It seems there isn't much info concerning the torsion bars on the Dakota and the Durango t bars available anywhere.

I'm using a 91-96 Dakota 4x4 chassis under a 49 Dodge pickup and I have the V8 bars rated at 2,000 lbs, but they don't seem to have the weight capacity I need, and for what I've read, those are as HD as that gen Dakota bars come in.

From what I've read, it seems the 98-2002 Durango uses the same torsion bars as the 97-2002 Dakota trucks use, but the Durango bars have a higher weight capacity and are suppose to be interchangeable with the Dakota bars of the same time frame. There is no place where I can find any dimensions of any 97-2002 Dakota/Durango T bars.
I'm hoping maybe someone can give me the measurements from a 98-2002 Durango torsion bars. I'm particularly interested in the V8 torsion bars (4.7 or 5.9 gas). I'm looking for the sizes of the hex head on both ends, the length of the bars, and the diameter of the bar through the center. A weight capacity would be a huge plus. If anyone has changed the bars between the 91-96 Dakota and the 97-2002 Dakota and the 98-2002 Durango, that would be great info as well.

So, to be fair, Here are the measurements for the 91-96 Dakota V8 bars:
Front hex measurements across the flats on the hex: 1. 50"
Rear hex measurement across the flats on the hex: 1. 50"
Length of the bar is: 50.00"
The diameter of the bars is: 1.125"
Weight capacity for the V8 bars is: 2,000 lbs.


There is a light duty torsion bar for the 91-96 Dakota 4 cylinder & V6 The V6 bars are interchangeable with the V8 bars on the 91-96 Dakotas.
Front hex 1.50"
Rear hex 1.50"
Length 50".00"
Diameter (from reading): .960
Weight capacity 1400 lbs

Thank you for any help. Gene

So, anyone following along here, today I had a chance to measure a torsion bar from an 05 Durango (the one I measured had a 5.7 motor).

The hex heads are 1.5" across, and the length is 50". I did not measure the diameter, but it is noticeably larger then the 2,000lbs torsion bar out of my 96 Dakota. The Durango bar was still in the Durango, so I can not tell if the hex heads are on the same orientation, but I would really be surprised if they were different.

So, for what ever its worth, the 91 -96 Dakota torsion bars have the same hex size and the same length as the torsion bars from a 2005 Durango.

This is important because some sales outlets say the 04-09 Durango bars are still available new. I haven't seen any distinction between T bars for the 04-09 Durango 3.7 V6, the 4.7 or the 5.7 V8. All the outlets I've seen only list a right side bar or a left side bar. At any rate, the 04-09 Durango bars are readily available in salvage yards and are less expensive then the 91-96 Dakota bars (that are getting harder to find) are.

If anyone has a problem with the 91-96 Dakota drooping in the front, the heavier 2004 -2009 Durango bars have the same measurements and should fit. I would also suspect the bars from the 1997-2003 are probably the same.

I will be updating this after New Years. I am going to get a set of the 04-09 Durango bars and install them in my 96 Dakota 4x4 after that. Gene

Following! Might do the same thing to a 93 I am putting back together.

I ran into a couple of delays, I needed to replace the front rotors (one was warped) and replace the radiator, the plastic tank decided to start leaking where it attached to the aluminum core.
Maybe next month on the torsion bars. Gene

OK, So I'm bringing this old thread back to life. I have new information I feel needs to be shared.

The original problem was I put a 93ish Dakota 4x4 chassis under my 49 Dodge truck and I added a 96 5.2 Magnum bolted onto replacement factory motor mounts.. The 49 cab has a lot of glass, and the cab sits forward on the frame at least 2-3" more then the original standard cab Dakota cab did. That extra weight on the front torsion bars is what caused the problem. Every few months, the front end would settle down and I would get a tire rub on bumps, that tire rub was mostly when turning, and the rub was the tire tread face against a flat inner fender, so no damage was occurring, other then sounding real bad. If I turned the adjusting bolt up a few more turns, the rub and its noise would go away, for a while.

