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Mopar 4-ever
Dodge Dakota
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3/05/2004
14:24:03
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 Subject: Western North Carolina area Dak owners
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Is there anybody around Western N.C. with lifted Dakotas or into off-roading? I see a lot of Dakotas here, but hardly ever any lifted ones or set up for off-road.
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97Dak4x4
Dodge Dakota
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3/07/2004
00:05:23
| RE: Western North Carolina area Dak owners
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I live in central NC (Durham). I have never seen a Dak other than stock ones around my area. I have 32" BFG Muds on stock suspension, so I guess that is an off road set up. I havent been off road in a long time though since I started to break things.
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Mopar 4-ever
Dodge Dakota
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3/07/2004
09:28:28
| RE: Western North Carolina area Dak owners
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Thanks 97Dak4x4. I agree with you. It doesn't seem like very many Dakota owners want to or even care about off-roading their Dakotas. Lately, I've seen more Daks with off-road set-ups, but I hardly ever see any other than stock. For an IFS truck, Dakotas are very capable off-road as long as you don't push them way too hard. I don't see why more people don't put off-road set-ups on their Daks. Maybe because most people don't care or think that the Gen II and III's still are too "new" and too "nice" to off-road.
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97Dak4x4
Dodge Dakota
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3/08/2004
21:02:47
| RE: Western North Carolina area Dak owners
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I think one of the major reasons is that lifts are very expensive for IFS vehicles. I for one dont like the look of body lifts, so thats why mine isnt lifted. I love my Dak but there are way better trucks for wheelin in. I see a bunch of k5 blazers and old chevys with off road set ups because they are solid axel.
Man, I really want a lift.
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erckota4x4
Dodge Dakota
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3/08/2004
22:46:26
| RE: Western North Carolina area Dak owners
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I am from 20 miles south of Raleigh. I feel the same way. I think that the lifts are 2 expensive for these trucks because of the ifs. I have 31" bfg all terrains on stock suspension and try to get off road when I can. My dakota is very capable off road, as I have pushed her to her limits. Breakage has pushed me away from the sport (but I always come back), as well as the wheeling areas being shut down. I no longer have any legal 4 wheeling areas within 45 mins of my house. I would also really like a lift. I was thinking of cranking my torsion bars 1 1/2" and a 2" body with 33s. My problem is that I cannot afford gears. I have a v6 with 3.55 gears and working with a college budget. I love my dak and good to hear from dak owners around the state.
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97Dak4x4
Dodge Dakota
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3/09/2004
20:33:49
| RE: Western North Carolina area Dak owners
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Yeah, breakage. Thats what made me stop. I got a bent rear bumper from being pulled out of mud up to the frame, a messed up front wheel thing (i dunno, but it was expensive), a flat tire and bent rim, and a bent front bumper from being hit by a '79 Bronco in reverse on a trail. I then realized that my truck was too nice for all that. Maybe I'll go back, but not through all that crazy stuff I used to.
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Mopar 4-ever
Dodge Dakota
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3/10/2004
15:38:58
| RE: Western North Carolina area Dak owners
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I agree with many people about off-roading Dakotas. That's why I'm thinking about buying an older Ram to do my off-road ballhootin' in. I hate to hear that there just ain't anywhere to legally wheel around Raleigh. I'm trying to find more Dakota owners around Asheville, N.C. to hang out with and go 4-wheelin'. Something I'd like to point out. After I body-lifted my Dak, I noticed that there are a couple of rectangular holes in the spoiler under the front bumper. These holes line up really good with the frame which makes a perfect opening for TOW HOOKS! That just made my day when I saw that. Tonight I'm going to try a couple of stock Chevy tow-hooks. They are larger than them stupid little things with the "sharp" hook on the end that you get at the parts store. I did hear that Daks are weak on the front part of the frame rails, so if somebody has to pull me out, then we'll be sure to attach to both hooks. I guess I'll take it easy to test out the 33 inch Mickey Thompson Baja Claw radials.
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erckota4x4
Dodge Dakota
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3/10/2004
15:49:06
| RE: Western North Carolina area Dak owners
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Sounds nice mopar. Got any pics. There are some post on this board about chevy tow hooks on a body lifted dakotas.
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fst4dr
Dodge Dakota
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3/10/2004
17:33:39
| RE: Western North Carolina area Dak owners
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I'm from central NC and have an '04 dakota with 2" lift and 33's. haven't had a chance to try it out off road yet as haven't really found anywhere legal to take it locally. might hit Uwharrie this spring.
