quality of 2000 dakota
- Thread starter buel09
- Start date
riverrat88
Observer
there is not much aftermarket support for the dakota's though so any bumpers or anything like that will have to be custom made
Nick02
Member
X3 home-brew is the way to go, def not the truck for "bolt ons" because no one cares about us.
Other then that, I highly recommend the 4.7l v8 the 3.7l v6 is the same less 2 cyl's, 4.7 gets good mileage for a v8, chain driven SOHC and will last forever, it has a great auto tranny, the 45rfe and its bulletproof (45rfe's are used behind the hemi's and are overbuilt for both the 4.7 and the dakota's) the manual (nv3500) is durable as well!
Rear ends for both v6's and v8's are strong, the 8.25 and 9.25 will handle anything, tons of products for the rear axle!
Frames are strong in the front and flexy in the rear, perfect for an expo rig!
4x4 dakota/durango front Diff's are weak, they use a cast aluminum or iron D35 center section,(OH NO!!! THE D35 RETURNS FROM HELL) it is not safe to run larger then 33"+ tires, 32"+ off road tires are ok but be easy on it (only use 4x4 when you have to). Not good for the extreme offroader but ok for an expo rig with 31-32" tires and moderate payload. I have no clue what the dodge engineers were smoking when they decided to throw a low pinion D35 center section in the front of a heavy American V8 pickup truck! Did they not learn anything from the d35's that wont make it on a 3000lb vehicle with a 4 cyl engine cough *jeep wrangler* cough
Did I mention the front IFS aluminum/cast low pinion differential, they tend to grenade with 33 inch+ tires. (both trucks had 33" tires) I highly recommend 32" tires as they wont tend to implode your front diffl! metric 265/75/16"
The first pic is of the cast iron d35 center section used before 2000, it failed under the pressure of 33" tires on a sandy hill-climb.
This next pic is of the somewhat stronger 2000+ aluminum diff.
Rough county makes a 5.5" lift for the 4x4 dakota's, but it's more of the atypical ifs bolt on lift, the diff rental will continue to grenade under pressure. There's no bolt on SAS kits but there's many, many dakota's running waggy axles, d44's, d60's etc, both coil spring and leaf sprung, which will solve the implosion problem.
If you have a 4x4 rango or 4x4 kota the PA body lift is a subpar body lift to fit bigger tires (bad low grade hardware but good pucks), you can also crank the stock torsion bars for a 2" lift with no keys and clear 33's with trimming and 32's without:ylsmoke:.
Other then that, I highly recommend the 4.7l v8 the 3.7l v6 is the same less 2 cyl's, 4.7 gets good mileage for a v8, chain driven SOHC and will last forever, it has a great auto tranny, the 45rfe and its bulletproof (45rfe's are used behind the hemi's and are overbuilt for both the 4.7 and the dakota's) the manual (nv3500) is durable as well!
Rear ends for both v6's and v8's are strong, the 8.25 and 9.25 will handle anything, tons of products for the rear axle!
Frames are strong in the front and flexy in the rear, perfect for an expo rig!
4x4 dakota/durango front Diff's are weak, they use a cast aluminum or iron D35 center section,(OH NO!!! THE D35 RETURNS FROM HELL) it is not safe to run larger then 33"+ tires, 32"+ off road tires are ok but be easy on it (only use 4x4 when you have to). Not good for the extreme offroader but ok for an expo rig with 31-32" tires and moderate payload. I have no clue what the dodge engineers were smoking when they decided to throw a low pinion D35 center section in the front of a heavy American V8 pickup truck! Did they not learn anything from the d35's that wont make it on a 3000lb vehicle with a 4 cyl engine cough *jeep wrangler* cough
Did I mention the front IFS aluminum/cast low pinion differential, they tend to grenade with 33 inch+ tires. (both trucks had 33" tires) I highly recommend 32" tires as they wont tend to implode your front diffl! metric 265/75/16"
The first pic is of the cast iron d35 center section used before 2000, it failed under the pressure of 33" tires on a sandy hill-climb.
This next pic is of the somewhat stronger 2000+ aluminum diff.
Rough county makes a 5.5" lift for the 4x4 dakota's, but it's more of the atypical ifs bolt on lift, the diff rental will continue to grenade under pressure. There's no bolt on SAS kits but there's many, many dakota's running waggy axles, d44's, d60's etc, both coil spring and leaf sprung, which will solve the implosion problem.