The frame I used came with the 49, so I'm not really sure what year (6 lug wheels), or what drive train was on it originally. For an 88-96 Dakota, the biggest torsion bars you could get were the HD 2,000 lbs version. I bought a pair of those and installed them, only to find out I already had them.
No place is there information concerning the Torsion bar fit, or any dimensions of them. The only info available said that the Durango's had bars with a 500 lbs higher weight capacity. The Durango didn't start until 97, and no place does it say if they interchange with the same era Dakota, or if they interchanged with the older Dakota. All the part numbers are different. All I could do was make some measurements of the bars, installed in the trucks, and those measurements showed the bars were all pretty much the same except the diameter. When I first started this process, back in 22, the 97-04 torsion bars were in the $200 a pair range.

So lets fast forward to today. The 49 now has 20,000 miles under its belt. The adjustment of those torsion bolts is pretty much used up, its time to do something. The cost of the torsion bars has dropped by about 1/2 price. Looking on line I found a yard about 100 miles away that had a listing for two different torsion bars for a 2000 Durango. They listed bars for a 4.7 motor and a 5.9 (gas) motor. I made the trip yesterday. I took along my old bar.
The hex heads are the same. How the bars are installed in the truck (or Durango) are all the same. Both 2000 torsion bars are exactly one inch shorter then the 96 and older bar. The bar fits into the lower control arm socket and its very deep (3" +). the 96 bars sit nearly 1" in from the outer edge, I don't believe the 1" shorter bars will be a problem.
The 96 bar had a diameter of 1". The 2000 4.7 bar has a diameter of 1 1/8". and the 5.9 bar has a diameter of 1 3/16". I bought both of the 2000 bars, both are left side (the side that rubs on my truck). Someone wasn't paying much attention, I thought I was buying a pair of torsion bars, but the guy was offering me a couple choices.

Now I just have to determine which bar to use, and If I should change both sides (would require another 200 mile round trip), or just swap out the left bar that seems to be the weaker of the two. The truck has a really nice ride....

if i were swapping bars, i would do both at the same time.
one question though, even though it appears that there is enough internal/female hex engagement area that the 1" shorter bars will not be a problem, how will you make sure the shorter bar[s] will not slide back and forth in the hex socket[s] under use ?
or am i over-thinking this because the bars will be under enough tension when adjusted, that it will not be possible for them to move back and forth in the hex socket[s] ?

Good points. So, not knowing for sure how heavy the front end of the truck really is, would you go with the 1/8" larger diameter bar, or the 3/16" larger diameter bars?
As far as the bars moving while under tension, I suspect when there is tension on the torsion bars, nothing is going to move much at all.

The front torsion bar socket does not have any kind of provision holding the torsion bar from sliding out thee back side, but there is a roll pin keeping it from sliding forward (that roll pin is about an inch forward of the end of the current bar. The bar hex in that socket is a pretty tight fit, it is by no means a "loose" fit. I'm going to have to look, but I believe the shorter bar's hex head will still be completely inside of the socket by about a 1/2".

The rear mounting piece with the adjuster sort of floats back there. The torsion bar has a "Key" (it looks like a ducks head with the bar slid through the duck's eye and the adjusting bolt passing through the duck's bill at a 90 degree angle The key (duck's head) is about 6" long and about a 1/2" thick where the torsion bar passes through it. That key slides onto the hex end of the bar with a slight drag *(and currently the end of the bar is 1/2" - 3/4" past the back side of the bar end). The duck's bill (the pointed end of the key) is flat with a hole through it that the adjusting bolt passes through. The torsion bar crossmember has a slot the bolt passes through with a round anchor with a threaded hole through its center that the adjusting bolt threads into. That round anchor sits in a cupped out point on the top of the crossmember. As its designed, everything has about a 1/2" of front to back movement (without tension on the bar) plus the duck head (the key) just slides onto the hex of the bar. Nothing is pinned for location any place.

