I am looking for a better weight transfer to my rear wheels on my dak. A friend of mine told me that I need at least 5 inches of travel up front with my setup and weight. Right now i can get only 3 with the bump stop removed. I thought about going to a lighter spring to get a little more drop. Would i be better off to get some drop springs? I found a set of 2" lowering springs with about the same spring rate. Would this give me my 5 inches i need ?

Lowering the car 2 " to get a total of 5" of travel seems foolish, unless that is closer to where the front end stance should be. How low would that put the front end? Lowering the front end will increase the front end static weight. If your car doesn't hook up, it will spin even worse. Did you try unbolting the shocks to see if that is your front travel limiting factor?

You want the travel but you would need to lower the
rear even more

I took a measurement from resting position and then jacked it up till the wheels came off the ground there is about a 3" difference. With the wheels off the ground the control arm is resting on the frame. It is far from an optimal setup. The truck sits a little high in the front now and i could lower the back a bit. I have a what looks like about 4" of coil before i would bottom out on the frame. How could i pick up a couple more inches of travel? Would it be better to get the lower springs or softer ones?

Its stopping on the snubber... cut it in half

the snubber has been removed

The car sounds like it sits high. Most Dakota's have a good amount of travel, even with the snubber. Can you lower the truck evenly front and back?

its a gen 1 88 Dak, What ever i pull out of the front i can get out of the rear. Its just a matter of how.

Anyone have any suggestions?

A weaker longer spring that lowers the front is what you want. Lowering the whole truck sounds like a good idea

Was it a 4 cylinder truck? My D50 was and the springs on the front of it are too weak. I thought about cutting part of a coil off to lower the front a little and see what it will do.

A spring of the same free length but with a lower rate will compress more when the same weight is applied to it, effectively lowering the front end. Whether it is too much or not enough depends on how much lighter it is. Too much and it will set dead on the stops. Not quite enough it can be shortened a bit to bring it down more. Plus the lighter spring will have more energy stored and will help get the front end to separate more easily.

Weight on the rear bumper will help it pitch rotate which is what your trying to do.

what is the motor tranny set up john.

Its an iron block 440 with a 727. I have the motor set back into the firewall. It weighs out at 1720 front and 1310 rear. It was an original v6 truck.