The forgotten dakota

First vehicle I ever owned myself was a '99 Dodge Dakota that I bought off of a shady used car lot at 18 years old. Thing was the biggest POS there ever was, yet I was too dumb and naive at the time to realize what a mistake I was making. For some reason, they thought it would be a good idea to put the 2.4l 4cyl motor in that thing, and it wouldn't even go up the hill to get to my neighborhood unless I gave it a running start. God forbid I had to stop for any reason, I'd have to roll back and turn around to attempt to go up again. Worst truck ever, lol.

That said, I always loved the styling of the Dakotas and I'm sure the 5.9l R/T version was a beast of a machine.

 

Love the Grand Am in the background! My dad had one when I first started driving. I thought that car was the s$!t.
He also had a 1988 Chevy cavalier Z model with a 5 speed that was bad ass (we wrapped it around a telephone pole, and I spent 3 days in the hospital with a broken sternum when I was 15). I loved that car too.

 

Also curious of the shortcomings of them? 2000-2004 had the nicest interiors, WAY nicer than my tacoma is, they had 1/2 and light 3/4 ton drivetrains, easily modded etc..


Not stirring pot just curious of what the deal is.

 

That 2001 was a piece of shit. Rode nice that pretty much sums it up with the positives

And ouch.

 

Hydroplaned down a hill doing about 45. Nothing he could do. Yeah it sucked for a while.

 

Keyword: out here.

Sorry I offended you or your truck. I just do not care for them and have never known anybody with one that was worth a shit. I'm sure there are a few out there that aren't total pieces of shit.

 

Judging by the horrible sales, I'd say Im not alone

 

Thats an old pic, was my dads work car. Couple years back waterpump went out and was well over a grand

Nah no offense taken. I'm just curious. I just like mid size V8 s. Short of building one it was right on then I got hooked

 

Fairly comparable to Tacoma sales based on Wikipedia which is mediocre at best. Lmao how Dakota drop from 05 on when they changed engines and bodies.

 

I had a 2001 4wd with the 4.7...loved the truck no problems but the pulley tensioner went and shredded the belt. Got rid of it because it started to rot on the fenders out of nowhere...and I hate body rust.
But as far as mid-sized trucks go here in NE Ohio I see more Dakota's and S10's than any other midsize.
It rode like a railroad boxcar with the torsion bars cranked up.

 

My FIL as an '03 SLT extra cab, 4x2, 3.9L. It's had some electrical issues and failed A/C system...that were repaired. Numerous CILs over the years.

Rides like a wooden wheel'd potato wagon and the 3.9 is gutless. But it runs pretty good to be 14+ years old and over 100K on it

 

Tacoma:

Dakota:



Sales dropped like a rock until it was discontinued.

 

I get that.

The 3.7 which sucked was introduced in late 03-2004 and body change in 2005. Like I said before it is fairly comparable to that point. Let's not forget the not so great 4.7 either.

 

The 4.7 wasn't bad at all. Having owned one it would run circles around the 4.0l I have now.

 

I had a Jeep GC with the 4.7 and I actually liked that motor. It got shit for mpg, but it was an animal off-road.

Not sure if they were the same exact 4.7's though.

 

They had different variations of the 4.7...the Jeep had different intake manifolds and throttle body's...Thay had like 20 more hp or so from what I can remember.

 

First brand new vehicle I ever bought was a 2wd Dakota. It was a base V6, couldn't afford the R/T. Never had any problems with it. I was really big into street trucks back then. I installed an intake, 17 billet wheels, 2/4 drop, upgraded the stereo. Had it for about 3 years and then I traded it in on my first Tacoma.

 

Yep the ho. Which was around for a few years. Then all manifolds became HO or just all the same without the Ho markings anymore

 

Until it spits a rocker arm or drops a valve seat. The 4.7 was a trash engine that was always one step away from death if mistreated

 

aluminum heads and cast iron block, a little heat and pop goes the head gasket... I rebuilt it once and it popped again so I tossed the 4.7... but when it was running it was a beast...