Dakota Questions

1. Is it reliable
2. What kind of gas mileage?
3. How can I improve the gas mileage (I know the 4 cyl gets like 30...im talking more along the lines of the 6 cyl.) i know about dual exhaust and tonneau covers. Other than that how can i get better gas mileage?
4. Will it last me?
5. Rate it from 1-10 (10 is the best)

I'm thinking about buying a Dakota. Could I get feedback from the forum? Would you recommend buying one?

I bought new in 2000 Quad Cab, 4.7L, 150,000 miles, absolutely love my truck. Have had zero problems until recently (timing chain cover leak). I dont know anything about the newer ones but my 2000 has been very good.

The Dakota is a good truck, look to get a 2000+ models. As for gas mileage get the V8 4.7 which is a great little motor and gets 2-4mpg better than the V6. I get about 20mpg doing mostly highway driving and this is with a 4X4 with the extra weight. The only problems to watch out on the Daks are the ball-joints and front rotors and pads. The rest of the truck is pretty solid!!! They are a blast to drive with the V8 mated to the 5 speed manual.

Anthony

I bought a 2000 with 17,000 miles on it. 4x4 with 5spd and the 4.7liter V8. It now has 90,000 miles on it and I've used it for pulling a camp trailer (locally and on big trips (to Alaska and back)), driving around town, and lot's of weekend trips. So far the only problem I've had was a pin hole in the radiator. Gas mileage hasn't been great (16-17 on the highway) but I tend to carry extra weight (gear) and drive fast. Pulling the trailer I would get about 14 mpg. I wouldn't buy the V6....makes for an underpowered truck given the weight. But I suppose it might be fine in a 2 wheel drive. I think for the most part the V8 (4.7liter) will be working alot less hard than the V6 would be - so keep that in mind when you think about longevity and wear/tear on the drivetrain. The 4.7l V8 is very peppy and has plenty of power for this truck (they put it in the full size as well). To improve the gas mileage I installed an throttle body spacer, K&N air filter, and upgraded the pipes/muffler with larger diameter and higher flow design......none of this really seemed to improve the gas mileage. I love this truck but if I didn't need the extra power of the small V8 and a little extra room I would definetly get a Toyota..... for economy and longevity.

i have the 93 dakota 5.2 v8 2WD , bought it used with 168000 miles on it and with the exception of a few performance parts (I wanted to change). It now has 213,000 miles and ive done nothing but change oil and tires and put it through extreme punnishment Racing every weekend, Great truck +10+ P.S. Oh the older 3.9 V6's are peppy too.

I have a '93 dakota 3.9 V6. It has 61k miles and runs great. sounds just like a V8 and gets about 16-20 mpg. Everything is stock except for a two-barrel Holley Carb. It has great acceleration and you can take cornerns pretty fast.

I have a 2003 Dodge Dakota Sport plus 2wd 3.9 V-6. the only mod so far is a K&N air filter. I get between 19.5 & 20.25 Mpg on mostly 2 lane rural road & some interstate driving. No tonneau cover yet, But I imagine my mileage will improve when I get one installed. Otherwise, it's not a bad truck

I gave $400 for a 94 4x4 xtra cab with a 318 and 135000. It wouldn't hold oil pressure but turned out to be operator error as the oil was probably only changed 5 times and the sump was full of sludge. The sump is tiny to be able to fit with the 4x4 and so is the oil pump pickup. Put in a high volume pump and new bearings in the bottom end and that was taken care of. The trannys in these suck also. Lockup torque converter gave out 2 weeks ago and it was a gem to change with welded in crossmember behind the transfer case. A manual tranny would be my preference. Hard to keep the temp in the normal range with the A/C on in traffic so dual electric fans were installed.Other than these little problems I love this thing. Not as much as my 78 440 Power Wagon but it has a place in my stable for a while yet

I bought new in 2000 Quad Cab, 4.7L, 150,000 miles, absolutely love my truck. Have had zero problems until recently (timing chain cover leak). I dont know anything about the newer ones but my 2000 has been very good.

That's awesome. I love Dakotas, except mine sucks. :)
Did yours have any newer parts when you got it?
I bought my 2000 Dakota earlier this year with ~80k miles and have had nothing but trouble with it. Had to replace the sway bar bushings. Then the water pump and thermostat (after it overheated and melted the thermostat housing, so I had to drill out and tap the bolt.) Then the AC generator -- and 2000 4.7 Dakotas aren't made without AC, so I had to replace the part and couldn't just buy a shorter belt. Then the safety recall (left controller arm joint, I think? I forget, I let the dealer handle that one since it was free.)

And NOW, my truck is STILL overheating and I can't figure out why. I've replaced every damn thing there is to replace, seems like. Any ideas?

And has anyone else had these kinds of problems, or is my truck just a bad apple?

Newer parts? Well this guy was telling me new alternator, new radiator, rebuilt tranny, new brakes, new tires, new A/C compressor and on and on and I'm thinking either this thing is a lemon or he was beating the hell out of it. For the money I said what the hell I can always sell parts and come out ahead. I've heard others having problems with the overheat thing and am wondering was it always like this from new? If not there has to be something that is being overlooked. My clutch fan took a crap on mine. It worked when you first fired it up but when it got hot it wasn't engaging. The only other thing it could be is if the radiator needs to be cleaned out. If that corrosion is starting to build inside the tubes it won't let the heat dissipate properly. Could just be the a**hole engineers didn't put in a big enough radiator(another row of tubes would do the trick). In any case a good radiator shop or a company like Desert Dog(I think) can hook you up with a more efficient radiator and the overheat problems will be solved. My dual electric fans do quite well except on really hot days. Really hot here is only upper 90s so I know others have a worse problem. I have 2 other projects going so I can't afford a $350 radiator right now besides summer is over. What gets me is on cold days, 10 degrees or so, the temp guage doesn't go 1/4 of the way up even with a new thermostat. Go figure.

Redline sells a product called "water wetter" which reduces coolant temps. I've heard it works pretty good!!

http://www.redlineoil.com/products_coolant.asp

Anthony

A few years back I tried an additive similar to this in an old rollback I had, a 76 ford with a 352, and it seemed to make a difference. This stuff was sold at adv***e auto for about $40 and it said it made up to a 40 degree difference. Don't know if this is accurate but modern technology sure don't surprise me anymore. You might be on to something Dakota00. Even if it has to be changed every 2 years it will still be cheaper!