My 1995 Dakota 2wd 318- UPDATE

Obtained this Florida 1995 Dodge Dakota 318 Sport back in January. Goal was to mini tub for a Pro Street/ Hot Street look. Stock 318 will remain for now but it runs near flawlessly. I installed an 8.75 I purchased from Blumsbi here on Moparts (thanks buddy!). I then had it narrowed by nearly 10". I relocated the leaf springs under the frame rails to make maximum room for tires. I had those leaf springs de arched by 4.5". The rear tires are Hoosier Pro Street radials size 29x15.5x15 on Draglite 15X12 wheels with 5.5" BS. Converted front to 5 lug hubs and installed 15x4 draglites with MT Sportsman SR 27" tall 6" radial front runners. I do have Bell Tech 2" lowering spindles for the front but will hold off for now on installing them. I've been doing this project while suffering with my effed up back. Work is slow. The only engine things I will do are reseal the intake plenum plate- clean and paint the engine and bay. I have early Magnum exh manifolds and I will add those with true dual exhaust using Walker turbo mufflers. I will not reuse the catalytic converter. I will eventually buff out the worn out paint. The scoop is a steel chevy cowl style from AMD. It is bolted on with stainless fasteners. I like the more raw race car look of the scoop mounted this way. Plus I sure as heck am not gonna weld and blend it in. I went with the 8.75 rear end to be ready if I ever do a powerful engine. The 8.75 has 4:30 gears. OUCH. But with the current stock OD transmission in the Dakota I hope it will be tolerable- but again there will be no highway vacation trips with this truck. If I do another engine it will be a 360 magnum with forged pistons and a mild cam. Then a 125 shot of Nitrous but thats all a low priority. Ill be happy just to have a reliable -always starts vehicle that drives great and looks pretty good. I have a new chrome front bumper and will replace all the plastic -grill and bezels up front. Eventually I may paint it myself. I like red. But for now it should be reliable. A 18 second vehicle that looks like an 11 second vehicle.

Looks good. Be sure to check out tire and turning clearance if you decide to install the dropped spindles.

. Thanks. I didn't install the drop spindles for that very reason. There is 3 inches of clearance between wheel lip and outer top of tire tread. I think the 2 inch drop provided by the spindles would be too much.

Stance is nice now. If you want to get a slight rake then try cutting some spare front springs down and see what it looks like. Worse case you can always put it back the way it is. I think a 3/4" - 1" drop would still give you enough tire room.

Following!

I never found one of those trucks local, wanted to do a hot small block for once. Sport package looks killer on these! Mopar action did a build on one many years ago that I really liked. 318 truck swapped to 360 mag.

I'm fortunate I live not far from A-B Springs who I had de arch the springs and Drive Train Specialists in Ionia MI who narrowed the rear end. The rear end is an 8.75 originally from a late 60s C body. It was purchased from a member here and has Moser axles, a suregrip and 4:30 gears. I was hoping to not have to narrow it- its actually slightly narrower than the stock 8.25" But I would have had to go with a custom made wheels- like a 15x14 with 10-10.5" of back space to fit. Rons Rims could make me Torque Thrust Ds in this configuration but I didn't want that much back space. After the narrowing the 15x12s with 5.5 back space fit nicely. I will add some .200" inch spacers I will have just over .6" clearance from sidewall to frame. Dual exhaust will be short as the gas tank is in the way. I absolutely did not want the additional work of relocating the gas tank in the bed or adding a fuel cell in the bed to make space for exhaust. I have a Hooker Blackheart transmission mount with the 2 provisions/humps for exhaust tu bing to route thru. The trimming an additional pair of coil springs is a good idea and is what I will do if I decide I want a little lower in the front end.

Realistically they don't exist in clean condition anymore. My retired father lives in Florida. I am in Holland MI. He inherited this truck when a retiree friend passed away. He didn't need it and gave it to me. I hired Rhindart here on moparts to haul it to my house. Here it is when I first got it.

Man, that looks great! Perfect wheel tire combo for that truck, front and rear. Drive the wheels off that thing.

Thanks! The plan is to drive it this summer- stock OBD1 190,000 mile 318 and all!

Looks absolutely menacing. Love it.

It looks really good and has a great stance, it should be a fun truck to cruise around in.

I’m a fan. Sharp ride man!!!

Thanks for the compliments fellas! I drove near 3 hours to get those front wheels and tires. I had to buy the front and rear as a set but it still came out $550 less than buying brand new front skinnies and Draglites.
Those front runners are brand new BTW. They are a height that MT no longer makes. 27" tall. I'm gonna sell the rears that came in the set. Those are brand new Sportsman SRs 28x10x15 on 15x8 Draglites.

Damn your Dakota looks great. I would love to get my 91/96 to look like yours. Got any pictures of the tear leaf springs moved in? Here is a pick of my pro-junk yard dakota I had taken. This was at the last race of the year at my home track.

[quote=mopar65]Damn your Dakota looks great. I would love to get my 91/96 to look like yours. Got any pictures of the tear leaf springs moved in? Here is a pick of my pro-junk yard dakota I had taken. This was at the last race of the year at my home track. [/quote

Nice ride. I sent you a PM.

really nice truck !
good looks, and great stance !
if i'm figuring correctly, the A518 has a .68 overdrive.
with that said, you 4.30 gear should be a 2.92 in OD 4th gear.
that's a pretty good cruising gear in my stupid opinion.
the rear tires should be at least an inch or so loaded diameter, plus an extended roll-out circumference,larger than the factory size tire, so that should add to the lower cruising rpm as well.
what guys seem to forget, your engine needs to be in a good rpm range that allows it to use the fuel efficiently as it is able.
too low an rpm and the engine lugs, even with more footie on the gas pedal, which causes lower fuel economy.
too high an rpm and the engine runs good, but you have it eating more fuel than necessary.
you need to find a happy medium where the engine vacuum is very high, or as high as you can get it, and your footie is just touching the gas, thereby giving the best possible gas mileage at the least possible rpm.
timing plays a HUGE part in this as well, so don't be afraid to start playing around with this, either by distributor modifications or playing with a laptop.
just my opinion. your "mileage" will vary. []

I love the updates you've done! I've always loved that gen Dakota.

That's an awesome Dakota you have! It reminds me so much of my first Dakota.
I bought a '93 Dakota Sport brand new when I was working at a Dodge dealer back then.
I bought a 2wd short bed, regular cab, all black sport model.... since I loved the look of all blacked out trim. Mine had the Magnum 318 automatic also, with grey bucket seat interior.
Only mods I did, was change to 3.91 gears, in the factory axle, MP engine controller, and K&N air filter.
I only had it for a couple years, because of my growing family at the time..I had to sell it.
I have never seen it since I sold it... I loved that truck, and I miss it. I had plans like you, to do a subtle lowering kit...
and better intake, cam, heads, etc...but obviously never happened. Please hang onto yours! As you know...
those trucks are hard to find in decent shape nowadays. Good luck with it!

My old Dakota.