Hard to push Dakota

Posted By: bobs69

Hard to push Dakota - 03/09/12 02:53 AM

My 88 Dakota is really hard to push in the staging lane. Was told i need new front callipers. Does anyone know if the stock callipers hold a few pounds of pressure on the pads even when your foot is off the peddal. Also running a 8 3/4 with spool with a 904. I jack up the rear and the rear tires are really hard to turn with the rear brakes backed off. Any ideas. Thanks

Posted By: dusturbd340W5

Re: Hard to push Dakota - 03/09/12 02:56 AM

are your brake hoses the original rubber lines if so I have seen them start to come apart on the inside and not let all the pressure off
may be something to check

Posted By: bodyworks racing

Re: Hard to push Dakota - 03/09/12 02:59 AM

When is the last time you did any welding on your truck ?

Posted By: bobs69

Re: Hard to push Dakota - 03/09/12 03:08 AM

As far as i know the brake hoses are the original. I have owned the truck for a short time and don't know about the last time there was any welding done.

Posted By: bodyworks racing

Re: Hard to push Dakota - 03/09/12 03:41 AM

Did some fab work on my friends dart sport stocker last spring in prep for the race season(new drive shaft loop). we disconected all the electronics , ply back tach msd box ground to battery did not disconect the ground from the engine to the firewall.Welded up the mounts for the loop to the subframe connectors.the car was 2 tenths slower than the first race last year and was very hard to push . we could not figure it out , but talked to another friend , said he welded on his car and the ground some how back fed through the trans and burned from a bearing surface to the rear out put shaft.We were skeptical but pulled the trans and sent it to our trans guy ,bingo. I would try everything else first, very unusual but it happened

naturaly i got the blame because i was the welder

Posted By: dusturbd340W5

Re: Hard to push Dakota - 03/09/12 03:48 AM

galling the rear output shaft support is a common problem on a 904/727 BUT I highly doubt you caused it welding on the car just bad timing,they where just looking for a fall guy.

Posted By: Adobedude

Re: Hard to push Dakota - 03/09/12 04:35 AM

Oh crap, don't tell me that...I just put an 8 point in my Dakota, the only thing I worried about was the fuel lines...

Posted By: Guitar Jones

Re: Hard to push Dakota - 03/09/12 11:01 AM

My Duster with a 904 and an 8.75 with a spool was really hard to push too. The trans was fine and I had aftermarket discs on all four corners. It didn't seem to affect how it ran though, 10.50's with a 340 so I'm not sure why. The Scamp has the same rear and trans in it but it's a little easier to push but I think it's only because it's about 400 pounds lighter.

Posted By: MR_P_BODY

Re: Hard to push Dakota - 03/09/12 02:03 PM

Dis connect the drive shaft to eliminate the engine
and trans

Posted By: Challenger 1

Re: Hard to push Dakota - 03/09/12 03:02 PM

Sounds like the rear axle housing is bent.

Posted By: sixpackgut

Re: Hard to push Dakota - 03/09/12 04:58 PM

i went thru this 2 years ago at 2 different times. one was the rubber brake line from the main line to the rear was swollen solid not release fluid back out of the calipers. but you said you backed the brakes off

the second was a gaulled output shaft support, i bought a roller bearing support from CRT

Posted By: racerx

Re: Hard to push Dakota - 03/09/12 05:33 PM

So sixpack was that the reason you were having a high rolling resistance

Posted By: MRMOPAR622

Re: Hard to push Dakota - 03/09/12 05:52 PM

This may not help,but I have noticed cars with spools in them or harder to push.

Posted By: JohnRR

Re: Hard to push Dakota - 03/09/12 08:34 PM

Quote:

This may not help,but I have noticed cars with spools in them or harder to push.

Around a corner yes , in a straight line no.

Also to the op , the sprag in the trans is also part of the problem , it's easy to turn the driveshaft in one direction , the sprag is slack , the other way the sprag tightens up and it spins the geartrain in the trans . I don't remember which direction is easier than the other. Jack up the rear and grab a tire, turn one way then the other , it'll be easy one way and not in the other.

