axle swap

Date 04-06-2012 04:24

Took a 9" axle and put it in a Dodge Dakota today. Had to swap the axle spring mounts from the top to the bottom, so the stock springs would go under the axle instead over it. Had the truck in gear spinning the wheels so's I wouldn't gauld the axle inside the housing as I threw an LH pass on both sides of the mounts.

Now I have a 4 banger -good on gas- putt around........for a hundred bucks and some elbow grease.

First time I ever had to do that, and thought it was worthy of posting.

By Chris2626 (***)

Date 04-06-2012 23:17

pictures

By Sourdough (****)

Date 04-07-2012 02:21

Well, I'm already done. It looks like your average Dodge Dakota still. When I first put the axle underneath, it looked like a rat rod with the tail end sticking up in the air and the nose to the ground. I actually drove it around town like that just for grins. I didn't realize at first that the axle I had was off a 4 wheel drive truck.

Anyway, no pictures would show you anything but an average truck.

By Tommyjoking (****)

Date 04-08-2012 03:47

Ingenuity and elbow grease are the parents of turning nothing into something! For some strange reason that is way more satisfying then throwing money at a problem.

By Sourdough (****)

Date 04-08-2012 05:34

Well, the truck cost me a grand total of 200 bucks after it drove down the road Tommy.

I think when my neighbor told me it would be more trouble than the truck was worth, that's when I gave him the cash for the truck and decided that it was well worth it.....to make him understand that I wasn't a slouch when it came to stuff like that.

Glad I did it. It was a piece of cake, and now I have a good dependable little grocery getter that I can turn around and sell for a couple grand when the time is right.

Why not, right?

By Tommyjoking (****)

Date 04-08-2012 18:24

EXACTLY.
Back when I could gather more free time...I would pop on unfixables etc. at the right price. Make em good, drive it for a while then sell for a profit. I enjoyed the challenge of getting something for practically nothing, spending practically nothing and having something worthwhile at the end. I would really like to rescue field anchors from the 40's-50's and do some bottom up but I avoid it now because I know the kinda time it would take...maybe when I see retirement, whatever that is.