Looks great. I have what your originally had (red+white) except that what would be your white is silver. I have been planning on taking off the black trim all around and doing rocker guard from there down for a long time now. Been waiting to fix 1 or 2 rust spots first then I will do it. I don't know what to do with the tailgate though because it is shot (bottom is super rusty) and I cannot find another one the same color

 

Honestly Sauxon I'd keep the trim(and I did!). Its useful in the aspect that it stops alot of what your tires spray up from hitting the upper parts of your paint job. It also has that nice "Dakota 4x4" emblem on the doors which I kinda like.

Just throwing out an update here also.
I was planning on getting the final layer of paint on my truck this weekend since it was a long weekend for me. Rain had something to say about that though. So hopefully next weekend I'll have the paintjob all nice and properly evened out.

I'm also highly considering ordering a Tonneau cover this week. Gonna shop around a bit since there are a few places in town where I know I can usually squeeze a deal out of. But I'll be getting the Truxedo LoPro QT. My old man had that on his 03 Dakota and it was an awesome system. Super easy to use and it rolled up nice and compact towards the rear window when we didn't need it. It also had a few bars built into the fabric to help it keep its shape and combat sag.

 

Got my new decal on the truck tonight.

 

Well no progress to talk about today. Although I am still waiting for my tonneau cover to come in. Its gonna be 4-6 week wait, I think I'm on week 2 1/2 of the wait lol.

But I do bring good tidings of a video I took while 4x4ing today with my buddy and his 97 Dakota.
I'll be honest though. I really enjoyed revving my engine like a twit at the beginning of the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUxio...ature=youtu.be
If you didn't notice. I GOT AIR!

 

Cool. It's all about having fun. At least that wasn't to much air to hurt it.

 

Yea I didn't even realize I was in the air. He had to show me the video to believe it.

I think the puddle/mud cushioned most of the landing though.

Still one thing off my bucket list :P

 

I got my tonneau cover the other day!
Like I said earlier its the Truxedo LoPro QT and holy crap I couldn't believe how easy installation was. If I hadn't been bull****ing with a coworker while I was setting it up it would've been easily 10 minutes to put together. This will probably be the last mod I do to Reggie since I plan on picking up a fullsize in the near future. (I'm aiming for January) Only other thing I have planned is cleaning up my mistakes on the paint job. But I have all summer for that!

Anyways heres a picture of the truck in all its current glory!


After driving with it for a few days now also I don't think I ever want to own a truck again without some kind of cover over the bed! The difference it makes in wind drag resistance is amazing! I used to get thrown around on the highway pretty easy since there are open fields and mountains on either side of my highway. Now I just plow through it without having to make any corrections.

 

Heres another picture of the tonneau cover I forgot to post.

 

Well just to fire off some news in here for anyone who cares. Honestly I just enjoying logging the info I think lol.

I'm sticking with the Dak for a few more years since during my hunt for a fullsize I ended up saying screw this I'm going to school. Well I got accepted at my university into the apprenticeship program to be an Mechanic/Auto Technician. So the daks been taken off the road for the winter since it'll cost way to much to run the truck while I'm at best going to be able to get a weekend job. So I'll be using the extra money I got laying around to buy my toolset and do a few more repairs on the Dak.

The big one I want to do is fix that god damn rattle in my truck. If I have to rip that entire engine apart short of actually removing the block I'll do it! Right now my two biggest suspects from everything I've learned over the past month are either my timing chain or worst case scenario my main bearings. Although you'd think if it were the main bearings the 30k I've put on the truck would've at some point had a major calamity. And when I compare this truck to the 98 2wd 5.2 I used to have there is very little difference in power except the gear ratios they had. So I'm leaning largely toward my timing chain slapping around or one of the gears having something abnormal going on.

Here is a description of the rattle if anyone has any input on it that'd be great.
The sound is only there when the truck is warm so its something that obviously sits snug when cold but after it heats up it expands.
It makes no difference if the truck is in Park, drive, or neutral the sound is always there.
Sometimes the sound actually goes away for a few days but it always comes back. So its kind of intermittent.
I also have one of those stethoscope sort of things that you can use to feel around your engine to pinpoint noises. The only place I've ever been able to hear that sound is at the very front of my oil pan.
Also I notice no loss of power with my truck.
My oil pressure is fine and the oil itself is very clean.