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Mopar 4-ever
Dodge Dakota
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3/11/2004
16:26:41
| RE: Western North Carolina area Dak owners
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erckota4x4, I don't have any pictures yet, but as soon as my girlfriend gets her digital camera fixed, I'm gonna go on a picture taking spree. The body lift on my 'O1 was time-consuming, but it was well worth it. It really wasn't hard since Performance Accessories included about every possible thing that you'd need in the kit. One thing about the two holes in the front spoiler that are in front of the frame. I had to raise the front bumper even further up than I did with the relocator brackets to line up the holes and the front of the frame rails. I used three extra washers per bolt and it put the bumper really close to the headlights and the grill and fenders. It looks better now than with the gap that was left with just the brakets from the kit. Here's something really funny. When I got my 305-70-16 Mickey Thompson Baja Claw radials mounted on my factory wheels on my '01 Dak, the tire man thought the truck looked so cool with them that he took a picture of my truck to hang up in his office. I guess lifted Daks can even impress the Ford guys too.
THANKS TO ALL THE TARHEEL DAKOTA OWNERS FOR RESPONDING! Is there anybody else out there maybe within just a couple hours from Asheville, N.C.?
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Critter
Dodge Dakota
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3/12/2004
02:59:24
| RE: Western North Carolina area Dak owners
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I am in Asheville, and Boone. I only have a 2wd dakota but I am goin to try and do a 3 inch lift. The prob I have is college, money, time, and location to do the lift. I want to take it off road so bad. I have some friends in Boone that want to go sometime. I just wish I knew where some trails were around here to play on. See how bad I can get my dak stuck. :-D
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Mopar 4-ever
Dodge Dakota
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3/12/2004
21:28:26
| RE: Western North Carolina area Dak owners
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Critter? 2wd Dak? Oh, well. If I were you and were serious about having an off-road Dak that is lifted and capable of some pretty good off-roading that does not involve getting stuck really easy, then trade for a 4-wheel drive. It doesn't have to be anything fancy if you're wanting to wheel. Until then, I wouldn't even bother spending the time, effort and money on lifting a 2wd Dak unless you lived out west and wanted a Baja truck. For right now, what you could do is invest in recovery equipment since you will always need it no matter what kind of truck you have. You said Asheville and Boone? Do you go to UNCA? There are not nearly as places to go wheeling around Asheville like there used to be, but there are still a few places left without having to drive to Tellico in Murphy.
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2 is ok
Dodge Dakota
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3/12/2004
21:48:06
| RE: Western North Carolina area Dak owners
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i dont leave around there but i had a 89 fullsize jimmy with a 6 lift and 35 tire and i had a hard time finding enough mud to need 4 wheel drive in michigan. Snow and steep hill needed 4 wheel drive though, but anyways i aam tring to say if you messed up and but a 2 wheel drive than you can still work with it and have fun. just be sure to have a 4 wheel drive friend with you.
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Critter
Dodge Dakota
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3/13/2004
14:55:56
| RE: Western North Carolina area Dak owners
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Actually I got to ASU in boone and live here in Asheville. I have plenty of 4wd buddies to pull me out. I just wanna go out and have fun. I hear some 2wd can keep up. This has been a snowy winter for Boone and I havn't gotten stuck yet. WE did take it out mudding and it did great. I have just won a set of mud tires and rims off e-bay for cheap so it looks like a 3inch lift is goin on this summer. Gonna try squezing 32X11.50X15 under my 2wd just for the hell of it. Might or might now work, but I will let you guys know and of course pictures.
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BIGTYMER
Dodge Dakota
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3/16/2004
09:27:00
| RE: Western North Carolina area Dak owners
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I'm in central NC but I travel quite a bit. If someone finds a nice spot to wheel legally maybe we could meet up.
