I bought my first truck a couple of days ago after my Caravan finally kicked the bucket. It's a 1992 Dodge Dakota, V8 Magnum, 2Wd regular cab.

The seller told me that it has a shift kit, and I didn't know what that was until I started driving it.

The real issue I have with that is that I can't stand it. The tranny tries to shift from 1st to 2nd, but if I am on roads that don't allow it, the engine sounds rough.

Is there any way to change the setting so that it doesn't try to work at such a low speed? I drive lower speed roads most of the time, and this is really getting annoying.

The other thought is to just get rid of it. My question there is how to do this, and how much would this run me.

Second issue is lack of heat in the cab. There is none, well, very little. I get low heat if I have it on the dash setting, but no other setting. I have no idea of it's the radiator that's the problem. The rad has a ton of holes in it.

Other suggestions is that it's the heater core or the rad just needs a flush. Until I get it into a mechanic, I have no idea really what to do about it.

I'm sure there are wiring issues, as my reverse lights don't work. Not sure how to test for that.

Other than some body rust and a parking brake line that needs to be replaced, the truck is in great shape for its age.

Forgive me for sounding stupid, but what is Overdrive and how exactly does it work?

What's the wheelbase size? I'm going to need to replace the rims as they're extremely rusty.

I work in landscaping, and this will be a great truck for that, sure beats the old van that I had.

I am also wondering about a bed liner, the truck doesn't have anything. With all the salt and snow that will be in the back, I am thinking that I will need some sort of liner right?

I'm hoping I've made a good decision when purchasing this truck, I've always wanted a truck and now I have one.

 

Welcome to the Dakota club!

The shift kit shifts the transmission faster which usually makes it firmer.
Sounds like the TV (Throttle Valve) cable needs to be adjusted. Check the FAQ for a how to.

If the radiator has tons of holes it is a possibility there is not enough coolant for the heater core.
It is possible that the heater core is clogged. Try flushing out the heater core. Use a garden hose and run it in reverse and switch it. To much pressure may bust the heater core. I used the car wash pressure hose and it was fine, but others may not be lucky.

There are 4 gears in the transmission. OD is the 4th gear, it is called over drive because of the gear ratio gives it a higher gear ratio than the DRIVE gear. Drive gear is typically the 3rd gear, 1:1 ratio. www.howstuffworks.com has good detailed videos on how it all works.

The wheelbase size depends on what truck body/bed setup you got. But that doesn't have anything to do with the rims. You can see the measurements here http://www.dakota-truck.net/infosheet.html

A bed liner would be nice but I don't think it is going to do much about road salts since the under carriage will get the worst of the salts.

Many more questions can be answered by the FAQ which is just a few posts above this one.

 

Thanks for the info. I definitely have a lot of reading to do, and a lot of work to do with it.

 

I looked through the FAQ and found a lot of information that is complicated to me.

Another question is about fuses. I looked at the fuse box yesterday, and there are a couple of them missing. I'm not looking at it right now, but I believe the ABS relay is missing. The light keeps coming on, not sure if it's related to that.

I know there's another one missing, just don't recall right now which one it is.

Another question is about oil. Since there are 2 access points, am I supposed to use both of them?

I noticed that stock tires are P235. My tires are P215. Is this a problem?

 

For the missing fuses, not all fuses spots will be filled in. Look at each empty spot, if there is 2 metal tabs on the inside then it is missing a fuse. If it only has 1 tab then it is open.

As for the oil, no it doesn't matter which side you pour it into.

Look at the door sticker, I believe stock tires is 205 or 215.

 

If the truck doors had stickers, I wouldn't have to ask the question about the tires. But there are no stickers on either door for some reason.

 

Stock tires are 205's, but 235's will fit with no problem (unless you have any loose plastic in the wheel well, then they will rub, but they are only rubbing on the plastic, not the frame or anything else). I'm running 235/75/r15 on my 2WD

 

I got an oil change done today, and to my surprise, the oil gauge doesn't work. One more problem to deal with.

 

Sounds like you have a lot of small annoying but easy to deal with problems. If you have road salt as bad as you say, give the frame a very good looking at. All of your other problems are negligible but if you have frame rot you are SOL.

Once you get the issues figured out (now you know why the guy sold it) it should be a solid work pickup, as long as you take care of it.

 

I don't think there's frame rot, but then again, I don't know what I'm looking for there.

However, the under body rust is pretty bad, but I guess you have to expect that with an older truck.