New Tow Vehicle....

[Tony Payne]

Found a good way to break a bad fishing streak... buy a new tow vehicle!



Got the V8 4x4... big upgrade from my jeep cherokee... towing is a dream.. don't even know the boat is back there...



now for some graphical enhancemnets to the truck.... Hopefully get some decals from S&T soon!

 

[Larry Harp]

SWEEEET!! I like the little piece of jewelery hanging off the back too. I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee that pulls my PT185 just fine but if I ever switch to glass I know I'll want more UMMMMPHH. I also like the idea of stepping from the bow of the boat to the bed of the pickup and not getting wet feet on those cold days.

Congrats

Harpo



P.S. I was born in Lexington but left there when I was a baby so it is interesting to see what it looks like.

 

[Mark Gross]

Congrats on the new vehicle,The NITRO looks good to!



I went from the bow of the boat to almost the bed of the truck last week.My knees took the brunt of it .The ribs and fore arms the rest ,I think it was the wet shoes and about four inches. About half way there I realized it was a bad idea , but that was too late.The knee is healing fine as well as the rib .The swelling is almost gone.

 

[TrepMan]

Sim - Love the Dakota, and with V-8 you can't go wrong. Now you gotta get one of the hard fiberglass lids with lifting shocks for the bed. Enjoy!!

 

[Chris F.]

Dodge and Nitro, can"t go wrong!

 

[Steve Rizza]

Nice truck Sim.

I love my Dakota,BUT,until they straighten out the ball joint problem,I wouldn't buy another.I was lucky,I got 45,000 miles out of mine.

Go to Dodgedakotas.com and do a search for ball joints,you will be amazed.

Other than that,they are great trucks.



Steve

 

[Greg Meyer]

Great looking rig... Oh, and a nice truck (LOL)... Sim... I have a 1995 Dakota that my son drives with 156,000 miles... It's still a great truck... I'd like to upgrade his to "exactly" what you got..

 

[Tony Payne]

Steve,



Thanks for the tip, I'll take a look into that... fortunately I got "bumper to bumper" till 75k miles, so hopefully I wont have any issues that cost me.



I've been wanting a dakota for awhile now, on a whim we stopped in the dodge dealership (the left turn to Harbor Frieght for a $4.99 spotlight was blocked so I _had_ to turn thru the dodge dealership to turn around at the next light)...



Harpo, yep the cherokee is a great tower, and from what I know the grande one should be good as well. I've been wanting this little extra "ummph". With this truck I barely know I have that 901 behind me.



Trep, actually gonna go with a different kind of lid, not Fiberglass (kinda tired of buffing out scratches LOL) but very similar. More of a black/textured look.



Thanks all!

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Nice rig Simmy! The V8 is the only way to fly...should do good in them hills thar...

TEE

 

[Jim B]

Nice truck Sim, what v8 did you get? the 4.7 or 5.9? i have the same truck with the 4.7 and i love it, it tows my 882 like a dream. Steve and Sim i know a trick that will halp the ball joints last. From what i hear the problem is there i no grease fitting. What i did is i got a hypadermic(sp) grease injector needle and i use it to grease them. what i do is i slip the needle under the bottom of the boot and fill it up when they need it. i have 35k on mine now and they are still fine, i had an alignment last week and the shop said they are perfect. with the potholed roads we have here in mass in surprised.

 

[Tony Payne]

It's the 4.7. Lot's of power to spare.



I think the 882 and 901 weigh about the same, did you feel any need to do anything with the rear springs?



I am taking it to the dealer tomorrow to have it serviced (end to end, promised from the purchase) and intend to grill them on the ball joint issue. It's got 34k miles on it, so now is the time to have them checked anyway.



I went to the DodgeDakotas.com site, alot of folks there seem to talk about swapping them out for greasable ones... If/when I need to, that'll be what I do.

 

[Tony Payne]

on my first couple of trips, I have been averaging 14-15 MPG... roughly 300 miles a tankful. (towing the boat)... much better than the Jeep.



On the highway, without the boat, I got closer to 18.

 

[Terry Heydt]

Same engine in my Durango - love it. When we visit the inlaws in North Carolina, the mileage on the highway is incredible (for a V8). Tow mileage about the same as above. Still pretty respectable.

 

[Steve Rizza]

What made me mad is that nobody makes a greasable balljoint for it.The factory will sell you the WHOLE control arm,with the same non-greasable ball joint for $200.There was a slight change after 1999,and nobody has one on the market.I modified a 1999 one to fit my 2000.Worked pretty good.

I bought mine used so I was -S.O.L-





Steve

 

[Jim B]

Sim, when i got my dakota i got the factory tow package and it has the heavy duty suspension. it does squat more then id like and i have thought about airbags for it but it dosent seem to have any handeling problems or funny tire wear when im towing alot so i think its ok the way it is. i do have a single axle trailer and it has alot of tounge weight, i also carry alot of tools and stuff in the bed. judging by your picture mine sits about the same as yours with the boat. I thought about helper springs too but i dont want to hurt the unloaded ride. I cant believe you get 14-15 towing. mine will go about 240 miles towing before the low fuel light comes on. i get about 12 to 13 towing on the freeway with mine, like bass ace i tow alot in the whire mtns in nh and its alot of hills so it sucks up the gas. unloaded i get about 17-18 if i drive all highway and about 14 around town. i really like my 4.7, it is very strong for its size.

 

[Tony Payne]

Jim,



Is there any easy way to tell if it has the "heavy duty" suspension... I was told it did, but... well... you know.



It seems as if it rides taller than the other dakota's I've looked at, so I am inclinded to believe it does.



It definitely handles well.... I am very stoked about it...

 

[Jim B]

Sim,

Im not too sure how to tell if its there or not. Mine is a 2002 and i took a look at the window sticker and its listed as standard equiptment, i have a sport plus so im not sure if its standard on all 4x4 models. they dont give you the codes on the sticker. you may want to go to a dodge dealer and have them print the build sheet for the truck, they can look it up by the vin. my dealer printed one for me and it has every part on it.