My Dodge Dakota, the "Comvee"

[Nick02]

So next came the the steering gearbox.
I used a gearbox from a 1979 F250, it is ideal because of its long sector shaft, flat mounting plate and internal frame sector for tire clearance.
The ford steering gearboxes are also known for strength and durability.
I started marking holes for it!

Sleeved the sucker.

Then I plated both sides of the frame with 1/4" plates I trimmed to fit, I have seen way to many cracked frames on the internet and want it to be strong! So here I am bending one of the plates on the CNC press brake.

Burned that in! on both sides!

Then I made a simple adapter to convert the Dodge Dakota rack and pinion input to the Ford input.

 

[blkjak]

blkjak was here .... hi nick .... :ylsmoke:

 

[Nick02]

After the box was mounted I had to make a custom pitman arm, a regular arm would hit the frame and I wanted to set my own throw/moment for the dana 44.
So I used the waterjet to cut the splines out of the forged factory Ford arm.

I then sleeved it inside a thick piece of DOM and clocked it to the correct position and welded it in!

And then made/boxed the entire assembly double shear for strength and durability.

I then drilled out the knuckes for heims

and made them all double shear for good measure, pre/post heated and plug welded everywhere! I like this location as to keep my factory ackerman angles for my intended wheelbase of 135"

Plated the known areas to crack on the Ford knuckles too!

 

[chilliwak]

Some nice looking fabrication. That crossmember looks strong enough to hold a Cummins!:Wow1:

 

[my1stcummins]

Those are some sweet CO's you got there. Are you going to beef-up the A-arms? Any weak points in the front end?

 

[turbolab]

he's going solid axle and 4x4

 

[Steinbruchsoldat]

Great work you did there...

 

[Nick02]

steering parts finished.

 

[blkjak]

looking good "nick" .... old friend "blkjak".:elkgrin:

 

[alexfm]

on all fours, suspension seems firm so I need to mess with the CO's a bit, and need to charge em. Had it up to 40 no issuies

Im diggin the Prerunner lean you got goin on there.

 

[turbolab]

what size tire u gonna run? it looks like u built it for 44's jugging by the hight and knuckles.

 

[Nick02]

37's Bl is coming off, rear is still at factory 2wd ride height, SOA should put it 6" taller to match the front and it would be 3-4" taller then a regular 4x4 dakota.

 

[JamesDowning]

Quite an in-depth build you've got going on there! I can't believe I haven't checked this thread out before. Everything's looking quite impressive!

 

[Nick02]

Lastly I had to make a transmission adapter to convert the Grand Cherocar 545RFE 4x4 transmission adapter to work in my application, it used an XJ bushing for future replacement.
Built from scratch, lots of room for the socket to get into the bolts!

Then out came the plasma cutter!

And out came the old 2wd coil pockets!

I plated all sides of the frame with sections of 3/16" mild steel, welded and plugged, I kept the cutout in the frame for the pitman arm and steering clearance.

 

[Nick02]

I then burned in the frameside link mounts (plated with 1/4 of course) and placed the axle under the frame.

I then burned in the panhard!

I got clever packaging the panhard around the axle. I wanted the panhard to clear the axle at full bump and leave room for the steering, it is a unique setup! The panhard was insanely hard to bend, it is 1/4" thick DOM!

Then came the coil towers, I made them from scratch too! cut from 1/4" plate and tested the bending ability of the press brake, tripple gusseted onto the new front frame I built.