Okay brand new to the forum and need some tips and advice on how to restore our family truck of 9 years. It's a 2001 Dodge Dakota SLT Quad Cab with a 3.9L V6. Before the recent accident it had just reached 100,000 miles. It was my parents truck but now they bought a 2014 Focus and now it is mine and is collecting ice and snow in the yard.

Here's before (Its better days)

After the ice storm














Not sure if frame is bent or something got knocked out of place. Anyway,other than the obvious Bumper, Headlight, Fender, Airbags, what all is needed to fix this? Does anything special need to be done in order to re install some used airbags like modules or clock springs? How am I going to fix that shroud hitting the pulleys? Is it worth it or should I part it out? I would really like to get this truck running to work on my other car i have serious plans for

 

To repair that much damage is going to cost more than the truck is worth.

 

I can understand its going to be a lot. I do a lot of work myself, including painting. Forgot to mention I do know a local guy who salvages Dakota's and he could give me air bags, module, and a fender for $150 total. I do worry though that the truck won't be the same after everything. It's a shame if I have to part it out, just had an alignment, new steering rack and tires put on this summer.

 

Welcome to the forum!

If you're seriously considering this start by getting the frame checked. It looks like the bed or the cab has shifted. While the frame can be fixed in most cases it can be pricey.

They'll also let you know if the front suspension geometry is off.

To do the airbags right you are supposed to replace the column and clockspring too. It's all in the factory service manual.

The bolt on stuff is easy if you have access to parts BUT you need a good frame to hang those parts.

Good luck.

 

If i could get it out of the yard that would be helpful. I will try to take a good look at it this week. It won't start without the pulleys breaking away at the fan shroud.

If i can just get it to run and drive without serious issues that would be great. I could use it as a work truck. But what would you do if you had this issue?

Repair? Part out?

I won't junk it because that's a ripoff.

 

You're fine. Hell, yours looks TONS better than mine did when I smacked the back of an 18 wheeler

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The steps below are alot out of order from how I did them, but that's partly to compensate for keeping it look decent int he street and protecting some components from the weather. I happened to be working for a dealership at the time, so i had time and space.

You're from up north so this will be harder than here in texas, but...

#1: Take a cardboard box, paper sack, plastic bag, or any combination of the 3, and cover up the PCM on the passenger side fender. We don't want that getting any kind of wet.

#2: Crawl under the truck, and see if the cab mounts got sheared off or mushed around. The cab definitely moved, but i don't think you hurt the frame. I think you just shoved the cab around on the bushings like I did.

#3: Unbolt the upper core support that has the hood latch. It's 4 or 5 bolts on each end on the front/back, the 2 radiator support bolts, and the hood latch. Remove it. It'll pop straight up. Yours looks more salvageable than mine was.

#4: Unbolt the fan shroud from the radiator. 10mm and there's 4 or 5 of them. You'll have to wrestle it off since it's against the pulleys, but don't worry. it's only plastic, you wont break it.

#5: with the upper core support and the upper fan shroud out of the way, you can remove the fluid bottles. 3 10mm screws on each side i believe. Leave the radiator overflow on the bottle, unhook it at the cap. This helps reduce spilling. Same with the washer fluid tank, leave the hose on it if you can, and plug it with a bolt or golf tee. Again, you may have to wrestle it off.

#6: OK, so you have the upper core support, fluid bottles, and upper shroud out of the way. Now you should be able to see most of the major damage on the engine side, if there is any. Did the radiator shove into the fan? If so, it may have knocked the water pump shaft back into the timing cover. I took my clutch fan off long ago, so I got lucky there (my radiator was about 3" from the front of the pulley).

#7: Remove the air box lid. If you can separate it from the hat, leave the hat on. If not, cover the throttle body with something to keep moisture out.

#8: remove the air filter and the air box. There's a 10mm nut up on the fender (and it probably broke off line mine did) and one somewhere else, i think inside?

#9: with the airbox out, you can now see if the A/C lines were damaged. Also, now you can get to the fender mounting system much easier.

#10: remove the plastic fender liner. They make a tool for the christmas tree fasteners, but you can do it however you like.

#11: remove the 13mm nuts behind the PCM that attach the fender to the hood hinge brackets on the cab

#12: Remove the ground strap behind the passenger side headlight

#13: Remove the 13mm bolts under the fender that attach it to the cab. Theres 3 I believe.

#14: Remove the three 13mm bolts mounting the fender to the lower core support (the 3 obvious ones on top)

#15: Remove the fender. I think there's a few minor things that mount it that I have forgotten. Check before pulling.

#16: Remove the front bumper. There are 4 17mm or 18mm bolts on the very front of the frame rails, and you WILL need the sawzall to get to them, just like I did. There may also be some bumper supports underneath. Some trucks had them, some didn't. The bumper should quite literally just fall off.

#17: Evaluate the lower core support. It looks like you got lucky and it may be intact like the top is.

#18: Reverse all that stuff with new parts

 

Thanks magnethead, I will look into it. I will update this thread with pictures tomorrow if possible.

 

you posted right after i added pictures to mine.

 

Wow , Yea that is worse

 

The body parts are nothing to fix. Biggest part is making sure the frame is ok. Start by pulling the parts that way you know what you are getting into. Once you pull the bumper you will be able to tell how hard the frame was hit. Since the airbags deployed im guessing it was a pretty hard hit. You can fix it and be up in running but as far as driving like it should it prob wont. Thats why it is very important to find a good shop that can fix the frame. The price is worth it. Only other option is buy a truck that has a rusty cab/blown motor or tranny and swap your parts onto it.