hey guys, i bought my first Dakota today!!, its a 99 4x4 5.2L 8.25rear w/LSD, NP231 HD w/ 120K on the dash for $1,100! and its actually in great shap, now before this i had a 98zj same motor, (it was stolen and dumped in a river so its dead), and my buddy has a 01 dakota R/T so i am very farmiliar with these trucks and such

first of all All my fluids have to be changed so here are my questions
1 i know the 231 takes ATF.. should i use highmilage atf?

2 what weight do i put in the diffs? 75-90? that just seems light for the big rear end, and wat is a good off the shelf fricton modifier for the LSD

3 what is the front diff, (D30?,35?) and how do i drop it down so i can reseal the cover (never had this problem with my old solid front axle)

 

i would recommend checking the manual on all of the above questions. i would probably also recommend looking into a shop manual (chilton or haynes) if you are going to be doing a whole **** ton of work like this on your own...

regardless, Cheers and welcome to the forum!

 

alright sounds good

also i know your not really suposto change the fluid on tranys that are racking up miles, but mine is deff brown, doesnt smell burnt, just old .. should i still get it flushed?

 

^^ If it doesn't smell burnt, and your transmission is acting normally, then flush it. It'll be happy. And don't bother with the high mileage ATF, just use normal ATF +4

 

oh buy this forum just got a whole bunch gayer, trust me guys, dodgeheller99 is a doucher. haha, j/k, welcome to the forum Matt. its good to have an actual close friend on here now.