I just bought a 2004 Dakota QC, low km, good price, even the colour I wanted (not always easy when buying used). So far, very happy! After 15 years of SUVs, it's my first pick-up. But now come the inevitable questions: 1) the truck has wind deflectors mounted with 3M adhesive strips around the windows, and they seem to cause a lot of wind noise. Will removing them reduce wind noise? And how can I do this? 2) Bedliners - lots of posts about spray in vs drop in, and I am leaning towards the Line-X. Are the DIY kits worthwhile? I have a compressor and spray gun, and three sanders to prep the bed. Or will a Mopar bed rug or other floor liner do the trick? 4) Finally, tonneaus. I am leaning towards the Mopar or the Truxedo (velcro). Any experiences with these or other recommendations?

After many years of watching, the wait is over.

 

Congrats!

Wind deflectors, haven't had them but if there's a lot of wind noise then they're probably to blame. I didn't have any complaints about wind noise until I added a 48" firestik on the driver's side, now I've got a fair amount of weird noise.

As far as removing adhesive tape, just get a hair dryer out and warm the stuff up and pull it off. Shouldn't be too hard.

Bed liners: Mine was sprayed before I bought it, but I had my Ram sprayed. I won't do a drop in liner. While it would be nice to have the slick surface when hauling dirt, bark, rocks, etc.... I'd rather not deal with it scratching up the bed and letting water pool under it.

My buddy did the DIY with his Power Wagon and it didn't hold up for crap. Half of his bed is bare again. I'd go with the Line-X or Rhino, period.

And I've got no comments on your last subject. Haven't used one, haven't wanted one.

 

hey hows it going i am a new member of this forum but i think i can answer some of your questions. i have a '99 dakota it came with a drop in plastic liner and i hated it all my stuff would slide all over the place. so i took it out and i had a rhino liner installed i love it. i would tend to steer clear of the do it yourself kits because the liner will chip up very easily. go with the rhino liner you wont be disapointed. and about a tonneau cover i have a truxport (i believe it is made by truxedo) and its awesome it was also a lot cheaper than some of the other brands

 

Hey-

Congrats on your purchase, i have had the window visors you speak of on both my ram and my dakota, and it didnt affect the wind noise on either of them. For bedliners, spray in is the way to go. Rhino liner is softer and thicker than Line-X, however it tends to fade over time and is not as scratch/chip resistant or as hard as the extremely durable Line-X, so i would say the way you are leaning towards the Line-X is a very smart choice. There are threads on here where people with rhino say they wish they would have gotten a Line-X, so that is something you may want to keep in mind if you want to spend the money for a spray in. As for tonneau covers, IMO and i am sure ryans590 will concure with me on this, a company named Access makes one hell of a tonneu cover. You can tighten it manually, which is a plus compared to most of the competators crappy autotightening mechanism, they are never tight enough. Going down the interstate i always see the Lunds, Truxedos, Tonneumasters, etc. blowing like a flag in the back of trucks. Access also has about the best velcro-type fastening design i know of. Whatever tonnue you decide on, make sure it has the manual adjustments to tighten/loosen. EDIT-once you own a truck with a tonneu cover, you wont own one without it!!! enjoy your dakota !!!

 

i will admit the access is a nice tonneau cover but i dont think its worth $500 my truxport was like $250 and it has the manual tightening feature. and the sides are the velcro type

 

Thanks for the input! I'll post my decisions as I make them over the next month or so. Love the forum, and I can't wait until I know enough to post a few replies of my own.

 

Mine was $400 installed. Access's vinyl is thicker/heavier and IMO feels much more durable. When i was looking at the other brands most of them felt cheap. I actually was looking at either the truxedo or the access, and decided to go with the access. Truxedo would be my second choice, and i will admit that they are probably the best for the money you pay. Also take a good hard look at the access velcro sides and then look at any other brand. You will notice that Access's is about twice wide and reinforced, and also has lips that secure the sides/edges of the velcro in place, which is where the velcro starts coming off once it gets worn out. (these would also make ever having to replace the velcro extremely easy) Take note at how the rails that hold the tonneu in place while it is down are arranged. On my old dakota, i wont metion what brand cough LUND cough cough the rails would always fall down in the bed and stick out the sides between the box and the tonneu when it was windy. Whatever you decide, remember you usually get what you pay for in the automotive world when it comes to things like Tonneu's, Grille Guards, Bed Liners, etc. etc. etc. Enjoy the truck !!!!!!