'Kota obsession

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'Kota obsession

December 12, 2011, 04:08:08 PM

Over the past 4 years or so Ive owned and worked about 8 or 9 of these trucks.
Ive had

The flat black ext cab '92 4x4 318
a baby blue ext cab '90 2wd 3.9L
a bright blue '96 2wd 3.9L
a '89 Blue/Silver std cab long bed 4x4 3.9L
a '88 Gray std cab long bed 3.9L 4x4
a '91 Black std cab short bed 2wd 3.9l
a '99 black ext cab 4x4 3.9L
and now a '98 ext cab 4x4 3.9L
and a few more that I didnt have long enough to count as mine.

the 92 has been my baby ever since I bought it its been through hell and back.
Its a 318 auto 4x4 sitting on 31/10.50's with 3.90 gears. It had a plow on it for 2 years and everything on it has been rebuilt. It has a modified manual CAD locker for a jeep on the front, detroit true-track out back. dual exhaust and a bunch of other goodies.

The 99 is my workhorse and main daily driver. its a 3.9L 4x4 sitting on 32/11 TSL's with 3.55 gears I traded my 94 ram for it and this truck for being a v6 has quite a great deal of grunt. Since Ive had it its pulled a 87 chevy G20 van, 18ft car trailer with a 96 z71 on it out of a ditch and also a 2.5 ton Grumman bread truck out of a ditch also. Im very impressed

This is the newest addition. Its a 98 with 3.55's a junk 3.9 that Im in the process of rebuilding. It has some potential. But the guy I got it from said it had blown head gaskets.... Well he was WRONG!

I ended up picking up another 3.9L out of a 95 ram from a junkyard that was far better than the wannabe 7 cyl 3.9 that came out of the truck (LOL)

Theyre fun trucks hah

Whatcha think?

'Kota obsession

Reply #1 – December 12, 2011, 04:09:44 PM

It's a Dodge....................................................

'Kota obsession

Reply #2 – December 12, 2011, 08:01:12 PM

Sweet merciful , what happened to that engine?

...Although I suppose that crud in the lifter valley kinda tells the story, doesn't it? Not much maintenance done there...

I've always liked the Dakotas too, although I've only ever owned two (an old '89 4X4 reg cab long box and my current '03 Club Cab, both V6 4X4's).

Here's my first one. Box was too rusty to save, and since I was doing renovations to a 100 year old house I decided the stock box wasn't wide enough anyway, so I made a wooden one. This thing was a slow pig, but could it ever handle weight. It had the 1-ton suspension package, and I carried enough drywall to know it lived up to that promise...

...And the new one. I just bought this a month ago and love it. The first thing I did was crank up the torsion bars to level it out - it was way down in the front when I bought it, as you can see in the photo. I don't find the 3.9 particularly fast, but I didn't buy it for speed, I bought it for truck stuff (and shot a deer the day I bought it, so it's my "Lucky Truck"). I've also installed a new radio with USB port, and will be installing projector headlights so I can then add real HID's because the stock headlights SUUUUUUCK (and I won't install true HID's in non-projector housings, especially when they delete or make useless the high beams).

I've also been thinking "Hemi Swap", just casually, but I know I'll probably never do it because I'd never have the time. A person can dream though, and this is the only truck I've ever had that was nice enough to justify doing something stupid like that...

'Kota obsession

Reply #3 – December 12, 2011, 08:08:53 PM

Never messed with the Dakotas but a local company had a few 1st gen 'kotas.....3.9L (I think), 2wd, stick shift. They went 200K+++ miles and were still running last I knew.

Rangers were my addiction....had 15+ for drivers and parts. Only have two now....both V8 trucks.

'Kota obsession

Reply #4 – December 12, 2011, 09:10:52 PM

i'm not a dakota fan at all, i actually hate dodge, but my buddy brian's dakota has over 300k on the original, untouched 3.9.. it's in the process of killing it's 3rd trans, but i've never had to touch the motor, other than tune ups and a water pump.. it's pretty funny, with the belt off, you can grab the crank pulley and slide the crank back and forth 1/4", but the stupid thing still runs without a knock or any kind of engine noise.. i painted it a few years ago and since then, it's been eaten by rot.. the rear wheel wells and lower front corners of the fenders are GONE.. but here's a pic of it, the first time it came out of the garage with her new skin

'Kota obsession

Reply #5 – December 13, 2011, 03:51:04 AM

Well I've always kinda like em... I have always (and still) wanted a 3rd gen since the day they came out. I instead wound up getting my Raider. Which is 95% dakota underneath. 3.7 though, but it's got enough power to make me happy. It is awfully fun with the 6-speed.

