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| | | | Joined: May 2002 Posts: 144 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: May 2002 Posts: 144 | Wandering around a wrecking yard I noticed a 1999 Dodge Durango. Never looked at one before. 116" wheelbase, beefy frame, several options of engines V6, V8's, Got me thinking !
Anyone ever tried a frame swap from Dodge ?
Ter | | | | | Joined: Sep 2005 Posts: 99 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Sep 2005 Posts: 99 | I've kind of been wondering the same thing for my '36. I did look at the older Dakota and I think it's the track width more than the wheelbase that will be the sticker. It did look very close though.
Bob | | | | | Joined: Jun 2005 Posts: 191 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Jun 2005 Posts: 191 | I think front track for that year on a Durango was 60.5" and rear a tad under 62" Got a hemi?  | | | | | Joined: Apr 2001 Posts: 439 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Apr 2001 Posts: 439 | That's pretty close to an AD isn't it robin?
Rear 62" and front 59.75"? | | | | | Joined: Jul 2005 Posts: 595 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Jul 2005 Posts: 595 | you can probably go to a frame shop and get a printout of the durango frame specs and download(scan) them onto the computer then download the AD frame specs and compare. maybe someone has a cad-cam to do a overlay comparison | | | | | Joined: May 2002 Posts: 144 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: May 2002 Posts: 144 | Colin:
yes, it is close to the AD ... I am a bit concerned about the S10 having a strong enough frame for the AD truck body especially with a V8 added.
Ter | | | | | Joined: May 2006 Posts: 8,351 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: May 2006 Posts: 8,351 | The S10 frame would be plenty strong, even with a V8. The S truck frame is more or less a '78 Malibu frame from the cab mount forward, so it was designed with V8 power in mind. The actual basic design actually even dates back to the original Chevelle from '64, and that basic chassis used everything from a 230 6 up to the 450 horse 454.
I can see 4 drawbacks to using the Dodge frame; 1-the engine has to be mounted approximatly 4" to the right to allow for steering shaft clearance. 2- they are a real pain in the butt to get the alignment settings correct, namely camber and caster, due partly to the upper control arm design (slip shafts) and also on the right side due to the engine offset, especially with a V8. 3- the Dakota is very bad about balljoint failure. Chrysler had a huge recall a few years back because of this. It's a poor part design. And 4-oddball wheel bolt pattern on the later models. It's a 6 lug, but it's a 4 1/2" bolt circle. Makes wheel fitment very iffy and lowers the selection. Early models use the 5x4 1/2 ford/mopar pattern.
I'm not going to say it can't be done, just giving a heads up to some of the issues with that particular frame.
Bill Burmeister
| | | | | Joined: May 2002 Posts: 144 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: May 2002 Posts: 144 | Thanks fot all the input. Not sure what I will do yet but glad to hear the endorsment for the strength of the S10 frame. There are a way more Chev parts out there than Dodge that is for sure
Thanks again everyone...
Ter | | |
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