I make no claim to be a design engineer, but.....
I took a afishing trip this weekend and after all the rain I did have to put the truck in the mud. The 4x4 worked admirably, but the whole drive home the truck went "wooga wooga wooga". The lip between the inner wheel and outer shiny piece filled with mud and rocks and threw the balance off! Not to mention the engine compartment filled with everything I had driven through.
Every truck I've owned in the past has had a rubber flap filling the gap below the inner fender well to prevent just this. Did the dealer "forget" to put this on, or this this yet another design flaw of the 05's?

 

Heh. I don't care for that wheel design either, and I do claim to be a design engineer I'd have ordered my truck with the big shiny wheels if it weren't for that wheel design. They sure look pretty but I like my wheels to be one piece so I stuck with the SLT/Laramie standard 16's.

 

are the wheels your talking about designed the same as my 20's? with the chorme accent part actually being a plastic "hubcap" that is bonded to an inner wheel? For some reason they are doing this alot lately, its the same as the 20" wheels chrome vs. polished like on my truck

 

The Pre-'05 2 wheel drive Dakota Quad sat lower than the old 4 X 4 Dakota. There was no gap on the 2 wheel drive truck as it should be. The gap at wheelhouse on the older 4X4 truck was even worse than the new ones. I made my own flaps out of 1/8 " rubber and fastened them with rivets after getting tired of waiting for Dodge or the aftermarket to make the shields. That kept dirt and mud out of the engine bay and you never saw the flaps from the outside of the truck after I painted the rivets black.

 

i think between this thread and mine its clear...designers of the 05 dak made it astetically pleasing...but in the real world where there is mud and rain there might be a few flaws...