Looking at a 2 owner R/T this weekend with 66k miles.
Built trans with 2800rpm stall convertor
Custom exahust with cutouts

Other than that, looks fairly clean. I know 2nd gens rot out REALLY BAD, so where can I start to see rot the earliest? Anything else to look out for? 5.9 seems pretty durable/straightforward.

Cheers!

 

Both of my Dakota's rusted the worst on the rockers like every other truck. They also both rusted almost as bad around the rear wheel wells pretty good so if it has fender flares take a close look around the area to see if you can find any evidence of rust being hidden by them. Once it's there it spreads quick.
Also the front wheel well near the corner of the headlight they both started to bubble rust.
The rust have never given me any actual mechanical problems though, it has all been cosmetic.
But, both of mine were cheaper pretty high mileage MN trucks sooooo I would really hope the one you're looking at doesn't have those issues already. If it does I wouldn't buy it.

 

If it has fender flares, those love to hold moisture and rot the fender lip. Rocker panels as par. Check fluids while cold, ect. Tire wear, wheel dings/chips.

Check ball joints. Eyeball the front alignment/camber specifically. During driving test, check looseness of the steering wheel, the intermediate shaft is a common issue.

Bring a handheld code scanner, look for pending codes after the driving test.

If it's lowered beyond base RT height, find out what brand so you know what bushings to use.

 

Is there anyway to prevent the rust? I want to use it year round, but BARELY use it. I drive my current truck maybe 4x per winter, and maybe put 3k miles on it during the summer just running errands.

 

cut out and replace any existing rust, and apply a thick undercoating

 

If you drive it that seldom in the winter, then maybe it's worth the time to clean in real well after you drive it during winter. Or just don't drive it in the winter. Why do you only drive it 4 times?

 

Usually towing snowmobile trailers on a weekend trip. I really don't use my older 94 dakota very often, but its's so handy owning a house and having a truck. I drive it more often towing my boat, but after gettings tuck at the launch with an open diff, I have been hunting for a clean 4wd dakota or a clean dakota RT (limited slip). Both should handle a boat launch decently.

 

I would just put a lunchbox locker in your 94. ~$700 installed (it replaces the spider gears, no gear setup required) and locks both axles together under power. I have a lockrite in the race truck.

 

I tried dude. Every single ****ing place I called wanted $1200-1500 to install it. And then I'd be putting $1200-1500 into a truck with an anemic V6 that is worth $2000 tops.

 

Holy sh**. Wow. The locker is like $400 and takes one hour to install. Those shops don't know what TF they are doing. $12-1500 is to do a whole new ring/gear/locker install. If you asked for a lunchbox locker, they don't know what the F that is.

Your 1994 V6 should be a 27 spline 8.25" (oval diff cover). If you have the 3.27 or 3.55 gears you can install the lunchbox locker at home. 3.92 I think clears, 4.10 requires using a special crosspin or grinding the inside tip of the ring gear. You pop out the C-clip, pull the axles out, remove the old cross-pin and all the spider gears, put the spacers in, then the splined teeth, re-install the C-clips, then put the center teeth in, then install the crosspin.

Shop labor will run you about $150-200, it's about 1.5 hours if you take your time.

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