Too those of you who don't have kind words for the Dodge brand , that may be because you have never owned the best dammed dodge truck out there.
I bought this 2003 Dakota R/T new in August of 2002.
It has been a very dependable work and play vehicle.
The one thing that really convienced me at the time of purchase was it's performance.
That 5.9 really screams.
As for looks and style, I would be hard pressed to find a better looking truck.
The odometer just turned 41,000 miles.
I have done the routien maint on the vehicle, and nothing unexpected has happened to it since I took delivery.
This example of the Dodge name may well be the exception too the rule but, I call um as I see them, and this one has been outstanding.
Bob.
Nice R/T Bob. Glad to see I'm not the only R/T fan here. I'd have to agree and disagree w/ your assessments though:
I purchased my '99 CC-R/T used w/ < 8,000 miles in 9/99 (it had been on the road for nearly a year by then). I too was attracted to it's power AND handling. I have driven 2nd-Gen Lightnings and the only thing they offered above the R/T was acceleration. Handling was not as responsive as the R/T IMO. Plus, the R/T w/ the club-cab could seat 5 passengers, necessary for my family. The scrawny step-side box of the L doesn't hold as much as the Dakota's box. Overall I'm very happy w/ my R/T, I added a shaker hood w/ CAI, Mopar PCM, 180 T-stat, TransGo shift kit and fatter Nitto NT-450 tires (275-50-17) and this thing is a blast to drive. With the 3.90 rear posi, it comes off the line with authority and stays in front of or even with almost anything on the road, usually barking the tires on the 1-2 shift. It does require feathering the throttle though, if you tromp it off the line it'll just spin until it shifts to 2nd. Knowing that 13 sec 1/4 mile times are only headers, throttle-body and intake away (~$1500) is comforting. My MTX Thunderform under the rear seat and a 600W amp under the passenger seat gives it more boom than is necessary. I just put a 2nd set of Nittos on it at ~65,000 miles.
However, I didn't buy a truck to not use it as a truck. I've beat on it routinely, and it's showing its share of wear and tear. The tailgate is dented from a vertical compressor falling on it during transport (lesson on tying down learned), and I broke the rear glass with the same compressor standing the b!tch back up (not one of my better days). The front fender is dented from me dropping a drain snake off a roof, and the passenger door handle / nearby sheetmetal was damaged from a break-in attempt. It IS my winter beater so my toys stay dry in the garage. Until I moved last year, it sat outside year-round. As a result, the notoriously poor Dodge black paint has lost alot of it's clear-coat on the roof, bed rails and spots along the front fenders, so it's looking pretty ragged now. The front bumper was badly stone-chipped when I purchased it, and my neglect has resulted in pretty bad rust there. However, the underbody and sheet metal are still very solid.
Nearly ALL '97-'03 Dakotas & Durangos were plagued by ball-joint issues. Just before the recall came out, mine had gone bad enough they needed replacement. Knowing that control arm bushings were also eventually going to be iffy (especially on the passenger side which is closer to the hot exhaust manifolds), I pulled the control arms off myself and installed Polygraphite bushings and Moog greasable ball joints. I also eventually had to replace the control arm links as one broke years later. Too bad the recall came out AFTER I had this work done.
Dodge also had a recall / TSB on the intake "belly" gasket and rear brake line routing, both of which were resoved by the dealer for free. The CAT also went bad at 27K, replaced free under warranty. I also had to replace a trans speed sensor at ~45K.
Brakes were another issue. Rear drums are still original, but the front disks became warped at about 26K miles. I put on Powerslots and Stillen pads, but they suffered the same fate at about 45K. I had my original rotors turned, and when installing new pads I noticed the guides on the one side were not perfectly parallel and resulted in pinching the pads, not allowing them to move freely which resulted in a "wedge" wear pattern on the pads (I had noticed this on the original pads as well, but didn't realize what the problem was at the time). So I fixed this by grinding the backing plates on the new pads to ensure they'd slide freely on the guides. So far, these brakes are holding up fine.
At about 50K I noticed the trans shifting a little wierd, pauses / slips between gears. I figured it needed a fluid/filter change and decided I'd try tacking this myself, slipping in a shift kit while I had it appart. Shift kit went in fine and it shifted great....... for about 2 weeks. Then reverse went away. I took it to a tranny shop and found that the reverse servo had broken (not related to the shift kit). Apparently this is the 45RE's weak spot. They rebuilt the trans completely, new friction parts and all. But the sting of a trans failure at only 50K still leaves me sour.
Overall, I'm still very happy w/ my R/T. It's served me well, and with the exception of the trans rebuild, has only given me minor / relatively inexpensive problems. That's not to say Dodge doesn't have it's quality faults. I just recently discovered the heater core is oozing and I'm not looking forward to that ~$500 repair bill. However I'm planning on keeping it for a while.
I have been looking at what is out there in the new truck market now. NOTHING that comes close to the R/T. The only thing remotely "sport truckish" is the V8 '09-'10 Chevy Colorados / GMC Canyons, and they are too small and ugly, and are not any faster than my R/T. I don't want or need a full-size truck either, they are all too tall to fit under my garage door (lowered ~1ft to make room for my toys on the top of my lift in the adjacent space........ the R/T's antenna brushes the door when I pull it in, LOL). Even the new Dakotas are too tall, AND ugly. If Dodge would come out w/ a 6.1L Hemi-powered Dakota that's lowered like the R/Ts, I'd be all over it despite it's ugliness. So in that respect, I have to somewhat agree w/ the title of this thread, the "Fire" has gone out of Dodge (and the factory sport truck market in general....... have you seen the new Ford Raptor????? :yuck: )
RECALL
