1997 Dodge Dakota

Vehicle Overview

This is my 1997 Dodge Dakota 5.2 4x4 build. I saw this truck on offer up & at first I did not like it, obviously who would like a truck that has severe paint fading & body rust? Mind you the truck leaked power steering , turned off when breaking , no headliner , overheated dashboard didn’t work, busted light bulbs & missing Miscellaneous Items & But when I read the description that it was a 5 speed manual transmission & 4x4 I had an interest in it. So I met the guy & got it. I didn’t drive the truck for at least a month because I kinda got that feeling like “ why did I buy this junk “ , “ what I’m i going to do with this “. So eventually I walked up to the truck and started investigating more. I finally got the courage to do something about it & started to slowly fix her up because the last owner really treat the truck like garbage and didn’t fix anything that broke. I started to sand the truck & resprayed it in a white primer. Started to fix every part that broke & would go to the junk yard daily for the next 4/5 months constantly buying spare parts or missing items. Some new items were ordered online. Finally I got somewhere & started to drive the truck more often it wasn’t so ugly & it was really reliable. I left the truck untouched after the new parts were installed for a few weeks until i started to shop online for cosmetic parts like new headlights , fog lights , leds , rock lights , seat covers , aftermarket radio with a system & cb radio. I passed by a tire stop & stopped to see how much it would cost to get new tires. But then I saw the rims that are on it now & said to myself “ how crazy would it look with those on it? “ and I kinda laughed it off until the guy said “ we can give it a try “ so I did. The truck now has some 33x12.5R20s bolt pattern is 6x139. If that sounded weird Yes because they are 6x139 Chevy Silverado Rims not the original 6x114 a really rare bolt pattern so it’s super difficult looking for aftermarket rims unless they are custom. This was done by using adapters. & before anyone says those are bad & unsafe i did my research & got some expensive high quality hub centric adapters that were $199 for the set. It’s been almost 3 months & no problems what’s so ever. So far that’s all I’ve done to my truck in the past 7 months.

Vehicle Story

Future Plans

My future plans Body Modification are to wrap the entire truck in a either a satin purple or chrome purple. & then add some nice body flares to match the width of the truck. Full tint all the way around. Engine Modifications like FBO , upgraded Holley throttle body , K&N cold air intake , Edelbrock camshafts , Mopar Shorty Headers , Summit Downpipes & Cat Back, Aem Fuel Pump , Upgrade Injectors & Full Rebuild Suspension Modification definitely have to be a 5. 5/6inch Lift all the way around. & upgraded heavy duty shocks. Definitely would love to get some drilled & slotted brakes with upgraded maybe 1 piston calipers & find a way to do a drum to disc conversion kit for the rear. Interior Modifications is to change out the existing carpet & change it to black & to install Dodge Durango leather seats that are black. I know some newer Dakotas have leather seats as well but most are electric mines in manual.