Hi, new to the forum. From my user name, you can see I'm a TownCar guy, but I have what I hope is a simple question and I hope I'm in the right forum. My father-in-law has a 2007 Dodge Dakota. We have recently had to take away his driving privileges and I want to disable the truck so he cannot start it. I do use it occasionally to transport him to medical appointments because it is easier for him to get into the truck. I have removed the battery before, but I thought I should be able to remove a fuse to accomplish the same effect. My son suggested the fuel pump fuse (#18), but I'm concerned with the fuel pump running dry if my father-in-law would decide to try and start the truck. I also see fuse #38 for run/start and this seems to be a better choice, correct?

 

If the pump doesn't run, the truck won't start. It might take a fraction of a second longer to charge the system, but it won't hurt the pump.

As for the driving privileges, been there done that. My Dad kept getting his license plates stolen. I think my sister was going over there with a screwdriver. I was still a volunteer police officer and went to pull his license. This was 1993. It had expired in 1989. We eventually got him to sell his car. 3 kids and 3 of the 4 grandkids all drive and live local. There was always someone to drive him. Once he got used to not driving, he actually preferred it. When he finally went into a nursing home, I found one a block from my house.

Mom was a little different. She recognized her reduced driving ability. A neighbor would use her car to drive her around in return for borrowing it occasionally. I checked the car like a hawk but there wasn't a nick or dent that wasn't on it when I sold it that wasn't there when we bought it.

If you don't need the truck, mention what he can save by not having it. When Mom quit driving, I found a decent 1998 Ford Taurus. It had large doors for her to get in and out and plenty of room in the trunk for her wheel chair. I know this is a Dodge Forum but the Ford Taurus and Crown Victoria/Town Car have excellent ease of entry. They are old enough to be fairly cheap, Ford built a blue million of them and they are fairly tough. The Taurus even got 30 mpg on the interstate with the a/c on. Plus if the truck is gone, he won't try to drive it. A different car won't be HIS.

 

According to the FSM, pulling fuse 38 should prevent power from getting to the ignition switch (the truck's key), which would prevent it from starting. But, either fuse should do the job.

Chrysler 300 also has good entry and exit. My dad had one of those until recently and it worked well with his bad knees.

 

Thanks for the great advice. I did pull fuse for ignition run/start and all is good, We'll keep the truck. It's handy for my father-in-law to step in and out of the passenger side when I need to transport him.

I now have another question. The lift assist for the bed lid has failed on the driver's side. This style lift assist is different than those that push up the hood. It has the tab on one end but a slide on the end that attaches inside the bed (see pics). Who is my best option to get a replacement? and does it makes sense to replace both sides?


this is the tab end

this is the slide end

 

Autozone has a whole section in their store of lift struts. You should be able to find something there that will fit. If you find one that does fit, get two. The second strut is as old as the bad one and may fail next week.