Sometimes when I am driving my 04 dakota and I floor it (merging into traffic) it seems like it kinda jumps. Almost like it shifts to another gear. Its hard to explan but it will rev really high with a burst of power and then it seems to drop a gear. Also sometimes when I first start driving and I am not very fast and let off the gas I hear a fairly loud clunk. It doesn't happen very offten I have only heard it twice in about 2 months. The truck only has 36000 miles on it. Is this typical for Dakotas, am I worried about nothing?

 

my truck does this same thing and its been getting worse and worse. id like to know what people have to say about it too.

 

It's a Dodge.

 

so when you are getting on the highway from a back road (say starting at 30 and need to merge at 65-70) and you put the pedal on the floor the rpms jump up? well that makes perfect sense, the truck interprets your foot hitting the floor as you saying "i need to go fast and i need to get there in a short amount of time" therefore it will downshift so that the engine can rev higher (where it produces more power/torque) and let you accelerate more quickly, that is how a transmission is supposed to work, and then once you get up to speed it should downshift again and the rpms will drop (it upshifts to save fuel) every car i have driven does this, so unless i misunderstood what you are talking about it is very normal

and the clunking sound, i get once in a while, but only at one intersection and it weird bc its as i come up to it and slow down, if i dont stop and just get back on the gas i will hear it, idk what it is, but its not a consistent thing and i cant find anything loose but you could check all the u joints (both driveshafts if its a 4x4) as a starting point

 

this doesnt help at all...

 

The transmissions have a lockup torque converter in them to save gas on the highway. When you're just cruising there is clutch that locks up so you are no longer running off the fluid coupler and that brings the rpms down by a few hundred. When you step on the gas, it unlocks and lets the torque converter do its job, and that causes the rpms to go up.

 

Actually, what I was talking about is when I floor the truck, the power kicks in and then seems to kick out just as fast. Its hard to explain, I'm wondering if it could be the torque converter.

 

if your saying like it feels like your truck shifts into neutral then power suddenly comes back my truck does the same, its dodge lag same thing they r talking about above,

revs go real high, then the stall/neutral thing happens, then power comes back?

 

I just had mine rebuilt (trashed the innerds).

When I cruise at 20 MPH, it holds the gear till I let off, then it (mostly silently, it's more of a feel) clunks into the next gear.

When I lay it on the floor (~30-70MPH, which I do almost daily), it basically dives to 2nd gear and stays there till redline or I let off, whichever is first. If I drag/spike the brake when i lay it down, it also seems to give it a little more kick out of the gate, idk if it's from increasing the TC speed difference or what.

 

Are you saying it was doing this prior to having your transmission rebuilt or after.