They are prone to cracking.... which is fairly fatal... best to stay away from them.

 

i havent heard back from the guy in the cummins. i'm heading out to look at the ram gasser on wednesday. i figure sure i have the nicest dakota around in my county, but straight trading for a full size and newer ram cant be wrong either?

 

I did exactly what you want to do sir and honestly ive yet to look back. Dakotas are sick little trucks but theyre just too small imo. Just be prepared to stop at just about every gas station you see! Lol, these things love fuel as much as an alcoholic does whiskey! As said before, when ya check it out, check the front end, pcv valve, plenum, tranny. When ya testd rive it do figure 8's and listen for squeeking or any kinda noises coming from the front end. make sure the tranny shifts smooth and doesnt jerk into a gear or slip. If it feels weak going up hills the plenum is done for and youll need to fix it. Other than these are solid trucks!

 

i ended up looking at the truck last night. it actually has a 360 not the 318. the ride height was great too. the guy seemed to be pretty interested in my dakota. he said he'd think about it over the night and i said the same thing. all and all the truck runs great and only has a few cosmetic issues, crack in the dash and a little surface rust at the rear fender well. mechanically i believe its gonna need a new pitman arm, since the steering was tight but i had a little bit of play and it will also need a new brake line coming out of the master cylinder. truck has pretty good tire tread left on it too. tranny also has a 3 year warranty on it.

the truck was great.

 

Is the warranty on the transmission transferable?

Crack in dashboard should be overlooked, like it's not even there, it's ugly yes, but very very common... Other issues can be fixed.

Probably need plenum repair if it hasn't already been done.

 

im unsure about the transfer of the warranty im assuming since he mentioned it, it should be possible. shifted nice and good and when looking under the truck you could see the new paint of the refurb tranny. as for the dash it was just a hairline crack

i love it because the simple fact its bigger and more valuable then my current vehicle