2001 Dodge Dakota Static Drop - Dakota Down

1. Because we were changing the front coils and the shock runs right up the middle, they had to come out. A 15mm up top and a 10mm on the bottom were needed to remove the hardware. A 21mm socket was used to remove the tie rod ends, and a 16mm was used for the sway bar endlinks.

2a. With the shocks out of the way, Ruben removed the cotter pin from the lower ball joint castle nut and loosened the nut with a 24mm socket

2b. He left the nut on the threads and hit the spindle a few times with a hammer. This should pop the ball joint free. If not, you'll need a pickle fork or something to drive in between the spindle and the control arm.

3. Once the ball joint let go, Ruben used an under-hoist safety stand to re-collapse the spring and safely remove the nut. By slowly lowering the stand, the arm drops down far enough to remove the factory coil. If you are working on a set of normal jackstands, then a regular jack can be used. Because HighRoller has lifts, these under-hoist stands are used.

4. After transferring the factory rubber isolator that rests on the top of the spring, he installed the new Ground Force unit. Ruben made sure to clock the spring so it would index in the frame pocket properly.

5. Using the same stand, the lower arm was raised up enough to thread on the lower ball joint nut. After tightening down the nut, he installed a new cotter pin, which is included with the Ground Force kit.

6. The new shock came assembled for our application. We didn't even have to install the crossbar in the lower shock mount. The shock slid right into place with no need to trim the lower arm.

7. Once the new components were in, Ruben went around and reinstalled all the other stuff, such as the tie rod ends and the sway bar endlinks. That completed the work needed to the front, at least until the alignment portion of the job.