At 07:06 PM 2/12/2003 -0800, you wrote:
>Hi Everyone!
>
>I just wanted to speak up, instead of lurking out here in the shadows.
>
>We just got our first Dakota, a 2003 Quad Cab with all the available options
>except the leather upholstery and the roof rack. The wife doesn't like
>leather, and I think a roof rack on a pickup looks silly...
Congrats on the new truck. I'm sure that it will be a lot of fun for you.
So far (aboput a week now) the Dakota has been a lot of fun. We have the
>4.7 V8, so there is plenty of pwer, and although it rides a little stiff, it
>seems like we'll really enjoy having it.
Well, it is a truck. It's going to ride like a truck as long as you want
to preserve any sort of durability above what would be found in a passenger
car. You can soften the ride a little (or make it much stiffer!) by
replacing the shocks. You'll also notice a ride quality improvement if you
junk the stock Goodyear tires (probably Wrangler RT/S if you have a 4x4 model).
>As time passes, I'll be asking questions about certain things: some to
>improve performance and some cosmetic. At this moment, I really don't know
>what's available and worthwhile.
Just about anything is available. You could go crazy and spend a lot of
time and money if you *really* wanted to improve performance. As far as
cosmetic things, there's lots of options available there, too -- just
depends on what your tastes are. Since the current body style ("Gen III"
as we call them around here) has been around since '97, there are a great
number of "cosmetic" products available.
First thing I would do (and the first things I did to my '00) would be new
muffler and new tires. The muffler is of course a fun "toy" addition
(sounds great!). The tires should seriously be replaced unless you're
doing exclusively dry, clean pavement driving. Anything beyond that and
they are terrible.
-Bill
>--
Bill Pitz <dakota@billpitz.com>
'00 Dakota CC SLT 4x4
4.7L V8, 3.92lsd, Flowmaster 50 series
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