1997 Dodge Dakota
I bought this ‘97 Dakota in January of 2007, for not a whole heckuva lot of money. It had 168,000 miles at the time of purchase, but I bought it from a friend, who was the second owner, so I had a fair idea that the truck would be mostly reliable. Turns out, I’ve done a ton of work to it, but none of it was really repairing a broken part.
It’s a ‘97 Dakota Club Cab Sport. The Club Cab is the extended cab version of the 2nd generation Dakota, introduced for the 1997 model year. The Dakota gained the “semi truck” look of its larger cousin, the Dodge Ram, and thusly the nickname “baby Ram” seemed to stick. Though a 2.5L I-4 was offered, most Dakotas had the 3.9L V-6 or the 5.2L V-8. Two similar automatic transmissions were offered, the 42RE, 44RE; they differed in their strength and durability (the 44RE being the stronger unit, installed behind the V-8 engine). The Sport model was the mid-line trim, above the base trim and below the SLT trim. Sport included a monochrome treatment for the grill and blacked-out bumpers. Fog lamps were stock, as well as a few other items. There are a ton of different fuel economy estimates for the ‘97 Dakota, depending on engine, transmission, 2WD vs. 4WD, etc. The 2WD drivetrain, with the 5.2L engine and automatic transmission, is rated at 12/17 with EPA’s new estimates comparable to 2008+ vehicles. I average right at 15.5 MPG with mine, doing mostly suburban driving.
This ‘97 Sport came to me with a 3″ body lift (though it was a 2WD truck), 32×11.50 BFGoodrich All Terrain T/A KO tires, and a Flowmaster 1-into-2 dual exhaust setup. My first real modification was removing the 3″ body lift and installing street tires. This truck also had the stock 5-star 15×7 alloy wheels, but I wanted to add the 15×8 Dodge U-spoke wheels very popular on Dakotas and Durangos of the era. I found a set of the 15×8 alloys on Craigslist, and matched those with a quartet of Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 tires, in P255/70R15 size. With the lift gone, and the tires installed, the truck rode so much nicer. The tires run smooth and quiet, and handle well.
Thinking I wanted to turn this into a real sporty ride, I set about on lowering the truck a little (a far cry from the 3″ body lift it had). I added a 1″ drop block to the rear leaf springs, and procured me a pair of Dakota R/T front coils (which give a drop of about 1″). The truck also needed new ball joints, but they were original (and riveted to the control arms), so I opted for a pair of used control arms from an R/T model with the ball joints already drilled out. I installed new ball joints, tore the front suspension apart, and installed the R/T springs and my “new” control arms. The front also has a pair of Monroe Reflex shocks. The ride with the R/T springs was real stiff — stiffer than I really liked. I ended up taking those springs back out and putting the stockers back in there. With the rear dropped 1″, and the front at stock height, the truck sits right nice, and I still have plenty of room in the wheel wells for suspension travel.
Other miscellaneous things include a set of Energy Suspension front sway bar bushings, some Pioneer speakers inside with a Pioneer DEH-2900MP head unit, and a Putnam Class IV receiver hitch. It tows a 900 pound jet ski real nice, and generally runs well. To install the receiver hitch, I had to remove the Flowmaster dual exhaust (which I didn’t really care for anyway) and I installed a single exhaust with a Dynomax Super Turbo muffler and Walker OEM replacement tailpipe. I’ve drained the transmission fluid in favor for some new Mopar ATF+4 and plan to swap out the juice in the rear axle soon as well.
It’s a great vehicle to have around; with almost 178,000 miles on the odometer, it doesn’t get driven all that often (around 4,000 miles a year), but gets very well taken care of and is enjoying life as a third vehicle.