Dodge Dakota ....any owners here?

C

cobra1476

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 25, 2010
Messages
129
Looking at a Dodge Dakota with a 4.7 crew cab (4doors). Seeing if it can pull my 21' deck boat. Boat weight is 2800lbs. not sure about the weight on the trailer. it is a venture roller trailer with brakes.

I am assuming the whole package is around 4000lbs. From what I have read the max tow for Dakota is 6000and some lb's.

Anyway, how do you guys thing this truck tows? any weak spots on the trauck (brakes, trans, suspension)?
 
S

Slip Away

Lieutenant
Joined
May 11, 2010
Messages
1,431
Re: Dodge Dakota ....any owners here?

What year truck?
It will tow it, as long as you can keep it running.
 
F

fishrdan

Admiral
Joined
Jan 25, 2008
Messages
6,989
Re: Dodge Dakota ....any owners here?

I had the same truck you're looking at and it towed my old 3400# boat/trailer just fine through the mountains of Nevada (NV mountains much worse than the rolling hills of E WI. The 03 Dakota will have bigger front brakes and disk rear, so that's a GOOD thing. No issues with the tranny that I'm aware of, just don't tow in OD. Make sure the tranny has been serviced and the truck has a tranny cooler. It will have a tranny cooler if it has the factory installed tow package, otherwise, just add a tranny cooler. Depending on the trailers tongue weight, the rear of the truck could squat a bit, it was too much for my liking so I installed the Roadmaster Active Suspension which seemed to work nicely.
 
H

H20Rat

Vice Admiral
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
5,201
Re: Dodge Dakota ....any owners here?

Slip Away said:
What year truck?
It will tow it, as long as you can keep it running.
Click to expand...

haha, best answer yet! I really like the looks of the dakota, and was very close to pulling the trigger and getting one used. Then I figured out why there are so many on the used market, and why they are so cheap.
 
EddiePetty

EddiePetty

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Aug 25, 2008
Messages
1,008
Re: Dodge Dakota ....any owners here?

We had a '02 Duck-Odor and pulled our Wellcraft V-20 on a tandem axle trailer for several seasons. Only problem was towing in the heat of Summer we could not (or rather would not) use the A/C as the temperature would rise quite a bit. Never used the OD when towing to preserve the transmission. We now have a full size Ram and no problems (knock).
 
JB

JB

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Mar 25, 2001
Messages
45,907
Re: Dodge Dakota ....any owners here?

Dakota reliability record is dismal. Tacoma was a far better truck. Ref: Consumer Reports.
 
T

tinkerguy70

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Oct 12, 2012
Messages
190
Re: Dodge Dakota ....any owners here?

In my experience with the Dodge Dakota, you might as well go with a full size truck.
They both get the same crappy gas mileage, so you might as well get all of the bang for your buck with a full size 1/2 ton. There are really no advantages to the Dakota over a full size other than being smaller.

Just my opinion, and the internet is full of opinions.
 
NYBo

NYBo

Admiral
Joined
Oct 23, 2008
Messages
7,107
Re: Dodge Dakota ....any owners here?

Ball joints are a weakness in that generation Dakota.
 
kenmyfam

kenmyfam

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Aug 10, 2006
Messages
14,385
Re: Dodge Dakota ....any owners here?

Know little about them other than the fact a buddy has one and there is almost always something wrong with it.
 
M

mrdancer

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Aug 21, 2008
Messages
235
Re: Dodge Dakota ....any owners here?

Sounds like they don't make them like they used to. I had a '92 (the smaller body style) with a 318 (5.2L for you youngsters). 330hp (they dialed them back down the following year) and it could light up the rear tires at will (or anything more than 1/4-throttle), yet it got 18mpg in town and 21 on the highway (got as high as 24mpg on a trek through Colorado). I could also change all eight spark plugs in less than 11 minutes. Never really had a problem with that truck, other than keeping good tires on the back. Sold it at 175k, still in great condition. I did replace a water pump at 120k, and a fuel pump at around 140k, but that is to be expected. Also replaced the intake manifold gasket with RTV while doing the water pump, as preventative maintenance. Some of those generation had the intake gasket problems, which was easily fixed with RTV replacement if you knew what you were doing.

I don't know why they ever went to the bigger body style. Got worse mileage and sounds like reliability has gone downhill. Why can't anyone make a small pickup anymore? There's gotta be a huge market out there, just based on talking to folks and reading internet forums. I'd be all over a 1/2-sized truck as opposed to these 7/8-sized "small" trucks they are putting out there - just makes no sense.
 
