| From | Message |
SteveJ
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
8/09/2005
00:50:06
|
 Subject: New Dakota Guy
IP: Logged
Message:
Got me one of these Dakotas recently, after my neighbor let me drive his a few times.
2004, Dodge Dakota SLT 4.7L, 4x4, 5-45RFE Automatic, 3.55 gears, 265/70-16 tires (31").
After changing all the fluids (bought it used) and taking out the brake rotor wobble,
I kinda slapped some stuff on it and drove it around a bit (a bit over 6K miles, actually),
and thoroughly enjoyed the ride.
Found this site, and thought I'd share some of the things I threw on the beast.
Gas Filter. Gotta have one that doesn't require fuel tank removal to clean.
This is a high efficiency filter, unlike the "extended service
life" filters that Dodge hid in the gas tank.
No user-serviceable gas filter? WTF?
Put your own in.
Radiator air filter. After driving through a swarm of critters,
just brush 'em off the screen and away you go. No radiator clogs.
What the....Well looky there - tow hooks!
Colored the rear light assemblies. Masked and sprayed same color as truck body.
I don't know why I didn't take the picture AFTER I swapped them in.
Check out these fangs I extracted from a dead GMC 1500 pickup.
No tow hooks?! WTF? Damn S-10 has tow hooks.
Then threw on some police car push bars from the nice folks at Setina Mfg in Olympia, Wa
(just down the road a piece). They make the brackets and attaching hardware, too. It just
bolts on. They supply the bolts. Really!
And a wee bit of help for those rainy times. It's a plastic replica outboard motor with a
prop that spins in the breeze. Available through any Evinrude retailer.
Something about the combination of camera angle, ground slope, road dirt, and all those things
sticking out kinda gives it a sinister look, I think.
Experienced the "wormhole effect" at a certain speed in Nebraska. But smooth! Found its own
(vibrations seems to cancel out, and the truck just settles into its comfort zone) at 75, so
I went to 100 and, even at that speed, I was only using the left half of the tach! Wanted to
go higher to find the speed governor, but wasn't sure of the speed rating of those stock tires.
|
8banger
GenIII
8/09/2005
01:30:32
| RE: New Dakota Guy
IP: Logged
Message:
Welcome!
Nice truck
03 Dakota 4X4 QC SportPlus 4.7L 3.55 LSD
Superchipped, 2Chamber Flowmaster dumped, K&N Drop-In, 2"T-crank
|
xyz
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
8/09/2005
07:32:19
| RE: New Dakota Guy
IP: Logged
Message:
how do you take a pic of the speedo at 100mph? yikes!
|
SteveJ
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
8/09/2005
09:49:00
| RE: New Dakota Guy
IP: Logged
Message:
Kinda scary to think about, isn't it.
Actually, I "shot from the hip" on that one. Took about a dozen by just pointing in the dash direction while keeping an eye on the road. That pic is the only one that came close to getting what I wanted.
|
jeffs
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
11/07/2005
16:06:31
| RE: New Dakota Guy
IP: Logged
Message:
SteveJ...
Do you know the part # for those tow hooks or what year GMC it was? Did you have to make any kind of bracket for them?
|
.boB
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
11/07/2005
19:59:31
| RE: New Dakota Guy
IP: Logged
Message:
Nice truck. Love the tow hooks. I've been debating on doing that, or a complete hanson replacement.
Where is that oustide shot taken? Loks like Dinasour national monument.
|
Spacinjason
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
11/08/2005
10:35:16
|  RE: New Dakota Guy
IP: Logged
Message:
Nice add on's! Nice truck! Hope you enjoy your Dakota as much as I have enjoyed mine!
Spacinjason
'01 QC 4x4
4.7L., 5 sp., 3.55 LSD
Magnaflow exhaust
|
RKMNJ55
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
11/08/2005
16:13:15
| RE: New Dakota Guy
IP: Logged
Message:
Glad to see you love your dakota. I noticed your pressure gauge was low. I have a 4.7 and the needle should be on the upper line, especially at 100mph. Mine looked like yours when I reached 80K, so I added lucus oil stabilizer and it brought the pressure back to original. Two qts of lucus and 4 qts of Castrol GTX 5-30. I now have 135K on my 4.7 2001 CC 2wd and I get 20 highway/city or 22 highway.
