I just bought a 2000 Dakota, Club Cab, 4x4, 4.7L automatic yesterday. Overall the trucks looks pretty good considering it is over 13 years old. I would like to set it up for some minor to medium off road use, but it will be my daily driver so I can't get to crazy with it. The previous owner put too small tires on it (235/65R15s). They are brand new, but they look DUMB!! So I want to put bigger wheels and tires on it, I would like to go with 32s or 33s. I like the looks of the Mickey Thompson Classic IIIs in black. I would like to lift it 2-3 inches as well. It has some minor surface rust, so I think I am going to hit it hard and re paint it. I was half thinking of throwing bed liner at it, but would I need to prime it first? Also, are there any trouble areas I need to worry about, with the truck in general, the engine (4.7L V-8), the tranny (automatic), transfer case (floor shifted model)?

Thanks,
Gary

 

For your lift you can crank your torsion bars in the front and get about 2" in the front or you could re-key it and defiantly be able to get 2" lift in the front then for the back you could do blocks or add a leaf. With a 2" lift you can fit 32's pretty easy and shouldn't have much rubbing depending on the width of the tires you get.

 

Well if you can give us more details, like gear ratio, mileage, do you have a 9.25" rear axle, etc. It can help us with stuff.

If you really want to budget yourself, here is some stuff you can do.

(Part's cost only, not labor)
Fastman Throttle Body - $200 (15-20 hp/tq)
Cold Air or high flow intake filter - $60-160 (5-10 hp/tq)
Computer tuning - $300-600 (15-25 hp/tq)
Exhaust - $300-600 (5-10 hp/tq)

Crank up torsion bars - Free (2 inch front lift, fits 31-32 inch tires)
If you have 16" rims, you can get XXX/75/16 Cooper A/T3 are 31.5 inches

Anyways for some quick math ~$500 for 40 hp & tq, tires+new rims ~$1000 (if you do it through a junk yard and dealer price)

Biggest problem with the 4.7L, it has one known flaw, if you hear a valve chattering, it has been bent and you need to have the head removed and the valves fixed.