Dakota chassis swap

[bob Scott]

Anyone done a Dakota frame under the AD truck? Tons of S10s but it seems the steering box is in a better place and the frame is stronger on the Dakota. I've driven both and the Dakota handles much better.

[bk2life]

theres a shop in az that swears by the dakota.

personally i wouldnt, because you can buy everything for an s10, and you can only get a few parts for the dakota.

and comparing handling between a dakota and s10 is like apples and bananas. there are soo many variables. did you try a typhoon or cyclone? i mean they only beat the same year corvette in handling, 1/4 mile, and if i remember right braking distance as well.. never heard of a dokota doing that...

[solidaxel]

I have a 89 Dakota front suspension added to my stock 53 chassis with a crossmsmber that I purchased from Industrial Chassis Inc. in Phoenix Az.

This is a truck suspension for a heavy truck !

I like the Dakota on my 53 better than the Mll on the 55 GMC

We recentely finished a 53 extended cab with a Scotts Hot Rod IFS and Coil Over set up and it rides very good compared to the other two, but it was much easier to install and a bit more expensive

[solidaxel]

Here are the IFS on my trucks

[mr48chev]

Wheelbase, track/treadwidth, Cost? Until scrap prices went up you could often drag a dead long wheelbase S-10 home for not much more than beer money in most parts of the country. That added a lot to their appeal for chassis swaps. That plus the aftermarket is flooded with pieces that fit the chassis and suspension. As Bk2life said in post 2 there isn't a lot of aftermarket support for the two wheel drive Dakotas. Maybe because for some reason they didn't catch on with the mini truck brigade.

I think the tread width might be a bit wider and the suspension pieces a bit beefier and that should work for a truck that gets used as a truck sometimes.

[bob Scott]

The wheel base isn't a problem since I will do all the fabricating. Pretty much all the work through out. Price is what's holding me back from the aftermarket suspension kits.
S10s and Dakotas here are anywhere from 4-5 hundred for non running. Less then a grand if you shop around for something running. Track width on the Dakota is just a bit wider then the S10.
What bk2life said about parts available makes sense for the S10. the Typhoon and Cyclone is a rare duck and would probably cost way to much but if all the hp suspension parts will fit the S10 (I'm assuming they will) then that can pretty much sway me.