The torsion bar tension: :From a down, no tension position, the 3" long adjusting bolt is threaded into the round anchor about the depth of the round anchor. The torsion bar is slid into place with the adjusting bolt backed off to this point. At normal ride height, slightly more then 1/2 the bolt threads are screwed into the round anchor. The bolt head and the key are nearly up tight against the round anchor on my truck right now, and the adjustment height is on the low side. The bars are just a bit too weak to support the weight, I'm not trying to raise the truck by adjusting the tension on the bar. The truck has to be on jack stands before i can get my fat body under it to see anything for sure, so this is by memory from the last time I adjusted the bars, about 4 months ago.

i think if it were me, i would go with the 3/16" bigger bars.
once adjusted, they should keep the suspension exactly where you want it to be, unless something is really wrong that is not showing itself easily, such as a failing weld or stretching material at one of the mounting hexes.
the heavier bars would also allow you to add a little extra weight if you would decide to say, add a super duty push type bumper with a winch, in the future.

I'm not familiar with the torsion bar front suspension on Chrysler products, but it has been common way back to the police edition Volare/Diplomat chassis. Could part of the issue be socket wear from use and exposure to road grit and especially water/snow/salt/corrosion in the upper Midwest. Some interesting stuff here:

https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/mopp-0406-1989-dodge-diplomat-torsion-bars/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5PrILNTars

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpomgHU1xF0

I've watched a loy of Uncle Tony, and his stuff is generally always good and reasonable (cost effective).

The torsion bar mounting stuff is in great shape on my truck. When I first built it, I adjusted the ride height to the factory suggested setting. With in a couple months, the nose was drooping a bit, and I was getting a tire rub on big bumps when the wheels were turned just right. As one might expect, this was looked into immediately. When I built the truck, I fabricated the inner fenders, because the 49 originally had no inner fenders at all, the the Dakota 4x4 inner fenders didn't match up to the 49 body real well. Imagine that...The process took several days it get right. The biggest issue was where I had to pound a bump towards the tire for the inner fender to clear the front corners of the cab the height of the "bump" was about 2" towards the tire then the rest of the inner fender. In the static position, the tires had almost 4" of clearance to the bump at the closest position, which was when the tires were turned at about a 30 degree angle from straight. The driver side was closest on a left turn, the passenger side was closest on a right turn. I really never expected to see that much suspension travel, and the truck really doesn't have that much movement, unless you go off the road, or as I discovered, as the torsion bars sag.

The 1st time I heard the tire rub and discovered the only place it was rubbing was on the bump in the inner fenders, on the tread face of the tire. When the torsion bars droop the left inner fender makes contact first, but not very often. If I let it go a few weeks, the left side hits more often, then the right side starts rubbing. If i jack the front end up, giver both torsion bars about 3-4 turns on the adjusting bolt, its all good for about 4 months, the the process starts all over.

After a couple rounds, it was pretty obvious to me the bars were too weak for the weight they were supporting. Upon investigating, I discovered that the V8 trucks had a "heavy duty" torsion bars available. Not knowing what bars were in my truck, or how they were used in the past, I picked up a set of the heavy duty bars and changed them out. What I discovered was that the bars in my truck were already the heavy duty bars, and those were the biggest bars you can get for a 88-96 Dakota. No place does it tell you if the bars on the newer trucks are different then the per 96 bars, nor does it tell you if they interchange.

That was why I started this thread to begin with, what we are doing now is following up on what I have just discovered.

My son bought an 04 Hemi Durango a couple years ago. we did a frame swap with it (wouldn't recommend that, the 04 and newer frames are not swap friendly.). Anyway, the torsion bars in that 04 Durango have a huge diameter (bigger then to two I just picked up), but the hex size and all the attaching points look the same. the only possible difference could be the length. At that time, my measurement told me the bars has to be with in an inch (+ or -) The length my bars were, and that either length would fit in my truck. These new to me 97-03 bars are an inch shorter then the bars that came out of my truck. We are going to see if that shorter bar will cause a problem or not, but I'm not expecting a problem.

