I picked up a beater 1996 Dodge Dakota for $400 bucks a month ago. Had a V8 and 4WD so was a nice deal. Only real issue was the fuel line leaked and steering is sloppy. Well fixed the fuel line, and believe pitman arm is the steering issue. Unfortunately the previous owner didn’t know the radiator leaked, so now I’ve got a blown head gasket. I picked up the truck because I want mechanical experience and working on an older vehicle is a great way to learn! I’m going to attempt the head gasket soon, iv got the Haynes Manuel and access to any tools I will need. Going to be a big project for someone who hasn’t really worked on an engine at all before but that’s how we learn!

Anyways, since I only paid $400 for it I figure I can throw some money at it to improve it (besides the repairs needed). My idea for this truck is to be a “Winter Warrior” since I live in Northeast Wisconsin. The 4WD and v8 should be really nice for winter. But my other goal is to be able to reliably be able to drive through fairly deep water. My city floods extremely bad a few times a year, I was walking two blocks barefoot through knee deep water yesterday to get to my house. Because my every day vehicle is a G6. I’m about 5’ 9”, so I’m not terrible short by any means. I’d say it was about a foot and a half of water.

I have no idea how much water a dodge Dakota can get through as is. But that seems to be pushing it. It has very good clearance above the tires, not sure if that’s stock. But I believe a suspension lift would be the way to go for me to achieve more clearance. I found a suspension lift of 1-3” and would like some thoughts on it considering I’ve never done anything close to lifting a truck. But I want to do the work myself for experience. Link will be below.

Also, anyone know how deep of water a 1996 Dakota 4X4 SLT can get through stock? And any other upgrades I could make to help get through water? It’s missing the wheel wells, is that going to be important to get?

Thanks for any advice!!
Link:
https://supremesuspensions.com/produ...=1916418064394

Good to know! That’s more than a I was expecting. It’s really rusty underneath so it’s a bit hard to tell what’s still good and what might need replacing, anything in particular to look for on any of those components you meantioned!

Also, any comments on the suspension lift I linked? Not sure what would be telltale signs of a good kit vs bad one for a beginner to install.

I was looking for a suspension lift not body lift. But after an hour of research it seems that isn’t an option anymore on 1st gen dakotas. But I appreciate the idea there! It would be advantageous to lift the body because that would reduce how much would be in the water/snow. Meaning less strain on the engine and allowing it to handle deep water better.

To to be clear, your saying a 1.5-2” body lift can be achieve with the stock torsion bar?

Looky here 😀 I’m no expert but these look like a couple of lift blocks. Someone already did the work for me! Would explain why I got such good tire clearance

Didn’t see the replies before the picture, would those block be providing me a suspension or body lift?