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Mopar 4-ever
Dodge Dakota
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3/16/2004
19:52:36
| RE: Western North Carolina area Dak owners
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BIGTYMER, good to hear from you. If you live in central N.C, then Tellico near Murphy would be the best legal wheelin'. I've never been myself, but I plan on going soon. I live near Asheville, N.C. Tellico is about a two hour trip from here. Also, I'm going on vacation around April 17, which is Mopars at the Rock in Rockingham N.C. It's an all Mopar meet with drag-racing, car show, and swap meet. I took My Dakota 4.7 4wd last year and it went 15.7 in the quarter. I barely beat a stock Dakota R/T by a truck length. The R/T was running cheater slicks too. Sometime around the week of April 15-20, I'm planning on a trip to Tellico. If I could meet other Dakota owners at Tellico, I think it would be an cool trip and I think everybody would have a good time. There is a guy I went to school with that tralers a Jeep from Asheville to Tellico every weekend. He said most of the trails are pretty rough and you would have to be careful not to tear up a newer Dak, but there are some that are not so rough. He said there are some that even a lifted Dak probably wouldn't even make it. I went wheeling last weekend to test out my new 305-70-16 MT Baja Claw Radials. I went to a place two counties away from my county of Buncombe to Transylvania county. It's one of them low population counties with lots of national forest. There's lots of places to wheel legally there. I wheeled all the way up to the top of Pinnacle Mountain. It's in national forest so you can wheel legally. It borders the Dupont forest. Dupont has a plant there, so they bought I don't know how many hundreds of acres from the goverment so they wouldn't kill anybody in the vicinity with their chemicals. There are trails with mudholes and there are trails with rock crawling. There's one huge rock all the way at the top that's about as long as a football field and about 75 feet wide. Me and my buddies talked trucks and dreamed about women as we watched a beautiful N.C. sunset from the top of Pinnacle overlooking a huge valley. I told my buddies that it just doesn't get any better than this. Well, unless you had your girlfriend with with you, maybe. I'm still finding and trying out new wheeling places since W.N.C. is getting overpopulated and we are losing more and more wheeling spots every year. Places I used to go all the time even 5 and 10 years ago are either closed by the gov't or they are logged or they become subdivisions. One of the best wheelin' spots within only 20 minutes from my house was closed by the gov't because people were littering it with their trash! I have never littered on the trail, or left a campfire that wasn't completely out and it makes me mad that a few knuckleheads ruined it for everybody else. In fact, when I wheeled Pinnacle, I filled up my truck bed with trash that I picked up off the trail. The more I found, the madder I got. I don't want Pinnacle closed to the public because people are trashing it. I found the usual empty beer cans, bottles, sardine cans, but I couldn't believe when I started cleaning up artificial Christmas trees, cardboard boxes and 3 pairs of shoes! All I know is that we are losing places to wheel all the time and if people keep trashing our beautiful trails, then we we'll lose more. There are only about 4 or 5 really good places to wheel close to Asheville and I don't want to lose them. I'm going back to Pinnacle soon and I taking a box of trash bags with me.
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Mopar 4-ever
Dodge Dakota
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3/16/2004
20:05:14
| RE: Western North Carolina area Dak owners
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Attention: Critter You are in luck if you live in Asheville. If you want to go the body lift route, then a couple of friends of mine and myself could cut you a deal on installation. We just did mine and didn't have any problems. There is also a custom garage in Hendersonville called Cruel Illusions. They would probably do it for about $300. 4-Wheel Parts in Charlotte charges over $500 to do the same thing. If you go the suspension lift route first, then Cruel Illusions would be your best bet. If you want to meet up sometime, let me know. I'm always wanting to meet other Dak owners who love wheelin'. I talked to a fellow the other day who has a body lifted 4wd Dak like mine who is interested in getting a group of us Dak owners together to go wheel. Also BIGTYMER is interested so maybe it looks like we might have a few so far. Let's not let all them California Daks have all the fun. There's great wheeling here in N.C. too, AND the Blue Ridge Mountains are a whole lot prettier.
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Critter
Dodge Dakota
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3/16/2004
21:50:25
| RE: Western North Carolina area Dak owners
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Thx for the info on the install. I got a firend that has worked on 5 or 6 suspension lifts with friends that alos have done them, so it will be free, or cost a few beers but not much more than that. free is better then 300. :-D I will prob have the truck ready for off road in july some time. So I will get in touch with you. I agree, Cali... we need to show em whats better. the mountians here are spectacular. I will go to High Country 4x4 up here in boone to find out bout some trails.
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brad
Dodge Dakota
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3/16/2004
22:43:32
| RE: Western North Carolina area Dak owners
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im 16 with a 91 dakota that is somewhat off road set up it has a 2" lift with stck tires and wheels but mehh i dont care im getting a 97 with a 3" lift and 31 BFG and Mickey Thomson wheels and a preguard because ive done a few local off road races in a sand rail i built but i think im going to drive my dakota in it when its all done with but i live about 45 mins to an hour from asheville near greensboro but i dont know any good places to go off roading at is there anything good up in your area
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Mopar 4-ever
Dodge Dakota
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3/17/2004
16:06:07
| RE: Western North Carolina area Dak owners
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Good to hear from you Critter and Brad! Good to hear Critter's rig will be more off road worthy soon. Brad, read one of my previous threads I addressed to BIGTYMER. Read about Pinnacle Mountain near Brevard. Also in Hendersonville past SuperWalmart and Ingles, is the road wheeling next to World's Edge Road and down I-26 at the Upward Road exit is Deep Gap. There are a couple places in Fletcher that are fairly good.
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Mopar 4-ever
Dodge Dakota
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3/17/2004
16:09:46
| RE: Western North Carolina area Dak owners
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Anybody from Western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, or upper South Carolina, I'd love to hear from you. You can even E-mail me at Ballhootin@hotmail.com.
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