Posted By: sixpackgut

Re: Hard to push Dakota - 03/09/12 08:44 PM

Quote:

So sixpack was that the reason you were having a high rolling resistance ?

both issuses caused the same sortof problems. the brake problem i started to notice at the race track, the car would start getting slower then you would start to smell the brakes till it got so bad it wouldnt move. that was the rubber brake line problem

the next problem was the same thing, started getting slower at the track. a couple days later, went to push the car a few feet and almost lost a nut. after some trouble shooting i figured it was in the trans

Posted By: Cab_Burge

Re: Hard to push Dakota - 03/09/12 10:51 PM

Quote:

Quote:

This may not help,but I have noticed cars with spools in them or harder to push.

Around a corner yes , in a straight line no.

Also to the op , the sprag in the trans is also part of the problem , it's easy to turn the driveshaft in one direction , the sprag is slack , the other way the sprag tightens up and it spins the geartrain in the trans . I don't remember which direction is easier than the other. Jack up the rear and grab a tire, turn one way then the other , it'll be easy one way and not in the other.

Forward is easy (counter clockwise looking forward under the car)backwards (clockwise) is harder, low ratio helical cut low gear sets make it worst

Posted By: Guitar Jones

Re: Hard to push Dakota - 03/09/12 10:59 PM

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

This may not help,but I have noticed cars with spools in them or harder to push.

Around a corner yes , in a straight line no.

Also to the op , the sprag in the trans is also part of the problem , it's easy to turn the driveshaft in one direction , the sprag is slack , the other way the sprag tightens up and it spins the geartrain in the trans . I don't remember which direction is easier than the other. Jack up the rear and grab a tire, turn one way then the other , it'll be easy one way and not in the other.

Forward is easy (counter clockwise looking forward under the car)backwards (clockwise) is harder, low ratio helical cut low gear sets make it worst

Yeah, makes sense now as I had a low gear set in my 904.

Posted By: MR_P_BODY

Re: Hard to push Dakota - 03/09/12 11:03 PM

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

This may not help,but I have noticed cars with spools in them or harder to push.

Around a corner yes , in a straight line no.

Also to the op , the sprag in the trans is also part of the problem , it's easy to turn the driveshaft in one direction , the sprag is slack , the other way the sprag tightens up and it spins the geartrain in the trans . I don't remember which direction is easier than the other. Jack up the rear and grab a tire, turn one way then the other , it'll be easy one way and not in the other.

Forward is easy (counter clockwise looking forward under the car)backwards (clockwise) is harder, low ratio helical cut low gear sets make it worst

Either way it turns it gets hard to push... 1 tire
has to go farther so they are both dragging(1 is
going a longer distance and the other is trying to
go the shorter distance but they TRY to average out
so they BOTH drag)

Posted By: cgall

Re: Hard to push Dakota - 03/09/12 11:36 PM

Get your truck off the ground and check the fronts, should spin freely even with factory brakes. Pull driveshaft and check the rears. I'm with Challenger1, you may have a bent rear housing. If you are running an 8-3/4 without a back brace and have any kind of power at all, you may have tweaked it.

Posted By: Mr340

Re: Hard to push Dakota - 03/10/12 02:51 PM

Quote:

I'm with Challenger1, you may have a bent rear housing. If you are running an 8-3/4 without a back brace and have any kind of power at all, you may have tweaked it.

give me some ideas on how to check for this... can it be done with it in the car or does it have to come out?

Thanks.

Posted By: bobs69

Re: Hard to push Dakota - 03/10/12 03:16 PM

The truck went 7:02 last weekend with 1.51 sixty. When i got the truck a few weeks back it bounced really bad in the burn box. one slick was out of round i don't know how long the other owner ran it that way. Could that cause the housing to be out of shuare?

Posted By: MR_P_BODY

Re: Hard to push Dakota - 03/10/12 03:38 PM

Quote:

Quote:

I'm with Challenger1, you may have a bent rear housing. If you are running an 8-3/4 without a back brace and have any kind of power at all, you may have tweaked it.

give me some ideas on how to check for this... can it be done with it in the car or does it have to come out?

Thanks.

With the wheels off take a long straight edge and
lay it on the axle flange so the straight edge is
fore and aft... transfer that point to the ground...
do both the front and rear of the flange... do the
same thing on the other side... measure the distances
to see the difference.. thats a quick and simple way