Re: Pictures of Lowered Dak's -Reply

From: Bob Mankin (bob@cadpros.com)
Date: Tue Nov 10 1998 - 13:43:15 EST


jsm@iglou.com wrote:
>
> >>>>I think that 2" in front and 3" in the rear is all that you will want.<<<
> >
> >ditto. I hear that more than 3" inches will make the rear bottom out pretty
> >easily with out anything in the back. If you go more than 3" then you
> >should definitly check out a C-notch. =)
>
> Guess I'll be finding out if you're right. Just ordered the 2" A-arms
> for the front and the adjustable 1" 1 1/2" 2" hanger from Sport Truck
> Direct. Already have the 2" shackle. Hopefully I'll have all the parts
> by next Monday. Seems they can't keep the A-arms in stock. Also, I was
> told that the arms come without ball-joints. So I will either have to
> have the stock ones drilled out or buy new ones. Originally the arms
> were supposed to have ball-joints installed but the supplier to Western
> Chassis didn't come through. It does lower the price some though from
> $229 to $199. However I'm not sure what new joints will cost. I kind of
> like the idea of having the adjustability on the shackle but plan on
> doing 2" on it for a total of 4" in back. I found that the 2" hangers
> brought the back down to almost level with the front. I opted for the
> Doetsch Tech nitro-slammer shocks from them as well. So it looks like
> Santa came early for me this year. <g> Once everything is on I'll take
> some pics and scan them.

Reason you can't get the A arms with ball joints is nobody has them
available as yet. Right now if you toasted one for whatever reason you'd
be stuck ordering a complete new A arm assembly from Dodge.

That part no. hasn't been out long enough for them to worry much about
replacement parts and Western hasn't gotten any cooperation from Mopar
for ball joints alone. You'll have to drill out the rivets on your
current units and bolt them into the new A arms.

I've got the same kit you're about to install. Looks very trick when
done! I also opted for a 1.5" lowering spring in addition to the A arms.
That was a bit much. You really have to be able to contend with a super
low truck and inclines really become a challenge to drive over or
around. I'm waiting for Hotchkis to release their new spring kit and
I'll be replacing the current springs(I think they're even V6 pieces)
with some stiffer units and bring the front end back up a tad. The
handling is not acceptable with these softer springs.

FWIW, I purchased all my gear through Sport Truck as well. Beware of the
lowering springs if you're thinking about them. I think any of the
shorter units are meant for V6 trucks.

Bob



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