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03 Dakota "The Hustler"

full bump steering. its kind of close...
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Here is the new steering.. Blue Top box already ported, Radial Dynamics 6Gpm pump, -12 feed line, -8 supply to ported and flowed hydroboost from Busted Knuckle. -8 supply to box from hydroboost, and all -10 return lines, with inline filter, cooler, and the 1 gallon reservoir.
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Headlights, obviously couldnt use my factory headlights, as tires took up that real estate. so i found these 6" bars from Diode Dynamics. they are 135* spread, with cut off lines. they are Dot/Sae compliant for driving lights (not low beams) but these are pretty damn good.
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Later that day, it was towed home.. had no gears at all. come to find out, my junkyard JK case, the range shift fork came off the range hub, and it fell into neutral. it was very worn. i am assuming it was run low on oil and the plastic pads had worn off. so time for a rebuild and 6 pinion planetaries in everything.

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Had both of my trucks out front. snapped some photos.
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Random front suspension photos while it was on the lift.
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shackle mounts that fill the holes when the tow bar is removed.
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Spare tire mount and 40MM ammo can mount. (Can is for my fluids)
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Start of our 3000 mile road trip. We left San Diego, and headed to Vegas, then Salt Lake city, then stopped in Baker City, Or. to see family.
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Did some wheeling up in the mountains of Oregon. Hood was off due to overheating issues. That wasnt the problem. Lesson learned, When you are completely done with a build, dont just block stuff off. Like the overflow nipple on your radiator. Mine was capped off, and the waterpump was sucking the lower hose flat. That sucked..
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Did have some actual problems, we were crawling through some Tank traps, and i lost all steering and brakes, and pump was howling like no other. Called Eric at Radial Dynamics and we troubleshot it. He ended up overnighting me another pump to keep my trip on track. problem ended up being my reservoir broke a baffle and it covered up my intake port.. i burnt up a pump.. but got a replacement and am good to go.
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Continued out trip, back to Salt Lake city, then Vegas, over to Flagstaff,az. We stayed there and did the Grand canyon, and Sedona. Had to get a Route 66 photo.
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Out of the blue, i started the truck, and it wouldn't move. the brakes were engaging themselves. took the hydroboost apart, and had a broken Main body o-ring. Busted Knuckle sent me a new Oring, and everything works perfect again.
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I think that is fairly up to date on where the truck is at. I drive it from time to time, haven't gotten alot of wheeling in. :( still trying to when i can.
 
Man, I'm really digging this thing! Between yours and the guy building the one with the 440 in it, I'm really starting to get motivated to find one to start building. I've always wanted to build a quad cab Dakota on one tons! Maybe one day I will. Enjoy it, can't wait to see more!
 
Mopar man, thanks. It was a fun build. Still have some things to do on it. But it's getting out there and wheeling
 
Took it out for a real trail run today. Trail was a good intermediate, and it performed well. Have a few things I need to change. But overall, happy with the way it works.
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don't have any action shots. We were running solo
 
great rig and write-up 👍 Seeing yours running and driving helps me stay motivated to get mine done - two years in and still fabbin'...

- Sam
 
great rig and write-up 👍 Seeing yours running and driving helps me stay motivated to get mine done - two years in and still fabbin'...

- Sam

Sam, I've been following your build also. You went way more into detail than i did. On a side note, I loved your old power wagon you had. Have you checked out Webwheeler on instagram or Facebook? He's building the same color Dakota on 40's also
 
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So I blew my rear case again. Verdict appears to be the wrong shift fork. The Jeep Jk stuff is different then what the aftermarket np241 is. It matched the fork that came out of it, but I think somebody must have rebuilt it with aftermarket parts before as the mopar fork looks different.
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Sam, I've been following your build also. You went way more into detail than i did. On a side note, I loved your old power wagon you had. Have you checked out Webwheeler on instagram or Facebook? He's building the same color Dakota on 40's also

thanks - yah sometimes I really miss the big beastie - maybe I'll buy it back one day...

I think the other Dakota is Jerrod's from Fullsize Invasion - yah he and I have been tradin' notes :)
 
Local shop hooked me up with a broken JK transfer case. Got all the parts I needed to rebuild mine. Back in it goes. So far everything works good. First time I've driven it in double low. 7.44:1, with a 4:1 1st gear, and 5:38 gears. 160:1 Crawl ratio is super slow.

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