Budget Beater Build: 2004 Dakota

[Midnightmoon]

You know the old saying..."Nothing is more expensive than a free vehicle"? Well, I'm thinking of finding out....LOL

Last fall, my father had the brakes go out on a 2004 Dodge Dakota that he has owned since 2008. He knew that two of the cab mounts were already rusted out. So, instead of fixing it again, he just wanted something else. When we picked up another vehicle for him, the dealers around here wouldn't give anything for it. So, I hauled it to my garage and it sat there most of the winter.

I was going to part it or scrap it. But, the more I looked at it, it really wasn't bad at all. Other than the cab mounts, all it really needed was some brake line repairs and power steering lines. So, I threw a few dollars and fixed those lines. I was shocked at how well this thing runs. He had done a new radiator, water pump, ball joints, brakes, etc. over the last few years and it really needs nothing but the cab mounts done to make it usable.

So, here we go. I'm not a body man or even a decent fabricator. But, I figure what the heck. I'm going to give it a shot. I can't mess it up any more than it already is....LOL

Here are some before pics.

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So, wish me luck. I'm not exactly sure how this is going to turn out. You are welcome to tell me to run away and scrap this thing if you think that is best....LOL

 

[Midnightmoon]

Here are a few pics of the rest of the truck. Everything works except the oil pressure gauge. Even the AC still blows cold. I don't have the heart to part this thing out. 91K on it. 4.7L V8, 3.92 gears.

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[Midnightmoon]

Even the frame is clean.

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[AyWoSch Motors]

Nice truck. Definitely worth fixing and keeping.
My boss has a 97 Dakota special edition, single cab, short bed. Not a bad little truck. Rides really nice. Has the magnum V6 and straight piped, so it has quite the little growl.
Cant work it too hard, but it's good for running to town and back to get parts and supplies, or dumping trash. I call it the muscle truck, little thing is fast.
Not a dodge guy, but it's not too bad. Little small for me though.

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Be careful with that 4.7 V8. Dont ever let it overheat, even a little. I've learned the hard way, those engines are garbage.
They run great, make good power, but they're so easy to blow up, and very poorly designed.
Had one in my Cherokee, it broke a fan belt, and in the 30 seconds it took to get to the side of the road and shut it off, it overheated just enough it melted the engine. Didnt even get into the red. The whole thing is aluminum, you over heat it once and it all falls apart. Did a bunch of research and it turns out thats a common problem, they're easy to kill.

 

[StickyLifter]

Looks like it will be a nice daily driver when you're done, and has a lot of life left in it. I had a 98 Durango that I put 260k on. It was really fun to drive in the snow.

 

[SirRobyn0]

@Midnightmoon you might have heard me mention on the forums that I have a seldom used Dodge truck. Well that truck happens to be a 1992 Dakota mines a 2WD with 3.9 I got it in 2002 with 220K on it. Now it has 450K. Nearly 1/2 a million miles on that 3.9L The reason I bought the square, and the Dakota no longer gets used much is simply because as the farm got bigger I needed a bigger truck, and when I wanted a larger open trailer I needed more truck. Now if I'd have known how much I like and apricate the square I would have had one much sooner, but if you didn't know the Dakota is on basically a shrunken ram frame so for not being a full sized truck they are far more capable than a mini pickup. My only complaint was the gas mileage was relatively poor, just a hair better than a ram. But I did really like the truck and took it a lot of places. A lot like what I do with my square now. Anyhow it would be well worth fix that truck I'm sure.

 

[Midnightmoon]

Thanks everyone. It's good to know that I'm not out of my mind trying to keep this around for a while.

I'm hoping that having it on the road will make our fall easier. My daughter has been wanting a vehicle to drive to school in the fall. I hope this will work for her.

 

[Grit dog]

Ugh. I get flashbacks of growing up in the rust belt seeing stuff like this! Lol
Idk how to fix it, but the rest of the truck is like new! Definitely worth keeping.

 

[bucket]

Those cab mounts will be annoying and painful to repair (like anything where you have to fab and weld upside down) but daggone, that's a really clean Dakota otherwise. Definitely worth fixing.

I don't care much for the 4.7, but that's mostly because I think they suck in a full size truck. Gutless turds, I tell ya.

 

[Midnightmoon]

Thanks for the encouragement everyone. Believe it or not, I am actually looking forward to the challenge.

The only mark on the entire truck is on the front bumper from where someone backed in to it in a parking lot. Other than that, the paint and body look fantastic for something 18 years old. The paint even still has a deep shine to it.

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[SirRobyn0]

Those cab mounts will be annoying and painful to repair (like anything where you have to fab and weld upside down) but daggone, that's a really clean Dakota otherwise. Definitely worth fixing.

I don't care much for the 4.7, but that's mostly because I think they suck in a full size truck. Gutless turds, I tell ya.

If I'm honest I'm not much of a fan of the 4.7 or the 5.7 Chrysler motors. Yes, the 5.7 has power, but they also have problems. But you know if a truck with a 4.7 fell into my lap I wouldn't say know because of that that's for sure!

 

[AyWoSch Motors]

Those cab mounts will be annoying and painful to repair (like anything where you have to fab and weld upside down) but daggone, that's a really clean Dakota otherwise. Definitely worth fixing.

I don't care much for the 4.7, but that's mostly because I think they suck in a full size truck. Gutless turds, I tell ya.

The 4.7 that was/is in my Cherokee, had pretty good power, that jeep was pretty fast, but I'll agree they are junk. Poorly designed engines. Okay when their running, but they so often dont.

 

[bucket]

The 4.7 that was/is in my Cherokee, had pretty good power, that jeep was pretty fast, but I'll agree they are junk. Poorly designed engines. Okay when their running, but they so often dont.

Yeah, they are fine in a smaller truck. But they simply don't have the grunt to move around a bigger truck at speed. People that complain about a 305 TBI in a squarebody have probably never driven a 4.7L Ram 4x4.

 

[Midnightmoon]

Well, it only took me two months. But, here are the results.

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[WebMonkey]

had a 91 xtra cab 2wd with the 318.
it had some get up an go.
rear drums rotted right off it