I owned a 90 Dak Sport Club Cab 3.9 4spd o/d. Put over 200K on
it with zero major problems. When I traded it the trans was beginning to
show signs of age. The point is that I had a problem with the lock up
torque converter not releasing when coming to a stop occasionally. A
list member was wondering about his truck stalling when coming to a
stop. Could be the sensor for the lock up. You might want to check that
first, before yanking the trans for no reason.
Whoever is driving the campaign to get a group deal on Trans Go
Kits count me in.
I have not had a lick of problems from my 4spd O/D in my 96 318.
Hauled about 800 lbs from No.Cal to Rosarito Mex and back without a
whimper. Probably averaged 80 mph the whole way. So if you're having
problems with yours, and it's under warranty, get the dealer to fix it.
Be VERY pushy.
Thanks for reminding me that the simple, obvious solutions are
best. There is probably a tag on the Dif that identifies it as well, but
jacking it up and rotating the wheels would tell a lot. I seem to recall
that this test is for a Posi rear. Is the stock "limited slip" going to
react the same way? I thought the idea of a limited slip was it locked
up under wheel spin situations, but was open during "normal" driving.
Someone mentioned putting 275/60's on their truck. When I went
through this on mine I looked at quite a number of combinations. I
believe the combo I have is optimum without modifications to fenders, or
interference with suspension. My wheels are 15X7 with stock back set. I
tried 275/60's but they touched the suspension, and would have scrubbed
the fenders in front. They were a snug fit in the rear, but would work.
Any suspension slop would have caused interference with fenders. I
wanted all four corners to be the same, so I went with 255/60's all
around. If you drop a straight edge from the fender to the ground it
should just barely clear the outside bulge of the 255's in the front. I
was looking for stability and road holding characteristics. The 255's
gave me the desired effect. I can still light em up if I want. With the
stock tires I could almost smoke em putting it in Drive at idle.
I read an article in High Performance Mopar last night on the
Dak R/T. The only complaint they had were the seats, and plastic
interior trim. I maintain that the Dakota V8 is the only true "off the
shelf" sport truck. $500 worth of seats and you can't find a Generic
Motors, or Dorf, to come close to the performance of a Dak out of the
box. Buy a GM for $25 grand, sink another $15-$20 grand into it and you
still can't beat a Dak.
Sport Truck did a "shoot out" article, and the only truck that
beat a 318 Magnum was a super charged, nitrused, 454 Chevy. The Dak had
headers and a cat back, with an MP computer. Maybe $1200 in add ons VS
$5000 on the GM.
Well enough for now. Thank you for your patience with my test
messages yesterday.
Jon H
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