Aloha everyone
I am new to the forum and I am a Dakota owner as well. Its an 08. I have a few questions and hoping that you can help me out with them. I currently live in Hawaii so my resources and aftermarket shopping is limited to say the least.
My first question is as I look at the threads I notice some trucks have painted grills and some have chrome. I currently have chrome on mine and want to either get black or the blue same color as the truck. Can I purchase a aftermarket front grille or do I need to take it to get it painted?
My second question is, I have chrome lettering on the truck on the side where is says 4X4 and the Dakota on the back. Does anyone know where I can purchase black letters or black chrome letters not decals. (The truck is actually my wifes and she doesnt want stickers.) I am also searching for all black or black chrome Dodge emblems to change out with the black and chrome emblems.
My final question is this. Does anyone know if Dodge or a aftermarket place is going to come out with a liftkit for the truck or does everyone else have body lifts.
Thanks in advance

Kunu

 

I will move this to the 3rd Generation Dakota Sub-forum.

 

1) You could sand/prime/paint your grill to match
2) Don't know about the tags
3) Several reasons for no lift (probably ever unless a custom shop does it)
3a) Sales for the Dakota sucked, you could buy a ram for the same price
3b) The rack and pinion steering would have to be redesigned as it is not capable to work with a lift
3c) The Dakota will be discontinued soon

 

Welcome to DF and G3 Dakota section.

 

The best way I could think of to change the emblems would be to either remove the existing ones or buy new ones, strip the chrome off, and spray paint them black. Another option would be to see if someone makes metal replacement badges, and have them powder-coated.

For a lift, you can install a leveling kit and rear blocks to get a 2" lift all around.

 

Welcome to DF Kunu! As a heads up warning it's only a matter of time before everyone starts bugging you to put up pics of the truck so might as well grab the camera now.

On the grill you have four options: You can paint that one yourself, you can have that one painted, you can buy a used grill that is already painted from a truck the same color as yours, or you can buy a new one ready to paint and paint it/have it painted. If you decide to paint the current one make sure to focus on prep and really do it right. I can tell you from experience on mine no matter what the paint might say adhesion promoter without scuffing up the grill is not going to result in a lasting paint job (mine badly needs to be redone).

For the lettering if you want real black chrome you may have to look into a place that does custom badges, there are a few out there that can do things like that but I'm not familiar with the cost. Otherwise painting the current ones might work out well, again prep is key.

The best anyone has really done for lift so far is a 2" leveling kit in the front combined with rear blocks and a body lift. At this time there is no real suspension lift available for our trucks, unfortunately we seem to be the red-headed stepchild of the aftermarket.

 

the cheapest way to get your grill changed is to sand it with wet sandpaper, acid etch primer(i did 3 coats), sand again, color (used a whole can one mine) so far mine has been fine but its only been three months. the badges you could find some black anodize paint or the tint spray or you could find a chrome company and have them recromed and the lift kit is a no go i have talked to all the major companies and even offered my truck as a test rig and all said they were not going to do one we are religated to the 2" level kit, 3" body kit, and blocks.

 

thanks for the welcome to the forum. I will probably settle and take the front grille to a friend who owns a paint shop and ask him to paint it I just dont like the chrome on the front.
As for the letters Again I will try the recommendations everyone has posted on here I would rather just take them all off and leave them off but the wife likes them on there she just wants them in black.
I do have more question's in reference to the lift on the truck. With the blocks in the rear What kind what size etc? Is the 2" level kit a DIY project? basically on a scale of 1 to 10 what would it be? Also with the blocks; level kit and 3" body kit what is the overall lift on the truck?
I will get some pictures and post them this week. One last question can anyone recommend a CAI for the truck. It has the V6 in it.

Thanks for everyone's input on this.

 

The Leveling kit can be had in two forms. One goes on top of the strut, the other goes inside of it. The one that goes inside is better IMO, but I currently have one that goes on top of it. If you have the right tools it is relatively easy to install the kind I have. I did it myself as one of my first automotive projects (even before attempting an oil change). I'd probably say let a shop install the one that goes in the strut unless you have a spring compressor and feel comfortable tearing the strut apart yourself.

 

thanks MrCrash! I think I will let a shop add the leveling kit.