[tpivette89]

Wondering what these old trucks run in the 1/4 mile? My Dad recently bought a brand new Colorado, and the dealership wasn't going to give him squat for his 2000 Dakota with 108k miles as a trade. So he literally just gave it to me. Over the last few weeks I've completely cleaned/detailed the interior, gutted the crusty Infinity stereo and replaced it with all aftermarket components, and have started changing all the fluids and filters.

The car is a 100% stock 4x4 club cab Dakota with 3.92 gears. What did these run in their prime? The weather here won't dip into the negative DA until mid-Oct or so, and by then I should have everything all freshened up and ready to go. So what should I expect? Would it be better to launch it in 4WD or 2WD?

BTW, future plans include a Magnaflow single cat Y-pipe and catback, CAI, manual fan delete (this truck has an electric fan already installed from the factory), and a Superchips tuner or a canned tune from FlyinRyan.

 

[tpivette89]

Nothing to update so far... changed the oil with Mobil 1 5W30, and a Mopar filter. Also replaced the air filter with a Fram unit and cleaned out the airbox. Plans for maintenance before hitting the strip is to change out the front and rear diff fluid (probably Amsoil with Mopar additive), swap out the trans pan with a Dorman unit (with drain plug) as well as a new filter and gasket. Also, have a set of Delco spark plugs to install as well as cleaning up the TB. Hope to get it down the 1320 before the season ends (about 5 weeks away at Cecil County Dragway). However, with a 2016 Audi S4, a 2017 Taurus SHO, and a 1997 Buick Regal GS also in the works... it may be tight to fit the Dakota into the schedule!

 

[JeremyJ]

I'd launch it in 2WD first to see what wheel spin looks like. If you struggle for traction (probably not) then try a 4WD launch. I'd expect a 16 second quarter mile.

 

[tpivette89]

Bringing this back...

Didn't run the truck at the drag strip last year, however, I purchased a Dragy and used it at the strip with my 2016 Audi S4 and found it to be accurate to within .02 seconds. That's pretty good, and a far cry from the old performance meters I remember people using in the early 2000s.

Anyway, I've since changed the oil again, and replaced the spark plugs since I last posted. Also got a new set of rear tires put on (265/75/R15s instead of the stock size). Gonna use the Dragy on a nice straight stretch of road near my house (can't see paying $50 to run the thing on a Sat morning when I'd rather run the Audi instead). Hoping to break 15s, but I'm not holding my breath.