Installing a Rear Airbag Suspension Kit on a '97-'04 Dodge Dakota - Draggin' Dakota

3b. Also note that there is plenty of room around the airbag throughout its range of motion.

Part Two: Under The Truck
1a. The Street Scraper rear suspension is beefy. The parts are laser-cut from 1/4-inch plate like the front 'bag mounts, and the rear link bars are once again made from 1.5x0.120-wall DOM tubing. Note that the upper bars are triangulated to locate the rear axle from side to side and that they are shorter than the lower bars. This has good and not-so-good points. The good here is that the shorter upper bars allow you to retain your factory fuel tank, and that saves money. You won't need to go through the hassle and expense of installing a fuel cell to have a radically lowered truck. But, like most suspensions designed to lay a truck on the ground, there is a compromise between performance and practicality. The short upper/long lower bar configuration means that as the axle moves up and down the pinion angle will change. It's not the end of the world though, and unless you are into autocrossing, road racing, or drag racing, the only time you'll ever notice is when the truck is laid on the ground and the wheels are perched a bit farther forward in the wheelwell than normal.

2a. Here's is a look at how much of the bed floor will have to be removed in order to fit the new bridge notch. The two photos show the suspension at full lift and full drop. Because this truck is equipped with 16-inch wheels and 60-series tires, the overall diameter of the tire is around 26 inches, which is why the airbags are not fully compressed when the truck is laid on the ground. There's plenty of suspension travel and axle clearance left to stuff even larger-diameter rollers back there.

3. Chassis Tech chose to stagger the shocks on each side of the rear axle like many OEM truck manufacturers do. This minimizes axlewrap, and a side benefit is that it will help reduce wheelhop when you crazies do burnouts!

4. And most importantly, here's how good your Dakota will look when the air is out of the 'bags. Laid out flat or with the bumper draggin' on the ground, it looks mean.