Regards,
Bob
|
Ewraven
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
11/08/2005
16:45:26
| RE: New Dakota Guy
IP: Logged
Message:
I am curious about those tow hooks as well. I'm guessing they go to a late model like 2005 1500?
Did any holes need to be drilled to install them?
|
Caulk04
GenIII
11/09/2005
07:57:42
| RE: New Dakota Guy
IP: Logged
Message:
Actually RKMNJ55;
In 03 they changed the oil pressure gauge to an 'idiot light' of sorts. From what I have read when they changed the computer (combining the ECM and TCM into one unit) the gauge was dropped and it became an idiot light. As long as pressure is 'normal', the computer registers there for pressure. Sucks if you ask me, but I have an 02 with a fuctional gauge so...
Anyway...
Any dimensions on the brackets for your hooks? I'm a machinist and could knock out a couple of these to mount me some hooks real quick...would like some hooks in front.
'02 CC 4x4 4.7 HO
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2147050
|
SteveJ
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
11/09/2005
14:38:30
| RE: New Dakota Guy
IP: Logged
Message:
Bingo, .boB. That's where it was. I took a slight(!) detour between Seattle, Wa and Rapid City, SD. Had my son with me. He's a dinosaur freak, so I surprised him.
For those interested, there's more about the tow hooks at
http://www.dodgedakota.net/boards/off/3168.html
As soon as I can get some pictures of the setup, that's where they'll go.
|
SteveJ
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
11/09/2005
14:55:00
| RE: New Dakota Guy
IP: Logged
Message:
An aside to RKMNJ55.
The oil pressure is less a factor of vehicle speed than engine rpm, and as you can see, the engine is about 2500rpm in that shot.
I figure the oil pressure at 2500rpm should be the same regardless of what gear you're in.
Caulk04's info on the oil pressure gauge is mostly correct. My '04 has the "New Generation Controller", but there's still a gauge. When I start the engine, the gauge goes to 1/4 scale right away, then slowly, takes about 5 seconds, goes to the half scale that you see in the photo, and stays there.
|
SteveJ
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
11/09/2005
20:47:57
| RE: New Dakota Guy
IP: Logged
Message:
I went and put the tow hook photos I took today at my Cardomain area.
You can see them HERE.
|
Jeff
GenIII
11/10/2005
05:24:32
| RE: New Dakota Guy
IP: Logged
Message:
nice truck! i like those two-tone paint jobs.
mine was around 2.5k rpm...
wheeee!
Jeff
'99 3.9 clubcab
|
SteveJ
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
11/10/2005
14:32:55
| RE: New Dakota Guy
IP: Logged
Message:
Go Jeff!
|
toolfan
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
11/10/2005
16:03:30
| RE: New Dakota Guy
IP: Logged
Message:
i want to top my truck out and take a pic or maybe a video. i dont think the parents would approve. hehe
at that speed my truck is 3200rpm with 3.55s and the 318.
nice truck their Stevej
|
GGalarmtec
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
12/05/2005
21:30:52
| RE: New Dakota Guy
IP: Logged
Message:
If you fellow Dak. owners want better OIL pressure, The next time you change your oil filter, Go to Napa auto and get the napa Gold oil filter. They are made by Wix. The best filter around Bar none!
I use The Napa Gold in my 02 4.7 Dak,My wife's Toyota, Ricer and in my Corvette ZR-1
|
Dune_Op
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
12/09/2005
23:29:24
| RE: New Dakota Guy
IP: Logged
Message:
It's really funny, but in all those pictures of 100 miles or more I swear I see the gas guages more blurry then the rest. LOL!!!
|
JimmyD
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
12/10/2005
01:12:32
| RE: New Dakota Guy
IP: Logged
Message:
GGalarmtec,
What difference does oil filter brand have on oil pressure?
All oil going from the oil pump to the engine goes through the filter. Either through the filter medium or though the bypass valve, or a combination of the two, the filter always passes what the oil pump puts out.
Unless the bypass valve is stuck closed, the filter never really impedes the flow of oil to the engine.
|
| | P 1 |
|
Post a reply to this message:
Username Registration: Optional
All visitors are allowed to post messages
|