If you have a 4x4 rango or 4x4 kota the PA body lift is a subpar body lift to fit bigger tires (bad low grade hardware but good pucks), you can also crank the stock torsion bars for a 2" lift with no keys and clear 33's with trimming and 32's without:ylsmoke:.
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wanderer-rrorc
Explorer
front balljoints on some years are known bad...check your vin for the recall
hikingff77
Adventurer
I have an 04 Quad Cab and the more I drive it, after fixing several things, the more I think it's a good truck. I wish it had more power and I wish the steering was much better curb to curb but it is what it is. I have the V6 and it's pretty good, searches for gears on hills but it works. When in 4lo I think that truck would pull out anything.
Ball joints, steering rack, lower intermediate shaft all can be bad.
A word on the bumpers, there's a company that makes them for the Dodges, really nice job and if you ask me relatively affordable. When I pay my truck off, I'll work on fixing it up the way I want.
Ball joints, steering rack, lower intermediate shaft all can be bad.
A word on the bumpers, there's a company that makes them for the Dodges, really nice job and if you ask me relatively affordable. When I pay my truck off, I'll work on fixing it up the way I want.
Nick02
Member
As far as the recalled balljoints go.. dodge recalled only the uppers. Dodge originally put crappy "sealed for life joints" on the 2wd/4wd dakotas/durangos (which are riveted on the upper control arm) Dodge did this for cost reduction and "no maintance", hell, I bet the engineers bragged about it! It came back to bite them in the ***!
When the ball joints were replaced as part of the recall, they replaced them with equivalent bolt-on GREASEABLE joints.
Dodge did the right thing and replaced all of them with greasable one's for free, under the recall!
If the replacement balljoints go un-greased THEY WILL FAIL! The cast section of stock upper ball joint is kind of small for such a large taper size, I run an aftermarket control arm that uses a chevy2500 ball joint (with the same taper as stock) that's super beefy, but that required extensive modification on my part!(and is only available for 2wd's)
Stock is located far left, chevy 2500 joint middle (90's model) (one i'am currently using) , chevy 1500 joint far right (70's model).
As long as you take care of your replacement ball joints and keep them well greased and happy, you wont have any problems. All the stock upper and lower balljoints/ inner and outer tie-rods need to be replaced ASAP as they cant be greased and WILL FAIL! Look for replacement greaseable parts with zerk fittings, Raybestos makes great suspension parts that make moog's look like crap IMHO
You can get raybestos parts locally under napa as the NAPA rebadged "preium quality" line or under rock-auto as raybestos (rockauto is wayyy cheaper then napa)
The bumper company you speak of is kennesaw correct? (http://www.kenmtn.com/)
They have horrible customer service and a 2-6 month turn around time (depending on their mood). The prices are extremely reasonable, I've heard an equally good amount of good things and and bad things about them, based on numerous reviews I don't know what to think of the company, so I decided to build my own.
I hear the bumper quality is good, but you have to line up and drill your own mounting holes through 1/4" steel.
For people looking into dakota's and durango's:
As far as power goes, get the 4.7L!! you wont be sorry! It's an excellent engine chain driven SOHC and is backed by an equally capable tranny and that is followed by an overbuilt bulletproof rear-end!
Replace all fluids, have a good mechanic check over EVERYTHING.
Replace all joints/bushings/wheel bearings and you wont have anything to worry about!
Keep the tire size under 32"
Wheel hard in 2wd, keep it out of 4wd OFF-ROAD until necessary.
What I like about the Dakota:
It's a beautiful truck, low and wide with great fender lines reminiscent of the original POWER WAGON, copied over from the RAM "big rig" styling line. This is the only pickup that doesn't look like a "BOX" in my eyes, it's downright sexy!
The Dakota is the only available mid-size pickup with a V8, which makes it more "************" then anything in my book, nothing says American like a gas guzzling, good sounding torque loving impractical V8!
The drive train is well thought out for an American vehicle, minus the D35 front diff on 4x4's.
Did I mention V8?:bike_rider:
X3 on that v8:smiley_drive:
What I dislike about the dakota.
No aftermarket support, this thing is not a jeep or toyota!
Dont expect to take it off the content, try finding dodge parts in South America!
2wd's are designed for the pavement only, 4x4's are designed for mild offroading and snowy/icy conditions.
Many cost cutting measures taken to make the vehicle cheap to manufacture and supposedly "maintenance free":Wow1:
Was not engineered to go 150+K miles.
When the ball joints were replaced as part of the recall, they replaced them with equivalent bolt-on GREASEABLE joints.
Dodge did the right thing and replaced all of them with greasable one's for free, under the recall!
