My new to me 2002 dakota

[strider3700]

My old 96 4dr sidekick was really starting to show it's age. Rust, oil leaks, burning a bit of oil, occasionally seemed to be losing coolant, brakes basically gone, electrical gremlins in the lights, and a hub needing rebuilt since it would no longer lock. I sat down and though about dropping 3-5,000 into fixing her up but realized that my family had also outgrown her. So a couple of months ago I started my hunt for a replacement not really knowing what I wanted other then the ability to fit myself, wife and 2-3 children in various baby seats plus all of the associated crap involved with a family of that size. To avoid ending up in a minivan I also wanted 4 wheel drive, and the ability to tow a small trailer and or have a bed to haul things in. I also had a modest budget hoping to avoid something as old or older then my current truck or something with way too many miles.

Anyways I started off looking for a larger suv such as 4runners and landcruisers but they quickly become too expensive for anything not already ancient. Same for pathfinders. Durango's seemed common enough around here but they didn't really do it for me. I also noticed that as I found vehicles large enough to meet my needs I was rapidly getting into the mileage and price range of fullsize pickups. So I then thought why not just get a crewcab pickup. Well it didn't take long to realize they are very popular around here and that is keeping prices up. So the few that I found that I could afford were too tired to consider. Then today I got a call from one of the dozen or so salespeople that I had harassed over the last few months. He had just received a 2002 dodge dakota quad cab in a trade. 5 spd, 4.7L, AC that was cold, power everything matching canopy. It seemed in really good shape, and after a bit of negotiating it's coming home. They need to replace the tires with a new set of bfg AT's and clean it up before I pick it up wednesday. If I remember I'll take some plain jane stock photo's when it's in my driveway. Yes I would have preferred a tacoma. I didn't find a single one that wasn't twice the cost and well outside of my price range.

I have big plans for it starting with digging out the tent and fishing rods and going camping for the first time in 3 years. after that maybe I'll haul those branches to the dump. More seriously there doesn't seem to be much love for the dakota's. Lift's seem to be ultra rare and most things seem to be custom. I see a couple of builds on here but does anyone know of any dakota specific forums?

 

[riverrat88]

Try dakotausa.com and dakota-durango.com there will be areas for dakotas on most of the dodge forums. Its hard to find anything really useful for offroad use but every once and a while you can find something. You should be able to fit 265s stock and 285s with a torsion bar crank and slight trimming, the side lugs still hit the frame at full lock on mine though

 

[hikingff77]

I have an '04 Dakota and although I would have rather had a same year double cab Tacoma or Tundra I wasn't coughing up the dough to get one. I'm not disappointed in it, after a few fixes that is. I bought it used with 20k on the ticker. It's a 6, not 8 and it's got plenty of power for most everyday driving. I wish it had a better, more reliable 8 in it, but it's not worth it right now. It's exactly like yours, sans motor, quad cab, matching cap. The cap has the Yakima bars on it and it's carpeted inside, which can be removed. It does have one huge advantage to me over a Taco, way more interior space width wise. I felt like I was always siting right next to my passenger when I had my Taco. Front legroom is ok, but different seating arrangement so not quite the same.

There's a gentleman on here with the Disabled Explorers group and he's got a freaking awesome Dak. I don't know his name off the top of my head but you should check it out if you see it. Sweet.

I never got to mud in it or really do deep snow or anything but when we did have our one good 9" snow last year and I had to navigate through unplowed back country roads it did awesomely. I used it once on a road trip around here, PA, to explore some forest roads and went to go up an incline which apparently was too much for 4HI, so I threw it into 4Lo, the thing seriously impressed me. It was a tank, pulled right up as effortlessly as anything.

I replaced all four shocked, tires, steering rack and something called the Lower Intermediate shaft. This all but made the ride perfect, considering I was bouncing all over the road when hitting manhole covers, but I still need to get to the ball joints.

I would like to build a drawer system in the back, cranking the torsion bars would be so nice but I don't think I'd increase tires from the 270's on there now, front bumper, rear bumper/tire that swings out would be awesome and a roof basket.

That's it. HAHA.

Wife will never go for it...

Oh and a Hemi swap.

Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[805gregg]

I have an '04 Dakota and although I would have rather had a same year double cab Tacoma or Tundra I wasn't coughing up the dough to get one. It does have one huge advantage to me over a Taco, way more interior space width wise.

And 4 wheel disc brakes. I had a '93 Dakota with a 318 V8. That truck was fast, and it had disc brakes in the rear, Toyota Taco still doesn't in 2009. So much for Toy quality.

 

[strider3700]

Well no new truck for me. The dealership Parksville Chrysler did a bunch of work to the truck today and put the new tires on like we agreed to but then tried to jam $1600 worth of additional paperwork fees and taxes on at the end. Apparently there was a misunderstanding when we said we'd give them X amount in cash and my truck and drive it off the lot. The misunderstanding was in thinking that I'd actually agree to being ****ed. ]

So the truck hunt continues. Not a lot out there that will hold 3 baby seats 2 adults and have space for cargo left over unless I look at full size trucks, and they need to be pretty old to fit my budget

 

[BlueBomber]

Well no new truck for me. The dealership Parksville Chrysler did a bunch of work to the truck today and put the new tires on like we agreed to but then tried to jam $1600 worth of additional paperwork fees and taxes on at the end. Apparently there was a misunderstanding when we said we'd give them X amount in cash and my truck and drive it off the lot. The misunderstanding was in thinking that I'd actually agree to being ****ed. ]

So the truck hunt continues. Not a lot out there that will hold 3 baby seats 2 adults and have space for cargo left over unless I look at full size trucks, and they need to be pretty old to fit my budget

maybe thats not a bad thing. My friend is a Mopar guy and still hates his dakota. he had to put about $1000 in the motor (bad heads and some other stuff) about 4 months after he got it. good luck with your search!

 

[inked33]

sorry you didnt get the truck, but sometimes it can turn out to be a good thing. im sure once you find your new truck whatever it will be youll be glad this one didnt work out

 

[strider3700]

Well since used car dealers have been fitting their stereotype exactly I spent my afternoon putting new rotors and pads on the sidekick. Over the next few days I'll grind, bondo, primter and paint the rust (it's not fatal but is popping up all over the rocker panels) just to make it look a little better. Need to bleed the brakes and get an alignment then maybe look into fixing the headlight switch to get the highbeams back.

After she's as shipshape as I can realistically make her It will be a private sale and I'll be buying privately. I just want her safe and in reasonable shape before I sell. I'm not trying to screw anyone with a lemon.

I figure there is no need to feed some middle man car dealer. Besides today a 92 80 series land cruiser for $5000 popped up on my search (no km listed) and I see a 96 lx450 for $9600 (185,000 miles typo or import?) I wonder how hard it would be to swap the hdj-81 diesel into oh say the 92. There is a bunch of the japanese import diesel cruisers running around but I really don't want the RHD