Faults:

Lower steering knuckle fails due to lack of a proper slip joint.

Frame rusts to breaking point in front of the left rear wheel; all Dakotas, same spot.

Engine intake plenum belly pan gasket fails on all V6 and V8 engines, causing ping and knock under acceleration load. Intake must be removed to replace the gasket. Expensive if you're not a do it yourself guy. Dodge knows of this problem. They will retard your timing to stop the pinging. Poor fix. Poor mileage and power.

Exhaust manifold attach bolts are too small for duty. They break off in the head, especially if you drive on rough roads.

General Comments:

Fairly reliable truck. Poor fuel economy.

Faults:

The truck had a starting problem for some time. The battery would get drained. After taking it to a few places, a mechanic disconnected the RPM gauge and that solved the problem. 8000 miles later the starter went bad. I don't know the details, but the water pump was replaced too. The muffler and tailpipe have been replaced a couple times in the past 10,000 miles.

The engine runs like a dream.

General Comments:

The truck runs like the day it rolled off the assembly line. I love the motor. Replaced the muffler with a Glasspack. Sounds great now. Added a cassette/mp3 adapter and now my truck is BA.

It's got very little rust. It had a topper, but I took it off because it looks cooler without it. Power windows; AC will blow you away. Top speed is around 105mph. Might be able to get more experimenting with overdrive though.. LOL.

I keep a logbook of gas mileage and repairs. Normal driving will get you about 14-15mpg. If you try to get good mileage, you can get 15-17mpg. My best is 16.9. I'm going to experiment with overdrive now and see if that helps. I found mileage depends a lot on the amount of highway driving on the tank, and the record tank was probably close to half 65-75mph interstate driving. I've got 16.9 twice.

This is a great truck. Looks good, it's the right size, and it's just a fun truck to have. Unfortunately, it's the 2wd model, so I can't give any muddin information. Can spin the tires pretty easily with the 318...

All in all, I would recommend this truck if you can find one in good condition.

Faults:

I bought this truck from my brother as a non running vehicle. It needed an alternator to run, so I got one, and replaced the battery, but no start; turns out at some point he started crossing wires to "see what would happen" and spiked the computer. After a new computer, it fired right up and never gave me any other problems, just routine oil changes.

General Comments:

Very powerful, comfortable, and fun to drive. It's easy to work on and doesn't ask much of me. I have cleaned it up real nice and it turns heads.

FYI it sounds amazing with dual flowmasters. I also hook up to 1/2 ton trucks from time to time, and out pull them every time.