I don't know if you've heard, but Dodge, (or Ram/whatever the hell they're calling themselves now) has decided to drop Dakota for 2012. They are planning to bring it back, but possibly under a different name, and definitely on a completely different design. Sad really, what they plan to do with it. Here is on rendering of what they might do with it... I don't know if this is the real plan, but this is a real picture, there are more than one pic of this vehicle
:barf:

http://www.allpar.com/trucks/ram/dakota-2012.html

and here is the news that they will be ending it next year...(the above article is older):

http://www.trucktrend.com/features/news/2011/163_news110822_ram_drops_dakota_for_2012/index.html

'Kota obsession

Reply #6 – December 13, 2011, 06:32:48 AM

ew.. it's like an outback on crack.. but if that's what they're going to make the dakota look like, than the durangos will actually look decent for once.. looks like they're finally going to dump the hideous 'drop down' fender design

'Kota obsession

Reply #7 – December 13, 2011, 05:13:27 PM

Both of my kotas that I have now put some full size chevys to shame. I love it. theyre not as small as a s-10 or ranger but not as big as the fullsize trucks either. both of them can pull their weight. Actually sort of funny I hauled the newest dakota home on the back of the 99 with a heavy 18ft car trailer didnt have one single issue besides I drove almost an hour away to get it up hill down hill back and forth. she didnt even squat.

The flat black one on the other hand has at one time hauled a complete chevy 350. turbo350 tranny and a NP205 trasfercase along with a GM 14bolt rear diff dana 44 front diff and 2 33" courser MT's on 16.5 steel rims. Yes she was squatting but unbelievibly did not touch the overloads... I was astounded.. but since then its hauled quite a few over weight loads of gravel

Theyre tough trucks and I swear by 'em.

'Kota obsession

Reply #8 – December 13, 2011, 08:13:44 PM

LOL my buddy's dakota is the complete opposite.. it squats pretty bad with 400lbs in the bed, sucks at towing and gets beat by little ring 4 cyl rangers

'Kota obsession

Reply #9 – December 13, 2011, 08:57:28 PM

the 90 I had was as base model as you can order besides tilt and cruise. it has a pack of maybe 2 or 3 leafs out back... it'd get a bedfull of water and squat.. that truck was a shame lol.

'Kota obsession

Reply #10 – December 14, 2011, 12:54:47 AM

Quote from: 87thunderbirdBlackJack;375435

the 90 I had was as base model as you can order besides tilt and cruise. it has a pack of maybe 2 or 3 leafs out back... it'd get a bedfull of water and squat.. that truck was a shame lol.

My Raider's like that. Literally no options AT ALL. I did get AC though but I think that counts as base on everything made nowdays.

I've got to change the shocks on it... I hit any bumps and it bottoms out in the back. And anytime it doesn't bottom out it floats like a boat. It's kinda nice though. Makes for a comfy ride lol. I have no idea what it can haul... its kind of annoying. I can't find any specs on what the 3.7 can handle. Not in the manual, not online, nowhere. All I can find out about is what the bumper is capable of holding, and what the 4.7 model max payload is. I reckon though, if you can pulled what you did with your 15 year old 3.9, mine oughtta be able to at least pull my cougar up to the exhaust shop next week....

Only problem is I'd have to get a class II installed since the bumper isn't capable of pulling more than 1000 pounds or something like that.....

'Kota obsession

Reply #11 – December 14, 2011, 11:30:01 AM

I find the third gen (05 up) Dakotas are like that. My father bought an 05 4x4 v8 Dakota brand new and I was never impressed. It's got plenty of power but can't handle weight at all. The arse drags on the ground with just a couple hundred pounds in the box. He wanted to sell it to me and I wouldn't buy it for that reason. 3rd gens also share many front end and braking components with the larger Ram and therefore suffer the same problems (wheel bearings, ball joints, tie rods, stabilizer links, etc). I know 2nd gens have their issues too, but I'll take a 2nd gen over a 3rd any day. The only feature third gens have that mine doesn't that I wish it did are the suicide doors...

'Kota obsession

Reply #12 – December 14, 2011, 10:18:36 PM

Quote from: Thunder Chicken;375500

The only feature third gens have that mine doesn't that I wish it did are the suicide doors...

That(those) is THE reason I bought mine. In fact, I really wanted a Frontier, but a frontier was much further out of my price range.

'Kota obsession

Reply #13 – December 15, 2011, 12:39:57 AM

I love my Ram, but I despise Dakotas. A previous friend is on his third. He loves the 4.7 and I think it's junk. His current one is all modded out and lowered. I don't like them. If I want a truck, it either has to be a small truck or a big truck, not the awkward in between.

'Kota obsession

Reply #14 – December 15, 2011, 12:51:57 AM

i can second the 4.7's being trash from multiple experiences with the same truck and 2 motors!!!!