Well with all this talk about Dakota being crap I decided to take on members
advise and go look at a Ford truck forum and see what they deal with.
My findings are about the same. They have some issues too. But I have some
questions and concerns I'd like to address.
1. I hear and see allot of talk about popping noise in front end over small
bump on sharp slow turns. Everyone has their own idea of what causes this. I
have heard it on my truck. I have heard many many trucks do this. Nissan,
Toyota and so on. Do I need to worry about this.
2. TICK TICK TICK from lower end in the morning start up. IT goes away "for
the most part" when it gets warm. Is it rod knock?? anyone ells notice this
on cold starts?????
3. A/C.. I recently had to have a resistor replaced because A/C was NON-OP.
Yesterday I was driving in slow freeway traffic. I turned on the A/C. After
a while it got hot. I looked at the button and it was off!! Oh no!!! I
turned it on and it came back on but then turned off again, then back on all
by itself. It went on and off like 5 times until I turned the fan speed up
then it stayed on?? What's up with that!!!!
4. A chugging feeling when braking. I would swear it's the brake rotors
accept a few detail. At high speed braking it seems fine, it's only when you
get down to a low speed. Also noted that if I put the truck in neutral the
CHUG feeling goes away??? anyone ells notice this. What could it be, the
transmission? the drive shaft??
5. Idle speed. I see on other forums for Dakota that people have this
stalling/ low idle problem with the 4.7.. Some have claimed that a EPROM
update form the dealer will fix it. Others claim it fixed it for a while and
then returned. Some even say they notice a loss in low end power after the
update.. Anyone deal with this? I don't have stalling but the idle is low at
every stop unless the A/C is on. It always settles at 500 and that's just a
bit low. and I can feel it.
I love this truck. I'm not a brand snob either. I think Ford makes some fine
cars and trucks. They also make shitty ones too. My mustang never gave me a
bit of problems. My Taurus gave me hell. I'm not going to bother talking
about Chevy, I never really liked their trucks, the fit and finish on GM has
always pissed me off. :) and have you ever looked at the underneath of a
3500 Chevy and a 350 superduty Ford??? The ford looks all beefy and the
Chevy looks like car suspension.
But anyway. I'm just a bit nervous about this truck. I already know I have
to replace rotors some day because of the crappy bakes on these things. And
the Engine is cool, but I wish they would have stayed with the 318 as we all
know those babies are bullet proof!!! I had a few of those, and try as I
might I could never kill em. I had a station wagon I overheated on a daily
basis. the engine was solid no matter what I did. I was a kid at the time
and broke and my radiator had a hole in it. I would go from station to
station and get more water.
anyway all take all the advice and input I can get.
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