I read that 1995 Dakota and 1996 Dakota have interchangeable parts, BUT when I look at the two different years the 1996 looks like it has a DIFFERENT front end than the 1995 which I have?

 

The grill may be different; that does NOT mean it's not interchangeable.

Of course, you may also have the sealed beam front end; whereas all 1996s were supposedly the Aero design. So it's still interchangeable, you just have to swap more to get it to interchange.

In the FAQ you'll find the parts list; that helps to determine what's the exact same, and what just interchanges.

RwP

 

Thanks for that info RwP!

 

This is probably not the sort of parts you were asking about.The 95 interior trim parts from the side panels in the foot area,over the door trim the pilasters with speaker opening and the trim across the back under the window fit in the 94.

 

You're not confusing the 96 Dakota with the 97 are you? The major redesign happened for 1997, from 1991 to 1996 the different model years are virtually indistinguishable except for badges, decals and side moldings. As Ralph mentioned there are the two different headlight systems from 91-95 but even then the grilles are the same design.

If you know what to look for you can tell the different years at a casual glance, or at least you can say one is later than the other, but otherwise it's tough.

The 1997 Dakota was dramatically different in body style even though the frames were very similar and as has been posted up here the bed from the gen 2 Dak will bolt up to a gen 1, not that anyone would really want to do that, but it will bolt on.

I would call this a generic gen 1 dakota. Best a person could say is that it's most likely later (94-96)



This is generic gen 2 dakota. Red was very popular with gen 2 trucks.



Steve

 

the model year does not follow the calendar year at all. They change to the new model year around August. so it is very possible to have a 1997 that was actually built and even sold before 1/1/1997.
a lot of people make that mistake and go by the build date thinking that it has to be the model year shown as the build date.
I remember back around that time, and this happens more often than people realize; think about (ugh I know) Fords for a minute. and F150's in particular. They redesigned them for the 1997 model year. (for the worse, for sure but that is beside the point/ at least for the moment) The 96s were still the old "square body" and so were 97s, as long as you got the "heavy duty" version of the F250 or the 350.
but I remember that you could actually buy a brand new 1997 F150, starting in October 1995!!!!! with a full model year run of 1996s which looked identical to a 1995 still to be produced.....
some years/models of cars use up the last of the "old body style" calling that version a "heritage" or "classic" and sell it along with the "new version," designated as the same model year of car, side by side in the showroom.

In fact my 1978 (according to the VIN) Plymouth Sport Fury was actually BUILT in Aug of 1977 according to the door jamb sticker. I still have this car.

 

Generally production of current model starts in October and ends in the following July or August although there are exceptions, like when completely new models are introduced.

Steve

 

Glenlloyd has a very good point. To find out the model year, you really need to check the 10th character of the VIN to determine the model year. My 1988 has a "J" there; for the 1995 model year, it's a S, and for 1996 model year, a T.

RwP

 

Yep, most definitive way of finding out year is via the VIN digit 10.

Steve

 

is my 1996 dodge ram 1500 compatible with this 1996 dodge dakota