kavisiegel
New member
Hi everyone! My first post here, but I've been thinking of this post for months.
In 2008, I was in school and fell in love with a 2000 Dodge Dakota. Thankfully I wasn't such a tasteless teen, and I didn't do anything I regret. Phew! But the thing has been sitting since 2013 at this point and it's time to get it back together for an adventure that I've always dreamed of. I'd really appreciate if you guys could help me figure out what's worth it or not on the project, as well as suggest what I haven't thought of yet. I'm overwhelmed by all the information on this site and everyone's varying style. (Scroll down for some select photos, if you're interested!)
Now, a bit about what I think I'm expecting when I built this out. I've never gone overlanding, but I'm a frequent roadtripper. Hopefully there's some overlap in knowledge! I've driven every state east of the Mississippi and a few west, every Canadian province and Alaska. I really would like to take my mountain bike and kayak with me. I'm totally fine with camping down to about 40 degrees. I love taking night photos with no lights in them at all. I love middle of nowheres, I can see myself exploring logging lands in Northern Canada and the nowhere destinations of the midwest. I'll probably end up in a city or three while I'm at it. It's going to be at max 2 people and a dog, more likely one person and a dog. It'd be cool to install a satellite on it at some point and work from the woods. (I write software)
Currently I have the parts to:
- Replace the rusted out door
- Install a sunroof
- Install tubular stainless steel side steps (matches the front chrome)
I need to:
- Repair or replace my transfer case (At least one sheared pin/ground gear or something)
I probably should:
- Replace the *** end, currently having an 8" diff and drum brakes.. easy swap for a 9 1/4" diff and disc brakes, plus a change the gearing
- Make some skid plates
- Get a winch and have front/rear hitch mounting for it.
- Upgrade the brake booster or look into a hydraulic boosters
- Cut off some remaining body rust totally and weld in patches before paint. LineX dealer says slight surface variance is perfectly fine.
- Weld on 3" strips around bottom of truck bed to prevent from
- Install some suspension bump stops
- Bring some tools with me
I'm considering
- Under the bed aux fuel tank
- Painting the entire body with LineX. Slightly more than a good paint job, and I can drive through whatever brush I want to, plus the LineX shop says this will 100% seal off the sunroof.
- I might sand off most of the bondo already on the thing. Not a fan of the body shop that did it.
- Cut off pinch welds with rust potential and run a weld down the length of them before LineX
- Cutting and welding the *** end of the frame to accommodate a spare tire and add on a hitch
- Custom welding the frame or having custom rear springs made to get rid of the lift blocks
- Buying a cap to allow me to run roof racks for my kayak and keep my gear dry. Or making a cap out of a durango.
- I'm a fan of the stainless bed rails, I'm considering installing some, reinforcing them and using them with some nylon strapping to make a sleeping platform, plus using them to attach a customized cap.
- Replacing the 3.9 v6 with a 5.7 hemi. Others are reporting 24+ mpg, which is 6mpg more than the 3.9 makes. Plus the v8 sounds better and is more reliable.
- Stripping it down and galvanizing the frame + other suspension components. Since I would have done some welding on it and I hate rust and paint
- I'm building an electric full suspension mountain bike, I'm excited to hook it up so it charges off the truck between stops so I can use it for smaller trails
I'm not sure if I need or should look into
- CB Radio?
- Rooftop Solar?
- Lighting?
I want to learn my off-roading limits with the truck, I don't want to push them, I'm not building a rock crawler. Did I mention it's independent front suspension? I guess that deducts from the ability
First day home:
First project, rust remediation. POR15 and plenty of wire wheeling:
Second project, 3" body lift:
Then onto the 3" suspension lift:
Then the 33" tires came
And after some body work, this is where she sits now, waiting for paint
In 2008, I was in school and fell in love with a 2000 Dodge Dakota. Thankfully I wasn't such a tasteless teen, and I didn't do anything I regret. Phew! But the thing has been sitting since 2013 at this point and it's time to get it back together for an adventure that I've always dreamed of. I'd really appreciate if you guys could help me figure out what's worth it or not on the project, as well as suggest what I haven't thought of yet. I'm overwhelmed by all the information on this site and everyone's varying style. (Scroll down for some select photos, if you're interested!)
Now, a bit about what I think I'm expecting when I built this out. I've never gone overlanding, but I'm a frequent roadtripper. Hopefully there's some overlap in knowledge! I've driven every state east of the Mississippi and a few west, every Canadian province and Alaska. I really would like to take my mountain bike and kayak with me. I'm totally fine with camping down to about 40 degrees. I love taking night photos with no lights in them at all. I love middle of nowheres, I can see myself exploring logging lands in Northern Canada and the nowhere destinations of the midwest. I'll probably end up in a city or three while I'm at it. It's going to be at max 2 people and a dog, more likely one person and a dog. It'd be cool to install a satellite on it at some point and work from the woods. (I write software)
Currently I have the parts to:
- Replace the rusted out door
- Install a sunroof
- Install tubular stainless steel side steps (matches the front chrome)
I need to:
- Repair or replace my transfer case (At least one sheared pin/ground gear or something)
I probably should:
- Replace the *** end, currently having an 8" diff and drum brakes.. easy swap for a 9 1/4" diff and disc brakes, plus a change the gearing
- Make some skid plates
- Get a winch and have front/rear hitch mounting for it.
- Upgrade the brake booster or look into a hydraulic boosters
- Cut off some remaining body rust totally and weld in patches before paint. LineX dealer says slight surface variance is perfectly fine.
- Weld on 3" strips around bottom of truck bed to prevent from
- Install some suspension bump stops
- Bring some tools with me
I'm considering
- Under the bed aux fuel tank
- Painting the entire body with LineX. Slightly more than a good paint job, and I can drive through whatever brush I want to, plus the LineX shop says this will 100% seal off the sunroof.
- I might sand off most of the bondo already on the thing. Not a fan of the body shop that did it.
- Cut off pinch welds with rust potential and run a weld down the length of them before LineX
- Cutting and welding the *** end of the frame to accommodate a spare tire and add on a hitch
- Custom welding the frame or having custom rear springs made to get rid of the lift blocks
- Buying a cap to allow me to run roof racks for my kayak and keep my gear dry. Or making a cap out of a durango.
- I'm a fan of the stainless bed rails, I'm considering installing some, reinforcing them and using them with some nylon strapping to make a sleeping platform, plus using them to attach a customized cap.
- Replacing the 3.9 v6 with a 5.7 hemi. Others are reporting 24+ mpg, which is 6mpg more than the 3.9 makes. Plus the v8 sounds better and is more reliable.
- Stripping it down and galvanizing the frame + other suspension components. Since I would have done some welding on it and I hate rust and paint
- I'm building an electric full suspension mountain bike, I'm excited to hook it up so it charges off the truck between stops so I can use it for smaller trails
I'm not sure if I need or should look into
- CB Radio?
- Rooftop Solar?
- Lighting?
I want to learn my off-roading limits with the truck, I don't want to push them, I'm not building a rock crawler. Did I mention it's independent front suspension? I guess that deducts from the ability
First day home:
First project, rust remediation. POR15 and plenty of wire wheeling:
Second project, 3" body lift:
Then onto the 3" suspension lift:
Then the 33" tires came
And after some body work, this is where she sits now, waiting for paint
