Dodge Dakota 2004 Redesign
Dakota fans will have to wait until the Winter of 2004 to see what Dodge has planned.
Dodge is keeping a tight lid on what the new Dakota will have, any bets?
http://www.edmunds.com/future/2004/dodge/dakota/2drregcab/preview.html
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Comments
remind me of my old baseball glove.
Power roll down back window
5.7 v8 up from 4.7
New headlights like BMW
Power SUNROOF Option
Tell Us what you would like to see in your next dakota. Who knows whos reading this board
Jon
Bookitty
-TB
the new car shows, I'll bet we're looking at the
front view of the new Dakota. Looks like it won't
be downsized after all? Looks like a smaller
version of the 1500 Ram. Bigger grill.
I vote for a diesel engine.
mm
What I would like to see Dodge to is freshen the styling. Give it a few newer accents from the Ram, maybe new HID headlights, etc. Under the skin, give it a hydro-formed chassis and the 4.7 HO as the standard plant and the Hemi as an option. Also, update the interior, loose the column shifter (sorry tree folks, but just look at the new F-150 and the Nissan full size, floor is the new trend), and put in a nav system. Do the same to the Dakota much like the Suburban is simply a full size Chevy with seats rather than a bed.
Dodge needs to realize that it's the cars that are in the middle ground of the middle ground of the middle ground that attract the most attention (with the exception of extreme sports cars). By this I mean that the cars that are the blend of two or more genres of automobiles are the ones that are getting the attention. There always have been trucks, sedans, and sports cars. The SUV is a sedan plus truck. The sports sedan is sports car plus sedan, etc. Any blending of these three characteristics in various amounts produces new cars. Dodge has a very good blend going for it with the Dakota/Durango platform. The cars are sporty (a truck with a 0-60 of 8 seconds is very quick by most body-on-frame standards), can haul people, and at a perfect size where it's not too big to be a burden around town or too small to attempt anything serious with the vehicle. I only hope they do not loose that balance with the new models.
The power rear window sounds good, add a diesel
option. Better front seats. Fix the front end
pops! Stiffer chassis. In-dash 6-CD changer.
Flat floor under rear seats or make a storage
box area under the seats. How about a "build-in"
retractable Hard bed cover.
MM
crew cab (or 3 door/forward facing door, comfortable Ext. cab)
4.7 V8 Manual
6'3" box
I like the power of the 4.7, the room of the quad, and the turning radius of the Dakota but I just can't convince myself that the 5'3" bed will be as useful as a full 6'3" bed. I am hoping that with this new 10" longer chassis that it might share with the Durango, depending on what you read for either 2004 or 2005, they will finally make what I actually want.
I have been looking at the Dakota as my "next" vehicle for 5 months now...but there are a few changes I would like to see before I purchase.
First, as a Jeep Grand Cherokee owner, I think the interior needs a drastic update. The dashboard area looks dated and lacks a look of quality that is now found in the Jeep.
Second, as someone who drives an average of 42,000 miles a year, I'd like to see a redesign of the seats with added comfort controls.
Third, I'd like to see an increase in ground clearance by at least an 2 inches.
And if the rumors of a Diesel are true...I think Dodge will have created the trucks that the other manufacturers will be coping for years to come!
GO DODGE
Do NOT downsize. If anything make it a little bigger; Why not, the Ram has grown?
Make 5.7L Hemi available (especially with 5spd=Lightning killer)
Make a diesel available.. 5.9L is NOT practical.. 3.9L Cummins version IS very practical, would fit easily, and handle any workload a Dakota would encounter while giving it more longevity.
Bring back the 8--- YES the EIGHT foot bed. That is a full PU bed.. Not 6'3"!
Do something with the front suspension & brakes.. The rotors are CHEAP and warp easily and often. and the ball joints wear after 1-2 years.
Get the D-C quality back UP to the Chrysler Corporation truck levels. Why are so many components ready to be replaced after roughly 15K miles????
Payload?? Dakotas used to have better payload ratings available.
We're not asking for miracles just asking D-C to not systematically take the Dakota out of a market that it created and dominated; and to make some minor variations to make the truck more useful, practical, and saleable.
http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?n=178&sid=178&a- - - rticle=6279
Um, it's bigger...
What some cannot understand is that the Dakota is already too close to the Ram in pricing, and it was cancelled in the past because it got a bit too big, and was the size of the old Ram, making it compete directly with it's bigger brother.
Engine choices are going to be the 3.7L V6, the 4.7L V8, and there might be a 5.7L V8...for a sort of SRT-8 version. Now, as for a Ford Lightning killer, that's what the Ram SRT-10 is for, more commonly called the "Viper Ram".
As for rotor problems...that's pretty typical for today's cars and trucks.
My own reservations have to do with mileage and build quality. As far as the rotors go, Jeep seems to be the benchmark for sheer lousy rotors, the Grand Cherokee being the worst. I'll bet Dodge does a lot better with this next version.
mm
And yes, the Dakota is now on its own platform.
The spy shot is an club cab - I hope they keep this configuration, as they got rid of it with the Ram. I do hope they add rear doors to the club cab, however. The club cab is a great place for a dog or child seat, without taking away from bed length as does the quad cab. The 5'quad bed is too short for my snowmobile or slide in camper.
I also hope they keep the manual transmission/V8 available. A manual with a hemi would be too sweet!!!