[RalphP]

The black Prothanes supposedly have graphite impregnated to help reduce or eliminate the "Poly wanna Squeaker! SQUAWKsquawk!" that poly can do going down the street.

OTOH, I bought the greaseable universals to avoid that also, so ...

RwP

 

[Strategy9]

Appreciate the feedback.

I ended up buying the energy suspension universals for both front and back just because their 14mm was listed at 0.55", a truer 14mm on the product page, whereas the prothanes were listed 0.56" which is just a hair over 14mm.
Will 0.01" or a quarter of a mm make a huge difference on a 14mm sway bar? Probably not, but the tighter the better so, that was the selling point.
Went with the universals because I'd rather have a greasable bracket I know fits the bushing against the frame, rather than chance an after market bushing that might not fit the existing non greasable bracket or hug the frame properly.

If they squak, I'll just grease 'em...

Unlike some others who say they'll be back with updates and then don't, (a real pet peeve of mine), I'll come back and let everyone know how they work out once all the parts arrive and I can get everything out together.

 

[RalphP]

Mine worked out fine; have about 150,000 miles on them and keep hitting them with grease every oil and filter change.

That's four joints each side, plus when possible get the back end up and hit the U-joints.

Not an excessive amount IMO.

(And spray the control arm poly bushings with silicon spray; but I digress on that.)

Again, about 150,000 miles on them; the ball joints only have about 20,000 on them this swap.

RwP

 

[Mike J. Steffick]

Appreciate the feedback.

I ended up buying the energy suspension universals for both front and back just because their 14mm was listed at 0.55", a truer 14mm on the product page, whereas the prothanes were listed 0.56" which is just a hair over 14mm.
Will 0.01" or a quarter of a mm make a huge difference on a 14mm sway bar? Probably not, but the tighter the better so, that was the selling point.
Went with the universals because I'd rather have a greasable bracket I know fits the bushing against the frame, rather than chance an after market bushing that might not fit the existing non greasable bracket or hug the frame properly.

If they squak, I'll just grease 'em...

Unlike some others who say they'll be back with updates and then don't, (a real pet peeve of mine), I'll come back and let everyone know how they work out once all the parts arrive and I can get everything out together.

Wow, I probably missed the point of your email, but I thought my experience with my 2001 Dakota ( 4.7) was worth sharing...I will be brief, I too had the "Clunk" in the front...as the wheels dropped "into" the pothole...and I still have it..so I will continue to keep an eye on this thread...however, I did install a Helwig sway bar on the "rear" of my Dakota...and WOW..I almost couldnt beleive it..I really love it when large half tons can't take the turns with the Rockin Dakota! My suggestion is if you want a real boost in handling and a big smile to boot, Grab the Hellwig REAR and bolt that sucker on...Oh yes, the Bilsteins probably did not hurt and i put them on the same day! Peace....

 

[Strategy9]

as promised, I'm back.
I gotta say, handling has been much better. I did replace virtually the ENTIRE suspension though, even the leaf springs, so I can't just credit the bushings... Had everything ripped off, and had the bottom frame rust cleaned up and patched, and the whole thing undercoated for protection, which turned out to be a sollid investment already with all the snow on the roads already this year in PA; Only things I think I didn't replace was the actual sway bar(s), and the lower control arms, (I replaced the lower ball joints and bushings though, just not the arms, but the upper is a single connected piece though, so the uppers got replaced).
in any case, yeah, she drives around great now, like a different truck, but the sway bar bushings do tend to start squeeking, so definitely gotta keep 'em greased up or else it gets pretty annoying pretty quickly.

 

[JeremyJ]

Wow, I probably missed the point of your email, but I thought my experience with my 2001 Dakota ( 4.7) was worth sharing...I will be brief, I too had the "Clunk" in the front...as the wheels dropped "into" the pothole...and I still have it..so I will continue to keep an eye on this thread...however, I did install a Helwig sway bar on the "rear" of my Dakota...and WOW..I almost couldnt beleive it..I really love it when large half tons can't take the turns with the Rockin Dakota! My suggestion is if you want a real boost in handling and a big smile to boot, Grab the Hellwig REAR and bolt that sucker on...Oh yes, the Bilsteins probably did not hurt and i put them on the same day! Peace....

Do you have any pictures of the Hellwig bar installed? I've been looking for a rear bar upgrade and the Hellwig bar is the thickest available option. I've heard the mounting points can be an issue, but I've never seen any pictures to back that up.