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Pickups Dodge Dakota Dodge Dakota Owners - Meet the Members
373 messages, Last post on Jun 08, 2009 at 10:17 AM
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haven't checked in here in a while, thought i'd stop by to let ya'll know a coupla things recently noticed out near the firestone test track (or whatever it is these days) near ft. stockton, tx. just back from ft. stockton (tx.) again, and i had been down to alpine and was eating at the dairy queen when a dodge of some sort pulled in, and two guys got out and went inside to eat. i casually walked out and noticed it was a dakota sized vehicle with different wheels on it. 4 doors, short bed and mostly clad in some kind of plastic sheeting in several areas, had a bed cover over it, which looked store bought. the front end had a cheap kind of bra on it, looked cheesy, actually, real cheesy. the paint job was a dark silver/grey color with a dark(er) interior in cloth, i believe with a large center stack that doesn't look anything like a dak dashboard. from what i could see without gawking at the interior and getting myself in trouble. two things jumped out at me: a LARGE (single) exhaust with heavy, heavy soot in it that didn't smell quite right when i took a small sample and smelled it (dropped my keys at the rear of the truck and swiped my finger in the exhaust (pretty warm, ouch!). and two, there was NO gap behind the cab, between it and the bed, like my dak quad cab has. the sides were smooth from the front all the way to the taillights!!! just like one of those honda jobs. the bed was taller than my 2000 as well, as the main selling point for me on my 00 quad cab, at 5'9" tall, was that i could reach over flat footed and nearly reach the center of the bed while i was standing next to it. the one i saw the other day would require a small step ladder or maybe a step stool. speaking of which, i don't know if it was a 4wd to make it higher, but it had regular center caps on the front wheels and it didn't have a separate shifter on the oddly shaped floor hump. another surprise, when i went back in to refill my root beer, the guys had just picked up a to-go order and were walking out the door, so i went out in the parking lot and asked the passenger about all the plastic on the thing and he said two words, 'test mule.' that's it, then they got in, started it up and DIESELED off down the empty highway towards marathon. not only that, now wait for it, you gotta wait a little longer here, yep, it had a slight turbo whine. i'm not kidding. it's definitely, positively, absolutely a diesel dakota quad cab. and whether they were showing off or late to an appointment back at the test track near ft. stockton, that thing m-o-v-e-d! so i think now the post i made a while back might have some oomph to it. if dodge builds it and it's anything like i saw the other day, i will be the first guy in texas to have one in my driveway. i'm pretty sure that it's a finished truck, because i've seen some kinda, sorta test vehicles over the years in that part of texas that just were not 'finished' vehicles. other than the wheels and maybe the smooth, attached bed, this thing was very probably a 2010 dak quad cab under the plastic. it just sounded like a real, finished truck. man, it moved too... cain't hardlee wait! jack b  in midland, tx usa
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its an extand cab dak that has seen its share of sawzall blades, cutoff wheels, cutting torches, welding, and custom frame fabrication..... bought this truck in nov. 07 as a plain, stock daily driver. wrecked it in jan. 08. repaired the wreck damage in feb.08 and decided, "why stop there." first came 22in rims and tires, window tint with some custom graphics, some custom interior work, and some bada$$ audio and video mods. mar.08 i decided to lower it. well it wasnt low enough with the 22s so i traded them for a set of 20s. in apr.08 i realized lowering it wasnt enough for me. with the help of BIG JAMES, off came the bed, and we started cutting away everything that the factory put there for no reason.( like the e-brake linkage...who needs that???) made an 11inch notch with custom cross bridge over the axle and cut out part of the stock frame. installed the slam 8 bags in the back and moved to the front..... cut away a huge chunk of the stock frame in the front and plated what was left. made the bag brackets and installed the bags. then ran into problems..... after we cut out the stock weel tubs for wheel clearence and cut out the center of the bed for the notch and bridge clearence, we realized that the wheels were a hair too wide to tuck. so after riding around for a month with no bed and my air tank, gas tank, compressers and and whatever else mounted to the top of my frame(cause, this is still my daily driver) i finnally got a set of 20s that tucked. they were made for a honda, and drilled to fit my dak. oh..........and the new drive shaft was olso installed. yeah... the stock one got severed in half when it rubbed the back of the cab while draggn  had to cut out a section of the cab floor and custom fabricate a tunnel for clearence. in june i cut out a majority of my roof and installed a sliding rag top. i recently shaved the backend of the truck by removing the taillights and welding in steel plates and body working it to a smooth finish. olso installed a reverse tailgate handle kit and shaved the stock handle. then welded in a 3in deep tag box at an angle in the tailgate. the 4 link rear suspension, snug top, and some custom metalwork in the bed will hopefully be done within the next few weeks or so. then some paint by feb. 09...... all of the work to this dak was done by big james and myself... and all air suspension and hardware was supplied by rodney from ABOVE REALITY.... custom doesnt come in a box....... dragg, destroy, and let the sparks fly................... |
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I said good-bye to my '01 Quad Dakota in Dec.'08. It was a good ride since new. The same problems most Dakota owners had over the years. Overall I say it was a good truck and ride. I wanted a new truck. Drove a new Dakota then a new Takoma,,,,well you guessed it, I purchased a new '09 Tacoma double cab long bed. I missed my old Dakota for about a month (sentimental). But now really love the new Takoma. The 20 to 22 mpg sure helps also! Thanks for all the help over the past years with questions and answers to fix the Quad. Mick |
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i just got my 2nd dodge dakota after a 18 wheeler took out my old one. this one does not have the floor console like my last one did. i dont want to pay 400 at the dealer but i really liked the bigger center console. would anyone know were else i can find one other then the junk yard been there done that no luck
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Replying to: disumia (Feb 12, 2009 5:58 am)  yahoo.com
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Replying to: switchhitta (Feb 13, 2009 9:40 am)
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Replying to: disumia (Feb 13, 2009 9:45 am)
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Replying to: switchhitta (Feb 13, 2009 11:34 am)
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Replying to: disumia (Feb 13, 2009 12:43 pm) |
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Replying to: bpeebles (Apr 14, 2008 4:20 pm) anyway, the trucks are very similar, but only one of the guys parks around the side when he eats so i can 'drop' my wallet and quickly crawl underneath the truck to take a look. oh, the tires are changing too. i saw yokohama geolanders on the one last weekend. i'm sure of that since i use them on my class 'b' telstar motorhome. that's the update for now. will check back when i see or find out more. repeat: quad cab that sits like my 2000 model, smooth underneath, unibody, coil springs (big 4 wheel discs as well) on all 4 corners, interior looks like a newer dakota (to me) and a 6 cylinder cummins diesel (4+ liter?). personal note: about 2-3 summers back, we went to see hall and oates outside of las vegas at a lakeside concert (naturally, they were no shows) and we rented a 300c to drive around town for the 4 days we were there. i commented that it 'rode like a truck/stiff as a board' to the rental agency, who noticed we only put 50 miles on the thing. we actually just preferred to walk and ride the elevated train thingy. the car was very uncomfortable to both of us, as we have a lincoln ls, which was new at that time. anyway, it may actually be that exact chassis under the new dakota, if Fiat-Obama-Chrysler motors is still around. anybody's guess at this point. but if it is as it appears to be to my eyes, the dak is going to get some serious sedan-like ride and mpg at the expense of being a 'real' truck. is this what we asked for? dunno.  jack b in midland, tx usa
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