from the top of
& the tire to the fender wheelwell lip. Is this a correct procedure for
& measuring the height?
I would say not. I'd use a bubble level in the bed of the truck to
determine if the truck was "level". The shape of the fenderwells was
abritrarily choosen by the designers, and means nothing.
& and geometry. Is it a noticeable difference for the cost? What about a
& rear Hellwig sway-bar? Worth $130?
I don't know about the Hellwig, but the truck desperately needs a rear
anti-sway bar. Here are old postings on the subject:
Return-Path: <frankb@cougar.sr.hp.com>
Date: Sun, 7 Jan 1996 23:25:09 -0800
To: dakota@csclub0.cs.fredonia.edu
Subject: rear sway bars
>From: DFuller288@aol.com
Date: Thu, 4 Jan 1996 21:06:24 -0500
Subject: Dakota Anti-Sway Bar
& Just installed a Hellwig SportTech rear anti sway bar on 93' 4x4 club cab
& with 5.2L. Unit fit perfectly out of box. Simple bolt on operation took
& less than 1 hour. Bar makes a noticable difference in reduced roll in hard
& cornering. Got unit from Summit Racing Equip. for about $100 including
& shipping. Well worth the money for in handling improvement.
I installed a Addco rear anti-sway bar shortly after buying my truck.
It is 7/8" diameter. It goes across the frame in front of the spare,
with a dogleg to clear the spare tire, and the arms attach to the lower
shock mounts. It required drilling four 1/2" holes in the frame (isn't
the Hellwig a bolt on with no drilling?). Polyurathane bushings. About
$180. As you noticed body roll is greatly reduced, and so is
understeer. Highly recommended. The truck still understeers on a
smooth road, but it is tolorable. Of course the back end will bounce
out when it hits a bump. I'm wondering if better rear shocks would
help, but I'm know that the solid rear axle suspension has its
limitations. My front tires are wearing mostly on the outside edges
from cornering. I run them at 45 psi (Michelin LT tires). The back
tires wear pretty evenly, at little more in the middle, with 40 psi.
Since then I did see one ad for a 15/16" diameter bar, which would be
32% stiffer, assuming the other dimensions were the same. I forget the
brand, but I could find out if anyone is interested.
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Frank Ball 1UR-M frankb@sr.hp.com (707) 794-4168 work
Return-Path: <MagnumMrk@aol.com>
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 1996 21:21:42 -0500
To: frankb@cougar.sr.hp.com (frankball)
Subject: Re: rear sway bars
Hey!
I did some calling today and found Suspension Techniques has a 1 1/8" front
and a 15/16" rear sway bar kit for sale.The cheapest place I found to buy it
is A.S.A.P.The 2 bars come complete with urethane bushings for $229.00.If you
don't already have a front sway bar they will sell you an installation kit.
Mark
Return-Path: <MagnumMrk@aol.com>
Date: Thu, 11 Jan 1996 13:19:33 -0500
To: dakota@csclub0.cs.fredonia.edu
Subject: rear sway bar for sale
Hey!
If anyone is intrested in buying a rear sway bar,I have one for sale.I
bought it last summer at a swap meet and it won't work with my lowered
Dakota.It is a Sport Tech,it is 3/4" and comes with all the
hardware,instructions,and urethane bushings.
The low low price is $40.I am located in Madison Wi so if anyone is in the
area leave me mail..
Thanx
Mark
So the Sport Tech is 3/4" (junk), the Addco is 7/8", and the Suspension
Techiques (Technology?) bar is 15/16". Stiffness is proportional to
the diameter of the bar raised to the 4th power. So the 7/8" Addco bar
is 85% stiffer than the 3/4" Sport Tech bar, and the 15/16" bar is 32%
stiffer yet. I don't know the size of the Hellwig bar. Unless I'm
really hard on the gas my truck still understeers pretty well with the
7/8" rear bar, so I'd recommend the 15/16" model.
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Frank Ball 1UR-M frankb@sr.hp.com (707) 794-4168 work
Hewlett Packard (707) 794-3038 fax (707) 538-3693 home
1212 Valley House Drive Kawi KDX200, Yamaha XT350 YZF600R Seca 750
Rohnert Park CA 94928-4999 '95 Dakota SLT Club Cab V8 5-Speed 2WD
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