PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

That’s a nice house, but I can’t help to think “that’s going to be fun to pressure wash”.
That thing is tall. I have an 18’ telescopic wand. But that look much higher.
I’m guessing rent some scaffolding mor something?

 

No idea; $700K-$800K? It was sold before they broke ground!

 

Why is he roasting my dad over a truck he owned almost 30 years ago and for only a year...?

 

@6 gearT444E

I always thought the 1987-1990 and 1991-1996 Dodge Dakotas were good looking trucks; However, I'm guessing there's a reason they don't have a particularly remarkable survival rate? When we lived in Northern Virginia from 2002 to 2005, one of our neighbors had 1993 Dakota LE extended cab 4x4, and he would plow the roads in the neighborhood with it purely out of the goodness of his heart. It was burgundy and gold two-tone and was in good condition for being a 10-year old vehicle in the Northeast; Imagine my shock when I saw him plowing for the first time after moving there back in the winter of 2002-2003, stopped him to ask if it had the V8, and was shocked when he told me it had the V6!

My uncle had a black 1993 Dakota Sport regular cab 2WD that he special ordered; He got it with every available option including A/C, power windows and locks, cruise, tilt, etc. He paid cash for it too (My uncle is loaded and I don't think he's ever financed a vehicle, new or used), and he opted for the 3.9L V6 (which made an impressive-for-the-time 180hp), 5-speed manual, and 3.42 "trac-loc" rear diff; That truck hauled ass according to my uncle, but the same engine with an automatic in my neighbor's truck with a larger cab and 4WD, plus a snow plow on the front?!?! I can only imagine...

 

My dad had a 1993 S10 Blazer after the 1992 Dakota, and one time during a snowstorm we were out on a grocery run; I was like 5 or 6, and imagine my shock when I saw an S-10 Blazer roughly the same year as my dad's (newer than 1990 at a minimum based on front grille) with a snowplow on the front! I pointed it out to my dad and told him he should put a plow on the Blazer instead shoveling the driveway and using the dinky 1-stage snowblower we had at the time; He said it would be easier but then went into a long a explanation about how plowing snow is really hard on an engine.

My friend Tyler has owned numerous full-size pickups and once told me never to put a plow on a daily driver...

And to that end, I must say that almost all of trucks I see with plows are 3/4-ton with a small block V8 at a minimum; With the obvious exception of Cummins Rams, most of the plow trucks I see have V8s.

For residential use, I feel that something smaller with less than 8 cylinders would be fine, however...

 

I am not a Dakota fan, lol.

 

Same, awful vehicles, even the rare droptop ones that are rare as hens teeth are still lame.

I'm not even a fan of the states TBH, especially North

 

The survival rate is directly proportional to the quality of the engineering and design, hence why you don't see slim to none on the road to this day.

 

My Ex GF's Son bought one after I strongly warned him not to, naturally it was a steaming pile of shit.

 

My buddy had one in HS it was the "extended cab" or whatever dodge called their version of that. His dad had handed it down to him as the first vehicle. We used to call it the blue bomber

 

What about the absolute winner of shitbox engine of the century... the 3.9L magnum V6. Contender for worst balanced lowest output shitbox pushrod engine made. They took a crappy old magnum/LA smallblock and lopped two cyls off without making a splitpin crank, they just changed firing order and said "that'll do"

 

LOL, that's what was in his.

 

Yeah, but that piece of shit had a salvage title, a bent frame, and a poorly maintained engine; I met a guy recently who had a 1999 Dakota 3.9L with 211K miles and it had the original clutch; I think pretty much any engine will last if you take care of it, and I think the 318 Dakotas were good...

No MOPAR truck that doesn't have a Cummins in it can hold a candle to my Tacoma in terms of pure longevity though!

 

Wrong. Dodge engines just weren't built to the tight tolderances and standards. If excessive blowby, oil consumption, and poor fuel mileage are your desires, pick up a used dodge/Chrysler!

 

@6 gearT444E

I always have been and always will be a firm believer in the "if you maintain it properly, it will last" philosophy; Case I'm in point...

My gym's receptionist's husband is in sales and had a 2002 Chevy Malibu that he bought brand new; This wasn't a poverty-spec rental special either. It was loaded; It had the CD/cassette, sunroof, power everything, and alloy wheels, among other things. Her husband drove A LOT, and by 2012 the Malibu had a staggering 341K miles on it! It was at that point that the head gasket blew and the engine (3.1L V6) seized; The car was in mint condition otherwise, but at that point it was 10 years old and they deemed it more economically feasible to sell it and buy a new vehicle.

 

that works most of the time, but when you start out with a shit design, maintaining it doesn't help increase the reliability. Lipstick on a pig you know. I've learned a few things over the years, mostly the hard way. Sounds like you will too.

 

Now the 2.7L V6s used in Intrepids, Stratuses, Chargers, and even Chrysler 300s were garbage; They'd starve themselves of oil and fail prematurely, and the scumbag Chrysler corporation went out of its way to avoid taking responsibility. Unless you could show proof that the oil was changed every 3,000 or 5,000 miles or whatever, and that all routine maintenance was performed at a dealer, you were screwed!

My dad had his 1992 Dakota for barely a year and like 10,000 miles, which isn't enough time for anything to go wrong unless the vehicle is a lemon; He has never owned a MOPAR product since then, owning a a Chevy, a Nissan, a Mazda, two Nissans, two GMCs, three Hondas, a Mercedes, a BMW, and an Acura since 1992...

 

And you do agree that Cummins is good, right? My friend Dave is a lifelong Ford guy and says that the only problem with Cummins is that they leave the factory in Dodge pickups...

 

Cummins are great engines, put in a dodge is the only reason I'd buy a dodge. The killer dowel pin is the only things that can cause you a problem with them, especially the old 12 valves. They'll run longer than you and I will exist on this planet, but you must remember dodge didn't build that engine they just put it in their vehicles. If you really want an awesome truck google search you a Fummins, with a ZF-6!

 

@6 gearT444E

Why was that 1999 Dakota I saw at the cars and coffee earlier this month so flawless? I believe he said the truck burned a tiny bit of oil, but was otherwise fine. He'd bought it new, and honestly if you think about it 211K is below average miles for any 1999 vehicle that has been driven regularly; The owner also said he had it painted at one point due to clear coat issues...