I will be making that 200 mile round trip to get a matching bar for the bigger of the two left side bars I now have, to get a matching right side bar. Those bars will be changed before the end of September, or I'll be walking.... The tire rub is getting worse on both sides, and I'm out of adjustment..

So. I have a few pictures from the time the inner fenders were constructed. Might help with some understanding. Before you pick it apart, remember, you have to start with something and work from there.

Pic 1) This pic shows the "bump" that is my tire rub, this is the right side, I don't have a clear picture of the left side.

Pic 2) This is a picture of the build process of the inner fenders. Again, its the right side. the bump is just below the small vice grips. the rub occurs when the tires are not quite turned as sharply as they are in this picture, and then only on a bump. One wouldn't expect this bump to cause a tire rub, but that is where its at. The left side has just about the same clearance, but the fuel tank, and my heavy butt ride on that side.

Pic 3) This is the reason for the bump in the first place. The little corner edge on the left lower side of the cab floor is the problem area. This truck had an 1/8" plate welded in to replace the floor. Those narky welds and rusty metal (it is the 1/8" thick stuff) is how the guy formed and welded the 1/8" thick metal to the bottom and sides of the firewall. At the time I saw no reason to modify what was actually a decent job, that was going to out last me and the truck. Were I to do it over, I would be cutting 2" off the corner in both height, width and in from the outer edge. Then there would be no need for the bump on the inner fender.

Also, to put this into perspective, the inner fenders that are clamped into place are the complete inner fenders from the Dakota 4x4. They are about 6" at minimum and nearly 8" at the maximum too narrow to meet the inner edge of the 49 fenders. The rust was either cleaned up, or the rotted metal was replaced. I don't have the ability to form that large of a compound curve in 18 gauge metal. The inner fenders were cleaned to the bare metal, primed and painted on both the top and bottom sides, as was the front of the cab.

Pic 4) This pic shows just how much too narrow the Dakota inner fenders were. The stick on the bottom of the pic is clamped too the outside of the door and the outside edge of the nose piece. The actual fender has an extended lip around the wheel wells that extend the fender width another 2" outside of the stick. That tire is a 235 75 15, its nearly 8 1/2" wide at the thread.

i understand now..........
as the dakota bars are larger, they are sure worth the try.
being as they are approximately 1" shorter, would it be possible to make a "spacer" to take up that 1", [cut from the hex of your old bars] and have it be retained in the control arm ? [or the rear socket, whichever is longer]
that would certainly insure there would be no movement possible by the shorter bars being used.

When I replaced what was probably the original torsion bars in my Dakota frame, the bars in the truck where at least a 1/2' away from the roll pin on the front end, (and there is nothing retaining the bar at the back end). Then I had to apply heat to the hex socket to get the one bar to even move, with an 8lbs sledge hammer pounding on a bar placed against the end of the torsion bar. It was never going to fall out.

You need to understand, I used to dirt track race the torsion bar Mopars as well as being an auto mechanic (for years only on Mopars) and I have never seen a torsion bar fall out of a car. Usually you have to beat the crap out of them to get them out. Even if they were broken, you had to work to get the bar out of the lower control arm socket.. If 3/4 of the full depth of the hex end is in the socket (I am expecting the full engagement on both ends), I don't think I'm going to be concerned with the bar moving forward or backwards.

The hex socket in the lower control arm is 3" deep, open all the way through. The roll pin is about a 1/2" from the front end only. The hex on both ends of the bar are only 1" long, total length. The original bar was factory installed with the front end at about a 1/2" inward from the roll pin. That means the torsion bar's hex end was centered in the 3" deep socket. The hex on the bar was 1" from each end at the front and properly positioned at the rear.

These "new" 1" shorter bars should have the hex on the bar completely in the front socket, and still be properly positioned at the rear. I'll try to get new pictures of everything, probably in a couple weeks, when I under take this project. I'm far too lazy to go out in the garage, jack up the front end of the truck, put it on jack stands and crawl under it to take a few pictures, tonight.

