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Dakota SUA 8.25"

gradon

gradon

NAXJA Forum User
Location
DC
Snapped a pic of the solution my brother came up with for mounting the Addco on the Dakota SUA 8.25". I'm waiting for shorter Bilsteins to arrive and still have to source longer wheel studs(for ZJ disc swap--Dak's are wider at splines than the Jeep's, so can't reuse the F150 studs I had before) and convert the Jeep's rear driveshaft U-joint with the slighty larger Dakota caps(Dak caps have shoulder in-bound to center the joint, whereas the Jeep has the shoulders out-bound on the pinion mount).
 
For any pics of the bar mounted? How low are you going?
 
It was 2" lower than stock before with the de-arched leave setup. It will be ~4" lower than stock with the SUA and stock-arch leaves. If too low or too soft, I'll use taller shackles and add a leaf.
 
It would, but if I want it stiffer, I'm gonna have to add a leaf and then a taller shackle.
 
Later on, I might have flex-form make me custom composite leaves, but they're gonna have to have more arch than stock since they are single leaves and thus won't be as thick(thus lower in sua config) as the stock springs.
 
The Dakota spring perches are at the same location/width as the XJ?

ADDCO or Helwig rear sway bar? Can't find an ADDCO part number.

Looks like you will need shorter/cut bump stops.:D
 
The 87-90 Dakota 3.9l v-6 2wd has the 27-spline 8.25" Chrysler rear end w/ 3.21 gears and the 5x4.5" lug pattern. The spring perches are the exact same 53.5" c-c as the Jeep 8.25". The differences are that the Dak shock mounts are both on the rear and more in-board and the Dak axle is 2+" wider, so each rear wheel will stick out 1" more(pleasant surprise). I took the 4.10 ring gear off the 27-spline Auburn LSD and put on the 3.21. The shorter 5125 Bilsteins and longer Milodon wheel studs will arrive tomorrow and I'll spend all day Friday thrashing it to make sure it can compete on Waldorf on Saturday. I did cut and glue bump stops.
 
Waldorf ? Where's that? What event?
 
In between M3s, 3 years ago NCCBMWCCA hesitantly allowed me to auto-x my Jeep. It was all smiles after that first event. I auto-x in the morning and afternoon and you get 4 runs each session. They only count your first 4 runs, so my pm sessions don't count towards season points(makes it fair for the people that only do am or pm). I usually run the M3 in the morning and the Jeep in the afternoon. NCC holds events at Bowie Baysox Stadium and Blue Crab Stadium down in Waldorf, MD. Bowie's lot is rough, so you don't want to waste the Hoosiers on it. The last time I ran the Jeep in Waldorf at the end of May, I tried the Hoosiers on the front and due to the 4.10s, started in 2nd and shifted to 3rd. My friend and I were in the top-half out of ~100 people. This event will debut the Hoosiers on all four corners, the lower rear, stiffer Bilsteins, way stiffer Addco mount(will act as a traction bar to some extent), and the 3.21s will allow me to start in 1st. I expect to place in the top 25%. It will take some runs to get used to how well the Hoosiers stick as well as learning the 6" wider track that the Jeep will have(esp after driving one for 20 years).
 
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age8ujy6.jpg
 
What's the WMS-WMS width on the Dakota, exactly? I know they're much wider, but didn't realize it was around 6" wider.

I know they are 6 lug (6x4.5... not 5.5!) I am running a stock LSD out of one in my MJ right now. Install was easy though obviously I had to reset ring gear backlash to what it started at afterwards.
 
I'll get the WMS-WMS dimensions tomorrow, but it was 2+" wider than the Jeep's(axle shafts are 1+" longer and wheel studs are wider at the splines--.673"--than the Jeep's). I'll still DD the 16x7" silverstars w/ 225/50-16 Yoko Advan Neova AD08s, but the competition setup is 285/30-18 Hoosier R6s and A6s on 18x9" et24(?) Cobra R reps and 18x9.5" et20 AXIS Reverbs, so that package sticks out.
I just compared the stock 16x7" 5.25" backspace vs the two 18" with ~6" backspace, so the wheels themselves are .75" wider inboard and 1.25"(9") and 1.75"(9.5") wider outboard. The Hoosiers also stick out more past the wheel than the Yokos do.
 
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WMS?
 
I didn't break out the tape measure today when I had the wheels off. Here's the pics that show the differences in height and width between the driver's side and passenger side:
e5etu3a3.jpg
pass side was bad pic
eduge5eq.jpg

Anyhow, passenger side sits 3/4" higher and sticks out 1" more. Maybe on a dakota the leaf springs are offset to the driver's side? Anyhow, I had a blast today with her and I'll post the auto-x results and vids when the become available.
 
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We rent the whole lot from 8-5 so we can do as we please(much to the cops on the side streets chagrin).
 
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