Nice truck! I'm in sorta of the same boat though; I hope you had more to work with than I do. I've owned my Dakota for a couple months now, I'm new here and I have many plans to better my Dakota. I posted a few picks of my work-in-progress on this thread.
I need to ask you a few things about how you went about prepping and painting your wheels. I hope you can help me out; no sweat if you can't though.
I want to paint my wheels satin black but I had a crappy experience a few years ago, on another truck that I owned, when I had my tired remounted - the paint got wrecked! I scuffed up the existing finish to accept the new paint and used paint that should have been able to withstand almost anything...but it didn't.
What type of paint did you use and how did you go about prepping them?

Replacing my V6 Magnum is something I REALLY WANT TO DO but that is ways off. If you think of it, let me know how you make out. I wish you the best none-the-less.

Thanks!

 

Hey everyone my names Trevor. I'm new to these forums, just bought my Dakota a month ago. Original picked her up for a work truck/daily so I wouldn't have to drive my car every day and wasn't planning on doing anything to it. But things changed quickly. The 17" Pro Comp Xtreme's w/ Nitto Terra Grabblers came with the truck.

Truck:
2002 V8 4.7L 4x4

Mods I've Done:
Westin Brush Guard
DDM Tuning 55w 6k Lo/Hi HID Kit
KC Daylighter's
K&N Intake
Magnaflow Exhaust
Linex Bed Liner
15% Tint all around
Window Vents
Tinted Tail Lights (Had to remove thanks to 5-0 but ordered covers)
Tinted 3rd Brake Light
Clear Turn Markers
Pioneer AVH-P6300BT 7'' In Dash Headunit
TView 12'' Ceiling Monitor
Escort Passport 8500 Radar Detector
Painted Black Calipers
Doors & Tail Gate De-badged

Only picture I have of the truck right now
315002_2659522730332_1323815280_3036140_858064580_n.jpg

And a shot of my car.
248897_2140593197418_1323815280_2548556_1168362_n.jpg

 

Your truck is kick-*** - especially the finish!!!
Eventually, I plan to have my black truck repainted or gone over with a satin finish.

Did you get your truck painted with that finish or is that a satin clear-coat?
Just curious...

 

I just put a brush guard that looks just like yours today. Saw it Craigs list and I picked it up last week for $100. The guy said it was a Smitty-Built but I didn't see a brand name on it and if you go to the website, it looks like they just do Jeep stuff.
It seemed simple and straight-forward enough to install...but it wasn't.
The four bolts that you mount the steel plates to under my truck were gone - not the end of the world and it explained the squeaking that I kept hearing in the front end.
The problem that I had was with two of the four bolts behind the bumper/under the headlights where you mount the upper mounting hardware. I had to torch two of the bolts out - not for the light-hearted especially with the coolant reservoir being so close on the driver's side.

Not a great picture but here-go:

 

IMG_0245.jpg
DSC09632.jpg

 

DSC09347.jpg

 

Hey sorry for the wait! I've been at college so I don't really check up on the forums all that often since I'm without my truck there.

But as for the wheels, I didn't use paint, I used plasti-dip. It's a spray on rubber type deal. It lasts and is pretty durable from what I've seen of it on my wheels since I did it about 7 months ago and there are no scratches or rips on it from on road and occasional off road use. I went with plasti-dip because of the design of the wheels on my dak since sanding them would be a pain in the neck. I'm eventually going to get them powder coated next summer hopefully.

Prepping your wheels isn't that bad, just takes a lot of meticulous cleaning. I just got a bucket of soapy water and hand washed the back and front of the wheels, rinsed them off and dried them with paper towels. Then I took an aerosol can of carb cleaner and sprayed the wheels to rid them of grease/oils and any other hard to get dirt (Carb cleaner eats through just about anything) wiped down the wheels and rinsed them off with the hose and dried them off with paper towels and it was ready to be sprayed. I took index cards and placed them between the tire and the lip of the wheel so you don't have to remove your tire makes things easier.

As for the engine, I'm happy with the 4.7, it's not as under powered as the v6 and gets better gas mileage (Atleast I get better mileage than a friend of mine who drives a v6 dak). I did some mods to the engine to gain horsepower and torque. Most recently at the beginning of August I polished the heads to allow smoother air flow through the intake and exhaust ports and I also have a cold air intake. I removed the mechanical fan and replaced it with an electric fan. BUT that had problems with it and it stopped working so I threw the Mech. fan back on for now.

Like you, my Hemi swap is a ways off, the plans for my truck are always changing. since those pictures have been posted I've done body work on my truck, the rear bumper was sanded down and repainted to match the truck, the passenger door had a small dent in it left side of the door handle. That is now gone and repainted but the buffing kit I got to take care of over spray completely ruined the paint job and more of the door, so next summer I'm re painting that door and the Dakota sport decals are coming off. Hopefully a body lift and re-indexed torsion keys will also be here by next summer. I'll also be removing the spare tire mount from under the truck and spraying the spare wheel to match the rest. So it seems to be a never ending list with the truck that most wont probably get done till I'm a Senior in college.
Best of luck on your truck!

 

It's my trucks Qc twin!
Nice truck!

 

My names John, new to the site.
Ive got a 98 dakota
4x4
5.2l 5speed
ram front solid axle
fiberglass fenders and hood
flowmaster exhaust

photo-1.jpg
photo.jpg

 

It looks better with mud on it lol.