If the replacement balljoints go un-greased THEY WILL FAIL! The cast section of stock upper ball joint is kind of small for such a large taper size, I run an aftermarket control arm that uses a chevy2500 ball joint (with the same taper as stock) that's super beefy, but that required extensive modification on my part!(and is only available for 2wd's)
Stock is located far left, chevy 2500 joint middle (90's model) (one i'am currently using) , chevy 1500 joint far right (70's model).
As long as you take care of your replacement ball joints and keep them well greased and happy, you wont have any problems. All the stock upper and lower balljoints/ inner and outer tie-rods need to be replaced ASAP as they cant be greased and WILL FAIL! Look for replacement greaseable parts with zerk fittings, Raybestos makes great suspension parts that make moog's look like crap IMHO
You can get raybestos parts locally under napa as the NAPA rebadged "preium quality" line or under rock-auto as raybestos (rockauto is wayyy cheaper then napa)
The bumper company you speak of is kennesaw correct? (http://www.kenmtn.com/)
They have horrible customer service and a 2-6 month turn around time (depending on their mood). The prices are extremely reasonable, I've heard an equally good amount of good things and and bad things about them, based on numerous reviews I don't know what to think of the company, so I decided to build my own.
I hear the bumper quality is good, but you have to line up and drill your own mounting holes through 1/4" steel.
For people looking into dakota's and durango's:
As far as power goes, get the 4.7L!! you wont be sorry! It's an excellent engine chain driven SOHC and is backed by an equally capable tranny and that is followed by an overbuilt bulletproof rear-end!
Replace all fluids, have a good mechanic check over EVERYTHING.
Replace all joints/bushings/wheel bearings and you wont have anything to worry about!
Keep the tire size under 32"
Wheel hard in 2wd, keep it out of 4wd OFF-ROAD until necessary.
What I like about the Dakota:
It's a beautiful truck, low and wide with great fender lines reminiscent of the original POWER WAGON, copied over from the RAM "big rig" styling line. This is the only pickup that doesn't look like a "BOX" in my eyes, it's downright sexy!
The Dakota is the only available mid-size pickup with a V8, which makes it more "************" then anything in my book, nothing says American like a gas guzzling, good sounding torque loving impractical V8!
The drive train is well thought out for an American vehicle, minus the D35 front diff on 4x4's.
Did I mention V8?:bike_rider:
X3 on that v8:smiley_drive:
What I dislike about the dakota.
No aftermarket support, this thing is not a jeep or toyota!
Dont expect to take it off the content, try finding dodge parts in South America!
2wd's are designed for the pavement only, 4x4's are designed for mild offroading and snowy/icy conditions.
Many cost cutting measures taken to make the vehicle cheap to manufacture and supposedly "maintenance free":Wow1:
Was not engineered to go 150+K miles.
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GMC Canyon/Chevrolet Colorado both have a 5.3L V8.
Nick02
Member
Aww I just researched and found out they came out in 2009 so I guess I have to change my bragging rights
POO.. I just don't keep up with the times haha!But I wouldent want to wheel or cut into a new truck....I would cry, so I still consider the Dakota good, reliable, affordable and easily available platform for a optional v8 powered mid size expo rig, and that's what the thread's about right?
The Dakota will always remain the first small pickup with an optional V8 engine, and I can thank dodge for birthing that way back in 1989, 20 years before the Colorado/canyon. (and born before me haha!)
Right now my truck is a tenth chebby (balljoints/shocks) and going to become quarter Ford (actually more like 3/4 ton) with my 79 f250 axle, I just take all the good parts and combine them into one! haha! Frankenkota!, you can take a yugo and make it an expo rig with enough time, money and drive (-:.
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double moo
Adventurer
Or a Ford Fiesta and no money...
Saw this on one of my projects last week! Excellent use of roof top vents for a hood scoop... and creative application of shower grab bars for a roof rack.
Saw this on one of my projects last week! Excellent use of roof top vents for a hood scoop... and creative application of shower grab bars for a roof rack.
4Rescue
Expedition Leader
Good Idea... And when/if it ever gives up the ghost, replace it with another one
Cheers
Dave
R_Lefebvre
Expedition Leader
More probably and engineer was grabbed kicking and screaming into a cost reduction meeting. Or, an accountant selected the lowest cost control arm supplier and the engineer had to deal with the consequences.
I'd like to mention, if you have the V8 in a Durango, check for clearance between the EGR tube and the positive battery cable. See if the EGR insulating sleeve is worn through. The EGR engineer at Chrysler on that program... well he was a rookie.