The best I can do is show you the ends of the torsion bars. At the other end, all 3 bars are in line with each other. The longer bar is the original bar from my truck. What you see here is the total difference (other then the diameter of the center of the bars) between the 96 and older Dakota bar, and the 97 - 2003 Durango bar. now remember, the rear part of that hex on the longer is an inch deep into the socket on the lower control arm.

Between now and then, you will just have to trust my judgment on my truck...

always have had trust in you Gene !
just trying to learn something from your expertise in the pilot house era truck/dakota-durango field of knowledge. [and to be able to "steal" it if i need it in the future. ]

That is why I always seem to write short stories when I try to explain something. I have all this useless information and experiences floating around in my head not doing anything, so I figure if I send it out there, so someone won't have to learn the hard way I did.

Sometimes I may sound frustrated when questions are asked, that is because I need to think through the process and try to come up with a different way to explain it. Sometimes it requires sweeping the cobwebs clear, and some of those cobwebs have had a long time to collect.

All this typing is by the two index finger method, then I have to go back and spell check almost every other word (or so it seams). I can invest an hour with what should be a simple reply.

how well i know about the cobwebs ! them dadgummed spiders anyhow !
at least you type with two fingers........i'm just a "one finger pecker".........

Soooo. I just know you are all dying to hear an update.
I was under my truck this morning, and I even took the camera with me.
Pic 1) This is what the torsion bar set up looks like from under the truck. This is the passenger side, looking at it from the front.
Pic 2) This is what the lower control arm on a 93 Dakota looks like. This is the driver side, the torsion bar connects at the rear frame end of the control arm.
Pic 3) This is the front end of the control arm torsion bar socket. The roll pin is the only thing that could keep the bar from moving forward, and it has nearly a 1/4" of dead air space between it and the end of the bar.
Pic 4) This really fuzzy picture is the side view of the torsion bar socket. It shows the tap measure butted against the T bar, the bar is 1" from the front edge of the bar socket, and the socket is 2 7/8" long (I have another equally fuzzy pic of the length of the socket). The flats of the T bar are machined to 1" long. That means the end of the bar is 1 7/8" into the socket with this bar.
Hang in there, there are 3 posts worth of pictures.

2nd installment.
Pic 1) Here is that fuzzy picture of the length of the t bar socket in the lower control arm. The tape measure says it is 2 7/8" long.
Pic 2) This is the torsion bar in the control arm socket from the bar side. The front end of that bar is 1 7/8" into the socket.
Pic 3) This is the torsion bar @ the adjusting height key (the key is often referred to as a duck head, out of the truck, in a side view it does resemble a duck's head. The torsion bar is through the duck's eye, and the adjusting bolt passes vertically through its bill).
Pic 4) This is the reason I believe I'm not going to have a problem with the "new' bars being 1" shorter. This is the adjusting key (the duck's head) on the T bar, as it is located in the torsion bar crossmember. The bar extends past the end of the key by an 1/8". The T bar can not get past the back end of the T bar crossmember, and in its current position, it only has about an 1/8" of clearance between the end of the bar and the back end of the crossmember. The front of the truck is towards the right side of the picture. The key is about 1" thick and is leaning towards the rear of the crossmember. This bar could be moved forward an 1/8" or more and not cause a problem. The bar can not move backwards far enough to come out of the control are socket unless something fails bad.

Installment 3.
Pic 1) This is the t bar adjusting bolt, the anchor it threads through, and the notch in the torsion bar crossmember that positions it. As you can see there are a lot of bolt threads above that anchor. To lift the truck, you screw the adjusting bold farther into the anchor. This one is just about out of lift, there are only about 6 threads between the key and the anchor.
Pic 2) This crappy picture is the head of the adjusting bolt threaded through the key, pulling it towards the anchor to raise up the truck.

Pic 3) This one is just for reference concerning the differences in the torsion bar lengths. The other end of all 3 bars are in line. The front, longer bar matches what is in the truck. The middle bar is 3/16" larger diameter, and is probably the one I'm going with.

Any thought or questions, ask away.