92 club cab 2wd w/a 318; 186K miles
My fuel pump died on me the other day, no biggie (or so I thought)
I put one in my old 90, another in my 94, and at least 2 (maybe 3 I don't remember exactly, but it was more than one) in my 93......
anyways, I dropped the tank out, and noticed right away that this was not the 1st time the fuel pump had been worked on (replaced? I dunno) before it became "my" truck. The threaded nylon nut was way cockeyed, touching the tank on one side and barely catching the 1st thread on the other. I grabbed a protrusion on the pump and pulled it right out w/o having to unscrew the retainer nut.
here is where teh fun began. I swapped the pump and went to put the retainer back on. the top flange went flat/flush with the new pump and basically bottomed out just by sitting it on there, would not take any amount of turning to try and cinch it down, like it was stripped....

so I look online and found a PN for that nylon retainer and called a local dealer to see if they had one. The one 2 blocks from work didn't have.
The one closer to home didn't have. but a dealer 45 miles the other way, in basically the opposite direction from home, did. so I went out there after work, (normally a 35 mile drive, from work to home was more like 110 miles today) it won't thread on. It don't bottom, but it won't start either. it's like the tank has coarse threads and the retainer is fine thread, if that makes sense. The threads on the tank look to be undamaged.
the new retainer nut I got, the PN said on the online listing that it fit from '91 to some time in the 2000's (I forget the exact ending year of the fit) but it was claimed to fit pickups, Ram vans, and many Jeeps in those years. Was there a different one for the Dakotas? I know that thru 96 the tanks are the same year to year on Dakotas. the only difference is 15 gallon vs 22 gallon within that year range.

I know that the pumps and that retainer nut are the same between a 15 gallon tank and a 22 gallon tank, because i put a 22 gallon tank where a 15 used to sit on my '94 that I had.
I have a couple of Dakota tanks (that 15 gal. tank from my 94 and at least 1, 22 gallon) in storage 30 miles away. Next step is to go get one of those and swap it in tomorrow.
does anyone know if there were more than 1 lock nut among these trucks? (meaning that I just got the wrong one) and where besides a junkyard I can get a correct one?
I looked up Dorman and they show one for such cars as a 57 Mercury, some years of Studebaker, 55-57 Chevy etc but nothing for newer Dodges...... you'd think that they'd sell more of a (more) current fuel pump/sending unit retainer than one for a 60 year old car? but no listing for one for our trucks.

 

162 looks, no replies.... I wound up going to the junkyard and getting one that works. thanks anyway....

 

I was thinking that no one had experienced it. I know my lock nut was hard to get on and that is really all I could offer you. I had to push down hard to get it started. What did you get at the junk yard, nut or tank?

 

got a replacement nut from the yard.
The original one would not catch any threads almost like it had no threads. it was flared out at the bottom. Whoever had done the pump before had it all the way down on one side and barely caught anything opposite.
this certainly was not my 1st fuel pump replacement on a Dakota, just my 1st time (hopefully only) time doing the pump on THIS Dakota. and the new one from the dealer acted like the thread pitch was off.....
I have a couple of these tanks stashed in my storage barn but that's 30 miles (ish) away.... was hoping not to have to waste an hour going out there to retrieve one. the junkyard was a closer to home choice, ha ha
it's in, and I'm back up n running again...... now it's onto a trans rebuild for my newly acquired '96 4X4.... it was tedious being down to one vehicle even though it was just for a day. with my wife and I work schedule being staggered by a couple hours and in opposite directions from home, one of us dropping off the other won't work, no way no how.
this winter has been a "it rains, it pours" one both around the house and on the road.... lots of non car related headaches and issues, so the vehicles have gotta run all the time, any time.