Hey all. I have a 00 Dakota sport 4x4 3.9 v6. I love my truck but she's not getting any younger, and I need to upgrade to a quad cab for a child seat. Been searching for a Dakota 4x4 2006+ with manual transmission, v8 quad cab, but they are virtually unattainable. Tried looking at rams, too and it's much the same. Should I give up and settle for the first auto transmission of my life? If so, benefits between Dakota and ram? I like the small size of the Dakota but I keep reading reviews about dodge putting all their resources into the ram and the Dakota kinda being the bastard child by comparison. Are they really that much better? Thoughts?

 

Some on here might say that Dakotas have all the problems of a full size without any of the benefits, I would disagree!


You will end up with a big(ish) V8 in a heavy vehicle, and it is a Chrysler product so you mileage will be awful.


But, you can tow just about as much as a Ram 1500, you can fit 5 (or six with a front bench) while you are towing that much, and you have a decent sized bed for hauling stuff around.


The front ends from the factory are less than ideal (some might say junk) but you can throw struts, tie-rod ends, ball joints and sway-bar end-links at it fairly cheaply, and if you use greasable MOOG parts, you are good to go for a long time.


Find one that is tarted up the way you want it, because finding accessories is a pain. The production run was never big enough for aftermarket supplies to jump in very deeply. I am currently driving my second one (2006 was totalled, so I now have a 2008) and I just love it.


It sounds like I have another ball joint to install this summer (2-hour job if all goes well) and I have the rust-over-the-rear-wheel issues that shows up at about 8 years of age on these things.


Oh, and forget about a V8 manual transmission - you'd be more likely to find a pot of gold held by a unicorn, ridden by a naked woman.

 

What's your fuel economy like in the 08? I get 16 in my 00 no matter what conditions I'm in. That's with an exhaustingly weak v6. I don't worry too much about repairs. They are easy enough in these trucks. In 4 years I put in new exhaust, brake lines, shocks, clutch (had to pay for that one) and other random stuff. I read somewhere that the 4 wheel drive operated differently in the 08, something about part time vs full time, but I can't find a good explanation anywhere. Also, it seems like the HP jumps to 300 in 2008?

I actually found a 06 with a manual 5 hours away from me. It's an ST model with no power windows, red and has ugly DODGE lettering in the hood. Only one on the eastern seaboard, apparently.

 

What is my fuel economy? Expensive! I don't track it, I just pay $4.00 per gallon, (Okay, C$1.00 per litre) whenever I think I need it. If I wanted fuel economy, I'd have a SmartCar (LOL).


My 4wd is selectable 2wd/4wd High/4wd Low. I don't have AWD like I did in the '06. I think that when the agreements ran out between Daimler Benz and Chrysler, they had to drop the MB AWD system.

 

There are plenty of more parts available for the Ram, and if you go that route, get the Hemi.

The Dakota is perfect for me, especially since I don't tow, and I have no desire for the bigger Ram.

 

I like manual trans too. In a pickup truck I'd rather have an auto, for some reason I've had short clutch life in a truck, vs never changing a clutch in my cars with manuals.

 

So 06 was the year they were awd? I thought it was 08.I'm looking at an 08 and the 4wd selector **** has 4wd/4wd lock /4wd low options... Where is the 2wd?

 

My recollection is that for '08 it was an option or a package to have AWD, but in '06 all 4wd came with AWD, but I've been wrong before, just ask my wife . .

 

My '06 is part time 4x4.

 

My 05 is 2wd/4wd high/4wd low.