2001 Dodge Dakota SLT Club Cab
4.7L SOHC V8
5 speed NV3500 manual transmission
I bought the truck from a friend at 30,000 miles. In the first year
of ownership, we put 40,000 hard miles on the truck. It's just past 100k miles now. It's never had a failure and only required
regular basic maintenance. It's a work truck, but it's comfortable enough for long trips and daily driver duties when the
other cars are down (which is quite often at my house).
Maintenance:
Mobil 1 10w-30 engine oil (5k-7.5k miles)
Royal Purple SynchroMax transmission oil (30k miles)
Mobil 1 ATF power steering fluid (30k miles)
Mobil 1 75w-90 rear differential gear oil
Champion copper core spark plugs at 60k
K&N panel filter
Bosch O2 sensors at 70k
Mods:
Stereo:
The factory Infinity speakers blew out around 70k. I started by replacing just the speakers with new Pioneers,
but the factory Infinity amplifier operated at 2ohm and the Pioneers were 4ohm. It was time for an upgrade. I removed the
factory stereo completely, bypassed the factory amplifer. The new stereo really thumps with the dual 10" subs.
Pioneer 50W x 4 CD/FM stereo
Infinity Reference 6012i 6.5" 50W RMS front speakers
Fusion FES-652 6.5" rear speakers
Infinity Reference 311A 312W @ 2ohm sub amp
MTX ThunderForm DDXP201-T45 dual 10" sealed molded sub box
MTX Thunder4500 10" subs 450W RMS
Suspension:
Load helper coil springs over the rear leaf springs
Suspension Max shocks front and rear
All bushings replaced with Energy Suspension polyurethane
I expected this setup to be rather harsh, but actually it's quite smooth. The load helper springs do make
the rear end very stiff when the truck is unloaded, but with a trailer or load in the bed, the ride is comfortable.
Misc:
Class III hitch and wiring
MagnaFlow #15611 3" single side exit with 3.5" tip
mirror window tint across the back glass
new glass 4" fog lights to replace OEM plastic lights
Hayden engine oil cooler and sandwich plate
MagnaFlow dual exhaust with 3" slash cut tips (removed @ 100k)
New tires as of August 2008. Yokohama Geolander HTS. Quiet and smooth tires.
3-27-09
The new suspension is in and I'm very pleased. I wish it had not taken so long to finish. Everything was
a pain... the ball joints are riveted on and could not be chiseled off. I had to drill them first. Removing the old bushings
was a nightmare. I finally got the fronts out by setting them on fire. The Suspension Max front shocks did not fit. The lower
pivot bars were too long. First I enlarged the notches, but that wasn't enough. Then I drilled them out, and finally I cut
about 1/4" off each side. In the end, I think it was worth all the hard work. The ride is smooth and should out last the truck.
