Came here for advise. Dakota or Ram????
 

Hello from Michigan,
After growing up in a GM family, and being a Jeep and Ford guy myself, I'm ready to Grab Life By the Horns. (Pun Intended):icon_headbang: I have owned a couple Dodges in my time but not long enough to have an opinion on either of them. One was a 1986 D50, and the other was a 1991 Ramcharger. I am on a limited budget and looking at 2 trucks right now from a local dealer I fully trust. One is a 1999 Dodge Ram Club Cab 1500 2wd 5.2 auto with 162,000 miles, the other is a 2000 Dodge Dakota Club Cab 2wd 3.9 auto with 180,000 miles. Both trucks are exceptionally clean and run and drive very well. I need the extra space for my sons car seat, and hunting and fishing gear. Been in a regular cab to long. What issues should I look for in these trucks? I know both engines have proven reliability from speaking with other Dodge owners, but I am very concerned about transmission problems from either truck. Any advise and info is greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.

Welcome to the site. Check out the Dakota and Ram sections,
FF

Welcome to Dodge Forum!! Enjoy the site!!

Dusty

welcome to the site

How much truck do you need or want? The dakota will probably get better mileage than the ram, unless you live in an exceptionally hilly area. As far as the transmissions, its just like any other car, if its an original auto with 150k+ on it, assume a rebuild is impending. Whether it happens in 10k or 100k is anybody's guess, unless its slipping or missing gears or something. From my understanding, the dodge transmissions that were the infamous bad ones went bad in a hurry.

The conclusion
 

Went and spent some time looking over both trucks today, and actually drove them..... Back to the drawing board I go. I think I'm going to hold out for a 2001 or newer quad cab dakota with the 4.7. I dont really need a full size truck for the small amount I haul, but at 6' 3" the leg room is nice in a full size.