I always have liked the dakota r/t. well today i got to test drive one. I was very impressed..what a torquey little f'er that thing was. Its a 2001..only downside is, it has 147,000 miles. Is that something i should stay away from? The engine sounds healthy..no tapping, knockin. It has mods that the previous owner installed themselves..Flowmaster duals, it has a bigger throttle body..cant recall the brand. K&N intake, and also a 2 and 3" suspension drop. I didnt get the name of the manufacturer of them parts either. I will find out though. And the trans has been rebuilt and has a shiftkit in it. It will chirp second gear.
Me and my dad are gonna take it to our mechanic and have him inspect it. It really feels like a solid truck..great handling, brakes felt great. No rear end noise..which by the way do the R/T's come with the dana 9 1/4" rear? I'd think so..

 

im not too sure about the dana rear, i dont recall they do, but they could. i would definantly say take a further look at the truck. it sounds like it was well taken care of and if it runs strong then you have nothin to worry about. they are bad *** trucks, i drove one when i was lookin for my dak!

 

Ok thanks. I thought all the 9 1/4" rears where dana. guess not. but they are a pretty tough rear right? And the 5.9 does sound healthy..i think it sounds more alive than our durango which has less miles on it. It starts up real quick also. But yeah probably friday where gonna take it to a mechanic. Right now the dealer is asking 6000. Which i believe is a little too much for a truck with the amount of mileage

 

My glovebox says Corporate 9, not such if that's by Dana but I do know the 9 refers to 9 1/4"

 

147 is a lot of miles, just remember that those miles will be on there. personally i would look for something with less miles. but it does sound to be done up and run nice. i personally would rather do my own things to a stock truck.

 

they are tough rear ends so you wont have to worry. thats good that it sounds strong. always a good sign. but there is just a risk factor in buying such high mile trucks. i would keep lookin for more, with less miles. but keep this one in the back of your mind. it sounds like it will be a good truck. you just never knnow once ya start drivin it everyday.

 

This is MY veiwpoint on the subject. I bought my truck, an 01, it had a camper shell on it, with 85k for $8. back in 05. It had a geezer setup...which I love...means they didnt dog the **** out of it. As a professional mechanic For Midas, In my eyes, There are things to avoid when purchasing a vehicle. One, that is alot of miles. Two, all the mods and upgrades means that some one raced it around town and drove the crap out of it. Any type of sports car or truck that has been upgraded, means they upgraded it for a reason... they wouldnt put all those parts to help it run better, if they werent gonna dog it. That goes with any vehicle. All you can do is pray the person who had the truck kept up on all the maintance, and that its still mechanically sound. Me though, I would still jump on the truck if I really wanted it... But would expect to have the truck show some signs of its history within the first couple weeks or so... Dont get me wrong dude... Im not trying to turn you away from it... It may be an awesome truck... Its hard to kill that 360...

 

very good points! definantly nailed it. listen to this guy ^^^^

 

Don't forget that if an old geezer drove it around and bogged around on his 2 mi trip to the drug store and back every day, then that motor is in worse shape than someone who got on it every now and then drove 50 miles on the highway everyday.

A motor with 85k miles of never seeing more than 2 grand on the tac is in worse shape than a motor with a 145k miles of highway driving and the occasional "cleaning out of the exhaust". If the truck was bogged around all day it creates carbon build up in the motor. The only way to get rid of it is extended periods of driving (highway miles) or getting the motor a little hot (getting on it a few times for fun or whatever).

Bogging down the motor is also tough on a transmission. Not as much as the motor but still...

Just food for thought...



As far as the OP goes, just like an car/truck it comes down maintenance and luck. You really never know what you're getting with any used vehicle you buy. I've seen vehicles totally beat for years on end last longer then vehicles meticulously maintained and vis versa. This R/T might be awesome and run like a champ till 250-300k miles or it may crap out next week, you really have no way of knowing. At least if it appears to run well and there is no ticking/knocking then its a good start for sure.

 

You're really trying to tell me about carbon build-up and how to get rid of it? HAHA!!! thats funny... Carbon build up is a scam the good folks tell you to buy stuff to clean it out... I bet you beleive in global warming too...The easter bunny?