Newbie to the forum, and he's a bit of a mess at the moment and certainly nothing to look at as he's not pretty in the slightest, but this truck means the world to me and today started my journey on fixin' him back up!
This is my 2002 Dodge Dakota SLT. It was my Dad's work truck. Dad had two Dakotas and this one was the one he was driving every day when he passed in 2011. I got this one, my sister got the other (an older model grey with a huge ladder rack and toolboxes on it). She's not bothered to do anything with the one she has, but with this one I want to restore it as much as possible so it can once again be my daily driver. It had some issues with overheating and it was (hopefully) corrected. Today, with just a brand new battery, he fired right up after years of sitting still, so that gives me so much hope that not all is lost!
Oil change, new brakes, tune up and a full detailed cleaning are next on the list, then new bumpers (because the old one is completely rusted through on front), headliner, and back window slider! Already bought new seat covers, floor mats, wipers, tags and insurance! I can't wait to be driving him every day again.

 

Nice truck, hope it treats you well.

Good to hear you're getting him back and running again.

Good luck

 

Giving it my best shot!
I think the honestly hardest thing for me to do will be replacing the headliner because while I have replaced bumpers and such myself in the past, I've never done a headliner.

 

Well heard it's not to bad off a job to do, just search the forum for other threads and you may find some helpfull tips.

 

 

I have a 94 dakota with a v6 magnum. I bought it roughly 6 months ago, it had 117,XXX miles on it i have put on just over 12,XXX miles on it. Recently its had an issue that comes and goes its something electrical. But what is happening is when i turn on my headlights all the guages stop working besides speedometer above 30mph and the door buzzer goes off constantly and adjusting the dimmer makes the noise louder or quieter also all the dash lights dont work when this isue occurs but the high beam light works and the blinker lights just stay on but still flash when in use if anyone has had this issue and permanently fixed it i would like to hear how im not sure how often i will remember to check this so if you have fixed this issue before please text me with info at 3two0-5one5-1six05

 

Bad ground somewhere.

 

2003 3.9 V6 111,000+ miles purchased March 2024 to eliminate the need to haul a trailer with my Cadillac SUV for many trips to Home Depot/Lowe's, etc.
What I have done so far:
Replaced white body stickers with Black
Painted front bumper black
Installed new spare tire winch, salvaged steel rim, used spare tire, salvaged jack & tools set.
Replaced aftermarket rear bumper with factory style including access hole for spare tire winch.
Replaced steering wheel with cruise-control model steering wheel, installed salvaged cruise servo, now working cruise control.
Replaced rusted lug nuts with new black lug nuts.
Added bluetooth transmitter to FM radio for music & phone. (Plug & play).
I enjoy messing with this truck and driving it. It has been very useful already.

 

Nice.