Pwhiteelec05's 97 Dakota

I'm starting this for my brother since he never seems to get around to doing it. I feel like he needs a registry over here because he is over here more than on the dakota forums.

It's a 1997 Dodge Dakota 4x4 with a 318. It has had some work done to it including an M1 intake manifold, holley throttle body, headers, and a tune.

This is what it started out like when he bought it

And then it got a 3" body lift a little torsion twist and some lift blocks, here it is right after the brown truck dropped his 33's off.

Then the big beefy bumpers showed up eventually (it was a long wait for these to show up)

And a new air cleaner and valve covers

Some headers to help it breath from the other end
before

after

Not long after that it was time for some serious clean up. With our grandparents out of town for the winter he took over their garage (and most of the living room.) It was time to por15 the frame, install a 3" rancho suspension lift kit, and some 4.10 gears with a rear locker.

Lets get that bed out of the way

and the rear axle while we're at it

Hey you know while this thing is stripped down to nothing we should go visit Turdle for a couple of days and really make this thing look good.

getting some parts prepped

The amazing results

hehe living room full of parts

the driveshaft was hiding in the hallway

 

[techieman33]

After we got back from a long couple of days at Jons and with my mountaineer stuffed full of parts it was time to start putting it back together. Unfortunately the lift kit wasn't going to work without a lot of major modification since it was built for a newer dakota with a slightly different suspension setup Oh well at least it's going to look a lot better and the gears and locker will help out a lot.

The por15 was on the frame

parts going back on

Needed some gauge pods to keep an eye on all of those temps, especially the transmission, even with a couple of extra coolers and fans.

can't forget the hi-lift either

 

[techieman33]

Then it was finally time to put a little explorer on this thing, with some rear disc brakes from a 2nd gen. The backing plate, calipers and rotors all pretty much bolted right up to his chrysler 8.25, with the exception of drilling out the rotors to a 6x4.5 pattern.

Good bye drums

and hello discs

 

[techieman33]

Up next it was time for a power tank and some placed to hold it, might as well add a dual battery box while he's at it right It's all sitting on a slightly raised platform so it's out of the way of the 2 10" subs in his stealth box.

 

[techieman33]

What else could there be left to do to this thing you might be asking, well duh it needs some rock sliders. The main piece is 2x4x1/4 steel, and the tube is 1 3/4, and the whole thing is welded to the frame.

and on the truck

 

[BradR]

Excuse my language.
But..
uhm..


####ing Epic.

Wait. so you went and had Turdle powder the drums, then swapped in some X discs? lol.

I've always liked those trucks, was either one of those are the Explorer. I think I made the better choice.

Awesome work, keep it up.

 

[techieman33]

Excuse my language.
But..
uhm..


####ing Epic.

Wait. so you went and had Turdle powder the drums, then swapped in some X discs? lol.

I've always liked those trucks, was either one of those are the Explorer. I think I made the better choice.

Awesome work, keep it up.

Yeah every thing else was powder coated so why not, it was also about a year or so before he finally got around to swapping over to the discs.

 

[gmanpaint]

I absolutely love this rig!

Looks great, wheels great, and is tricked out everywhere you look. Lots of hard work went into this truck, and it shows.!

 

[pwhiteelec05]

I wasn't totally positive at the time the disc brake swap would work. Two of the holes overlapped, so I had Turdle do the drums while we were there.

 

[BradR]

Yeah every thing else was powder coated so why not, it was also about a year or so before he finally got around to swapping over to the discs.

Oh, for some reason it seemed to me like you got back and just decided "screw it, go with X discs" lol.

 

[Raminator157]

I am very impressed with all the work. Very Sharpe looking truck. I do not like the new body style of the Dakotas, they look low to the ground.

 

[asommella]

What type of bumper is that??

 

[pwhiteelec05]

Haven't seen this in a while.

The bumpers are from Kennasaw Mountain. I absolutely don NOT recommend them. The work is shady and the custom service as well. Their have be nothing but bad things that happen with people that deal with them.

As far as updates, the only thing I have done is to a traction bar to it. Sorry don't have any pics

 

[Turdle]

Hi Phillip. Good to hear from ya.