I was faced with a decision: Should I keep my truck stock, all original? Or should I have fun and play with it, using modifications? I like to go off-road and explore and get lost. So....
The latest modifications have been completed. I had a 2" body lift installed. This was followed by 31x10.5" BF Goodrich All-Terrain KO's and American Racing Outlaw II wheels. These tires raised the truck's height almost another 2" from the stock sized tires, which were almost bald. Then, to get more clearance, I had an alignment shop crank the front torsion bars up 2". This raised the front end higher than the rear - NOT GOOD! So, a 1" block was installed in the rear springs, and all is well! So, sitting in the cab is 2" + 2" + 2" = 6" higher now. (Torsion bars exist only on 4x4 trucks.) With this additional height, the truck was custom fitted with SkyJacker shocks: front #7059 -- rear #7039. These part numbers are for Toyota's, but they fit on this truck, too, if lifted.
Before all this, I measured only 6" of clearance from the ground up to the differential. Now, I have 10" of actual clearance and 11" in the rear! Not bad for not installing a typical suspension lift! There have been successfull attempts of installing the 4" TrailMaster suspension lift from 1991 Dakota's onto the 1989's. When detailed instructions are available, I will post them here. |