C

chris.j.marshall

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 28, 2011
Messages
137
Re: Dodge Dakota ....any owners here?

mrdancer said:
Sounds like they don't make them like they used to. I had a '92 (the smaller body style) with a 318 (5.2L for you youngsters). 330hp (they dialed them back down the following year) and it could light up the rear tires at will (or anything more than 1/4-throttle), yet it got 18mpg in town and 21 on the highway (got as high as 24mpg on a trek through Colorado). I could also change all eight spark plugs in less than 11 minutes. Never really had a problem with that truck, other than keeping good tires on the back. Sold it at 175k, still in great condition. I did replace a water pump at 120k, and a fuel pump at around 140k, but that is to be expected. Also replaced the intake manifold gasket with RTV while doing the water pump, as preventative maintenance. Some of those generation had the intake gasket problems, which was easily fixed with RTV replacement if you knew what you were doing.

I don't know why they ever went to the bigger body style. Got worse mileage and sounds like reliability has gone downhill. Why can't anyone make a small pickup anymore? There's gotta be a huge market out there, just based on talking to folks and reading internet forums. I'd be all over a 1/2-sized truck as opposed to these 7/8-sized "small" trucks they are putting out there - just makes no sense.
Click to expand...

330? Has to be a type-o right? A truck with that much power and so little weight in the back must have been a little tricky to drive.
 
S

Slip Away

Lieutenant
Joined
May 11, 2010
Messages
1,431
Re: Dodge Dakota ....any owners here?

chris.j.marshall said:
330? Has to be a type-o right? A truck with that much power and so little weight in the back must have been a little tricky to drive.
Click to expand...

Yep..... TYPO. 230HP
Chrysler introduced the Magnum 318 in 1992 that came with a new block and heads. The Magnum featured high-flow heads for better intake. The Magnum, which was used in Dodge trucks, was a better engineered and more efficient engine. The Dodge 318 Magnum's horsepower and torque output varied over the years. It produced 200 horsepower at 4,400 rpm to 230 horsepower at 4,400 rpm and 250 foot-pounds of torque at 3,600 rpm to 300 foot-pounds of torque at 3,200 rpm.
 
W

Wind dog

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Aug 13, 2012
Messages
304
Re: Dodge Dakota ....any owners here?

I own a '00 Dakota (about 200,000 miles) & a 95 Chevy 1500 (300,000miles). I drive the Chevy to the Dodge dealer a lot more then I drive the Dakota to the Chevy dealer. I will not own another Dodge product.
IMHO
 
smokeonthewater

smokeonthewater

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Dec 3, 2009
Messages
9,838
Re: Dodge Dakota ....any owners here?

wind dog said:
i own a '00 dakota (about 200,000 miles) & a 95 chevy 1500 (300,000miles). I drive the chevy to the dodge dealer a lot more then i drive the dakota to the chevy dealer. I will not own another dodge product.
Imho
Click to expand...
quoted for truth!!!
 
M

mrdancer

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Aug 21, 2008
Messages
235
Re: Dodge Dakota ....any owners here?

chris.j.marshall}330? Has to be a type-o right? A truck with that much power and so little weight in the back must have been a little tricky to drive.[/QUOTE said:
Slip Away said:
Yep..... TYPO. 230HP
....
Click to expand...

^ What he said ^

Even with 230hp, it was pretty squirrelly on anything but dry pavement. Had to keep sandbags in the bed when around snow. I generally kept 15x7 wheels and hi-po low-profile treads on it.
Click to expand...
 
cledus

cledus

Cadet
Joined
Mar 8, 2012
Messages
16
Re: Dodge Dakota ....any owners here?

I had a 2003 Dakota two wheel drive. I regularly towed a 3000 lb boat and trailer combo with no issue. Right up until the wiring harness burned up with 60,000 miles on it.
 
P

pjitty

Cadet
Joined
Aug 4, 2009
Messages
26
Re: Dodge Dakota ....any owners here?

I have a 2000 Dakota with a 4.7 V8. I bought it new and I have well over a 100,000 miles on it. I use it to pull my 2004 25' Regal Cruiser. This truck has been bullet proof as far as reliability is concerned [wish my 09 corolla was as reliable]. Heard about all the issues with Dakota's, but mine has been bullet proof [I beat the S--t out of it, no problems]. If they still made them I would buy another in a heartbeat...

Joe D
 
NYBo

NYBo

Admiral
Joined
Oct 23, 2008
Messages
7,107
Re: Dodge Dakota ....any owners here?

pjitty said:
I have a 2000 Dakota with a 4.7 V8. I bought it new and I have well over a 100,000 miles on it. I use it to pull my 2004 25' Regal Cruiser. This truck has been bullet proof as far as reliability is concerned [wish my 09 corolla was as reliable]. Heard about all the issues with Dakota's, but mine has been bullet proof [I beat the S--t out of it, no problems]. If they still made them I would buy another in a heartbeat...

Joe D
Click to expand...
I was really hoping they would have dropped the new Pentastar V6 in them and continued the line. But it was not to be...:(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top