so yea i currently have a ford ranger that im upgrading from to a dakota. im looking at a 1999 club cab 4x4 with a automatic and 5.2l v8. its only got 48k miles on it and looks awesome. so since im unfamiliar with this model truck my question is what are the weakest areas on these trucks that i should look for? i have surfed the forum a bit and it looks like overall its a solid truck with the most problems coming from neglected transmissions. does this sound right?

 

Yes this is truly an upgrade... I drive a Ranger for work, and I am always glad to get back into my Dakota at the end of the day.
As far as I've noticed, I've seen a few people on here with some oil burning issues, and the Dakotas don't get the best gas mileage.
The Dakota is a very solid truck. Many of the people on here have well over 200,000 miles on the truck and it is still running stronger than many other trucks with half the mileage. I personally have *only* 118,000 miles on my truck and the most work I've had to do in the year and a half I have had it is front brake pads.

Congrats on the new truck!

 

The weakest part of a dakota is that thing behind the wheel,
you will be very happy,
and if jetnoise dosen't have to replace too many parts, its a good sign
(she has a knack for money~pit cars {koff*larado*koff})
________
Colorado Marijuana Dispensaries

 

95% of the time i ride a motorcycle getting 70mpg, and i live 3 miles from work so gas mileage isnt an issue for me. i mostly need to drive it when im feeling lazy or its wet outside. plus i need to carry two ATV's in the bed as well as our kid and later a 5k pound trailer. the ranger does everything but seat 3 and haul a trailer so the dakota should be pretty bad ***. cant say ive had one complaint against the ranger though, i expect the same from the dakota. the ball joint problem is years 2000 and up right?

 

Hey man, I used to have a little '88 S-10, So i know exactly the Upgrade you're going through lol. I got back from Iraq in 2003, to find that I had enough money to get a solid truck, with a V8. I was excited, and to tell you the truth, I love driving my truck to this day. I've been slowly adding upgrades (for pleasure), but she's coming along quite nice. The only problem? Well, the recall on the ball joints! But, they were fixed before it was an issue from the dealer of course....I laugh at the people who are buying "little imports" because It saves money on gas.....I'm happy I can hang with the sports cars that were made to burn trucks, haven't lost to very many! Great all around truck, great towing, performance and a great gas hog. What else could you want?

Oh, and I think the Dakota is one of the best looking trucks appearance wise....most would agree its sporty, yet conservative enough not to be looking "old" in a few years. Welcome to the Dodge club!

 

i bought it! put my deposit down. guy is taking it to the shop to get smogged oil and tranny fluid changed. should have it by the weekend. im stoked!