Wagovanman's Dakota Project.

So let get this thing going.
Truck: 2000 Dodge Dakota Quad cab Sport.
Engine: Stock 4.7 Magnum
Trans: Automatic 4 spd w/4wd
Miles: 301,482


I gave 500 dollars for this truck. I knew there would be issues but you dont pass up on a running 500 dollar truck these days. Issues I have run into so far have been 3 (in a row) faulty (owners fault) Throttle Position sensors. What I didnt know that I now know is that when you install a TPS you do so with a 1/4 turn of the sensor because there is a spring inside that lil bastid.... Clogged cat, which I removed from the manifold back and installed a straight 2.5 inch pipe with a turbo (cheap) muffler.... and Rust, OMG Becky would you look at that Rust. Its just so............. Ok I will stop now. Needless to say after 300,000 miles of Minnesota salt its rusty underneath. How rusty you ask? Well, I am glad you asked here are a few pictures of the frame right in front of the leaf spring hangars.



Is that rusty enough for ya? Well, me being the genius that I am I had to do some fabrication to stiffen this situation up. so i got out the Die Grinder some 1.5 inch square tube steel and got to cutting and welding. Ive got videos of this on my tiktok but the files are too large for me to send from my phone to my email so i can upload them here
and this is what I came up with.


And in Primer



I don't claim to be a fabricator or anything of the sort but this worked as a temporary measure. My nephew currently has the truck at a jobsite in Arkansas and the Welds and Bolts are holding. But, I know they are not going to hold forever so i went and bought this yesterday. It's a 99 Dodge Dakota Sport Club cab (they both have the 131" frames so I am praying that they match up.




I read somewhere online that the frame was the same for both trucks the Club cab has a longer bed and the Quad cab has a shorter bed to make up for the lost frame length. We are going to see though. It was a real pain in the A to get this donor off the trailer by myself but here are some photos of it happening. I jacked up the front with a Cherry picker, then ran a tow strap from the frame to a tree and drug that bastid off the trailer.



And here it sits on 4 jack stands. slowly being stripped of the parts I will not reuse. Any thoughts on how I can get the body off the frame solo? Also, I have been thinking about doing a dual gas tank setup since I now have an extra gas tank. Thoughts on that anyone?