RE: '97 Dakota 5.2 LongTerm Update

From: Steven St.Laurent (saint1958@home.com)
Date: Thu Jan 18 2001 - 22:38:48 EST


Totally awesome...

--------------------------------------
Steven St.Laurent
2000 Dakota Hemi 4.7 (WRECKED!!)
2000 Ford Roush Mustang Stage III - TT version (sold)
1999 Chebby (gone in 2003)
1993 Tracker (still going-going-going...)
--------------------------------
Aspiring for now:
2003 Dakota Hemi 5.7 or a V-10 mod
2003/4 Viper GTS-R

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-dakota-truck@buffnet.net
[mailto:owner-dakota-truck@buffnet.net]On Behalf Of DRD892@aol.com
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2001 4:53 AM
To: dakota-truck@buffnet.net
Subject: DML: '97 Dakota 5.2 LongTerm Update

Good morning and Happy New Year.

I have returned from my Holiday ramblings. I left on December 21st and
returned January 9th. During that time I put 5,500 miles on my Dakota.
My travels included Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma and
Texas.
Driving conditions consisted of clear and dry, rain, major ice storm, snow
storms,
black ice (Indiana) and of course, sub zero temps to 65 degrees. I had
about
1,000 pounds in the bed from Michigan to Houston. Lighter going back to
Oklahoma and about 900 pounds on the return to Michigan. Fuel milage
averaged about 16 MPG. Speed was widely varied. From 15 MPH in very
bad conditions to above 115 MPH on certain road segments that I know.
Hauled 350 gallons of water in 1 gallon bottles to my place on Oklahoma.
(not all at once). The Dakota performance was outstanding. The only
problem
that cropped up was a loose glovebox door latch (which I fixed). The
mileage
on the Dakota is now 86,750. I have always believed in preventative
maintenance
and upgrade when ever possible. It is really starting to pay off now.
To borrow a phrase from Chevy, my Dakota is solid as a rock. My plan is to
drive it at least another 90,000 miles. It still looks almost new and runs
even
better.
As a side note, my wife put 3,350 miles on her Jeep Cherokee during the same
time frame which brings the total milage to just under 70,000. The only
problem
was a dead battery in the Key-less entry thingy.

David R.
Sterling Heights
Michigan
drd892@aol.com



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