A 94 Dakota With the 5.2. I am amazed with the performance! This thing is nuts! It already has 3 inch exhaust with a super 40 on it and its got a 2/3 inch drop. It sounds bad!I was looking at some cylinder heads for it but I was wondering What the weak points are on this truck. The transmission Doesn't really hold first that well as in once u shift out of first, it won't downshift if you floor it. Also I think it has a taller rear gear because it says im going 70 when it feels like im going 50-55. Any suggestions on getting it faster or what to do to prepare for the power i want to put into it?

Anyone? Give me something. A cam swap? Headers? Heads? Bueller?

With a drop in your ride, you now can have stree fractures in the fraim. the TRUCK is NOT a CAR. Why would you do this or buy a TRUCK that was lowered. In any case...stressfractures, less visability due to the lowering(distance) and/if law alowes you to lower that much.

A chip wount hurt. But if you have over 100,000mi on it, with all preformance stuff on there, you could blow your engine. crack the head and a bunch of other problems, like transmition for one thing. Sorry about the other stuff, but i guess i dont beleve in lowering a truck, trucks are not ment to be lowered, maybe cars in moderation. Once more, please dont take that to heart, thats just how i am. But the facts are true about stress fractures and trans.

im not against adding performance to a dakota but i do have a problom with lowering a truck because well its a truck id like to have a truck that can still have good performance but will also be able to do other things lowering the truck may look better but its only restricting the trucks capabilities o ya and it will probally limit your chance to re sell it also because when people look for a older truck its probally gonna be bought to be used as a work horse on a farm or to go off roadin with it probally 2 things that lower dakota cant do

With a drop in your ride, you now can have stree fractures in the fraim. the TRUCK is NOT a CAR. Why would you do this or buy a TRUCK that was lowered. In any case...stressfractures, less visability due to the lowering(distance) and/if law alowes you to lower that much.

A chip wount hurt. But if you have over 100,000mi on it, with all preformance stuff on there, you could blow your engine. crack the head and a bunch of other problems, like transmition for one thing. Sorry about the other stuff, but i guess i dont beleve in lowering a truck, trucks are not ment to be lowered, maybe cars in moderation. Once more, please dont take that to heart, thats just how i am. But the facts are true about stress fractures and trans.
You know, I've always been against lowered trucks too. But now that I own one, I guess I have a different outlook. I still don't like trucks that are scraping on the ground (or cars for that matter). But I'm a firm believer that most 2wd vehicles (cars & trucks) look best dropped a couple inches. Here's a 2/3 drop on my R/T:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v730/bad360rt/Hotchkisbeforeandafter.jpg

Now this isn't just a shackle/block drop, this is a full Hotchkis suspension. So not only does it lower the truck for looks, it improves handling. Lowering the center of gravity of any vehicle will improve handling, but the Hotchkis kit also has larger sway bars and stiffer springs/leafs for better handling. I don't know how familiar you are with Dakotas, but they have a full box frame, I've never heard of stress fractures on a Dakota frame.

As far as blowing an engine/trans, you can do that in any vehicle that you modify, that's a risk you take. I'm on my second shortblock and I had to put in a built trans after killing the stock trans, but I'm also making almost 600hp at the wheels, so I'm gonna break a few parts now and then ;) Personally, I love having a fast truck, cause there's nothing like the look on the face of a sports car owner when they get waxed by a truck :iceslolan

To the OP, there's tons of things you can do to your truck to go faster, check out www.dakota-durango.com for more info, tons of Dakota enthusiasts there that can help you out.

I have seen stress feractures on truck fraims before. You are correct when you stated that lowered cars/trucks handle better when lowered, but with a small wing, not the big a** wings that people put on there honda's, the wing can also inprove the handeling as well. If you lower a truck, dont go more then an inch or so. You do get a better ride with a car not 1 inch off the ground, unless you like driving a go kart(feel). its what you like though. Everything has its pros and cons to it. more power-more things will break quicker, less power-less exciting when you press the gas.

dude bad360rt

how much it cost u to get your truck lowered, and how much was the hood, and mesh grill???

I have seen stress feractures on truck fraims before. You are correct when you stated that lowered cars/trucks handle better when lowered, but with a small wing, not the big a** wings that people put on there honda's, the wing can also inprove the handeling as well. If you lower a truck, dont go more then an inch or so. You do get a better ride with a car not 1 inch off the ground, unless you like driving a go kart(feel). its what you like though. Everything has its pros and cons to it. more power-more things will break quicker, less power-less exciting when you press the gas.
On Dodge Dakota frames??? I've been around Dakotas for about 8 years and have never heard of a single frame with cracks in it from being lowered, and almost everyone I know with an R/T is lowered. We're not talking about being 1 inch off the ground, a 2/3 drop will give a Dakota the stance you see in the picture above, that is hardly slammed, but definitely lower than stock. Yes, if you're making more power you run the chance of breaking stuff, that's how it works, gotta pay to play :iceslolan

dude bad360rt

how much it cost u to get your truck lowered, and how much was the hood, and mesh grill???
The Hotchkis TVS for the Dakota costs around $7-800, that's without shocks, the Hotchkis tuned Bilsteins are pretty nice, but cost about another $350 or so. I'm running 12 way adjustable HAL QA1 drag shocks. The hood was $350, but it's being made by a different company now, so I'm not sure how much they're charging for it. The Street Scene grill inserts were around $160 if I remember correctly, it's been a while since I bought 'em, so prices have probably gone up.