really? dakota r/t could take on the 2nd gen ram with the same engine...

 

06 is the last year for the Dakota.

Hope my source is wrong

 

Where'd you hear that from?

 

DC themselves. Time will tell if what my source said is true.

 

I work for DCX at the old Jeep & Truck engineering building in Detriot. We don't talk about future products, but the Dakota is not going anywhere any time soon. About the 5.7L hemi fit into a 2005 and newer dakota, yes it does fit. We have asked managment to build them, but they say it would take away too many sales from the full size ram with a hemi. So they will never build a production dakota with a hemi for that reason. The only way DCX is going to build a hemi powered dakota would be a SRT with a 6.1L engine. Many rumors about such a truck have surfaced, but no work from the higher powers within DCX. So someone please find a junk Durango with a 5.7L and stuff it between the fenders of your gen 3 dakota. You will only have about an inch between the exhaust manifolds and the inner fenders.

 

If I was going to upgrade a Dakota, I would use a 360 (5.9L) crate engine. They cost almost half as much as the 5.7L HEMI and produce more horsepower and torque than the 5.7L HEMI crate engine. The 360 crate engine produces 380 hp and 410ft-lbs of tq. The 5.7L HEMI crate engine only produces 360 hp & 360 ft-lbs of tq. What happen to the torque in the HEMI. Dodge has flawed logic on not offering the HEMI in the Dakota. "It will take sales away from the Ram." First of all, the Dakota appeals to a different crowd, second, if people buy the Dakota over the Ram, they didn't lose the customer, the customer just got a different one of their vehicles. If they are concerned about not making quite as high a profit, they could just charge more for that option to make up the difference. They will instead lose potiential customers to Nissan and Toyota, because those customers want the fastest truck in the class. They don't care what is actually the best truck or what qualities about a truck makes a truck good. They want the most power possible. I have heard that this is a different platform than the Durango and that the HEMI will not fit. They need to make the adjustment so then it will fit and offer it. It would sell like hotcakes. Would the 360 fit in the current Dakota?

 

the 360 was an option in 1998-2003 dakotas. current gen 3 (2005-present) dakotas have the 4.7, which has different mounts

 

They all fit. 5.7L in a gen 3 or a 5.9L in a gen 3 dakota. I still miss my 2003 5.9L R/T standard cab Dakota. The transmission would shift so hard into overdrive (4th) over 100 mph it would try to break the tires loose. It was soooo much fun. [sm=gears.gif]

 

No doubt a Hemi in a Dakota would be nice. That kind of power in a smaller, lighter vehicle would be awesome. However, it would be hard to justify the selling price of such a vehicle to a small niche of people who want it. If it has a Hemi, Dodge will raise the price on it. It is less expensive to manufacture than the 360 - but the aura around it adds to the MSRP.

Granted, a lot of us on Dodgeforum.com would love to see it. But if you take the truck industry as a whole, there isn't a large enough market for it. If there was, I think we'd see Colorado's with 6.0 liters, Frontier's with Endurance V8's, and Rangers with Tritions. Don't get me wrong, they would be awesome trucks, but the average driver couldn't handle that much power in a light vehicle. Hell, my 04 QC 4x4 will lose traction on wet pavement. What would it be like on a Dakota with the same hp and torque?

I definitely disagree with 97 3.5 Intrepid's comment "if people buy the Dakota over the Ram, they didn't lose the customer, the customer just got a different one of their vehicles." You are right, Dodge didn't lose a customer, but they wouldn't make as much money on a Dakota as they would a Ram. When I went to get my truck, I wanted a base truck with a Hemi. I walked out with a Quad Cab SLT with the Offfoad Package. Big difference between $24,000 and $33,000. That is what Dodge, and all truck manufacturers in general, count on. They want Dakota owners to move up to Rams. They want Ram owners to move up to 3/4 tons. The same thing with Ford, Chevy, Nissan and Toyota. It would be easier for Dodge to justify a limited production SRT Dakota than it would be mass produce a Dakota with a Hemi.

 

yeah, yeah, yeah some body do it. lol.... hehe