i'm new to this - have an 02 dakota, great shape that i would like to begin mildly customizing with new grill, door handles and perhaps a rear roll pan as well as lowering it a bit.  in my day, we used lowering blocks on the rear of our 50 fords and drove that way, sometimes we even put new shocks on!

in my reading, i've learned that you can use lowering blocks on the rear, new shackles on the rear, dropped spindles and/or lowering coils on the front.

this is a daily driver that we use for hauling garden stuff, small furniture to the kids and the like.

what system of lowering will affect my great ride and alignment geometry the least?  

It depends on how much you are looking to lower your truck. If your only looking to fill some of the wheel well a drop spindle in the front and a block in the back would suffice. This way you will retain your factory ride and not have to go and align the truck. If you are looking to go lower you can move up to a coil spring along with a spindle. This will give you a little stiffer ride and close the most the entire gap in the wheel wells. Check out the December issue of Sport Truck and look up the Dakota Downs tech article, it should help in making your decision. - Galen  

check out the beltech kit... that is probably your best bet

stillen.com  

We used the Ground Force kit on my Dakota in the December issue. It handles amazing now compared to stock, yet the ride is quite firm at times... it is a performance minded drop though so the firm ride is to be expected. As for looks though, the truck looks killer with 20" rims filling out the wheel wells. - Andy