Street Truck

[Midnight_Rider]

**eyes popping at the sight of that motor**

[JeremyJ]

The truck looks great! I love that generation Dakota and especially in the regular cab, short bed 4x2 configuration. Do you plan to add a Xenon or Cervinis tailgate spoiler like your signature shows? I always liked those. Regarding lowering the rear more, have you considered a bolt in C notch to gain more space?

This HellKota was at Carlisle this past weekend and it was an incredible build if you haven't seen it...

Yeah, I'm going for the Cervinis spoiler once I get around to it. It's one of the last visual mods I want to do. I have definitely considered a C-notch. I'm just not quite willing to do it myself, so I've looked around a bit for local fabricators. I haven't contacted anyone yet, because I'm not making contact with the frame yet. If I go down another two inches, I'll definitely get serious about the notch.

And yeah, I know all about the HellKota. I've been following that truck since it was still a 360. I used his videos as a guide for installing my drop kit and will use them again when I do my rear disc swap (eventually). There's a lot of helpful info on his channel and I've actually traded messages with him on Facebook in the past.

[sidepipe87]

Yeah, I'm going for the Cervinis spoiler once I get around to it. It's one of the last visual mods I want to do. I have definitely considered a C-notch. I'm just not quite willing to do it myself, so I've looked around a bit for local fabricators. I haven't contacted anyone yet, because I'm not making contact with the frame yet. If I go down another two inches, I'll definitely get serious about the notch.

A front air dam of some sort and Cal Vu style mirrors would finish that truck off nicely.

[occasional demons]

The seats are thinner than the stock ones?

The Crossfire seats I put in the '99 are a lot thinner in the back rest than the 1gn neon seats, I have to move them forward to push the clutch pedal to the floor. With the neon seats, I was cramped.

The Crossfire seats are firm, but still strangely comfortable. They are cloth, not leather, but from what I gathered from creeping on a Crossfire forum, the leather ones suck.

[JeremyJ]

They're quite a bit thinner. They shifted me down and back a couple of inches, which is exactly what I wanted. This cab is pretty small, so I need all the room I can get.

[JeremyJ]

So the headlights that came on the truck had started to yellow and one of them actually leaked a little during heavy rain. I've been looking for a good set of black replacements, but they're all either really cheap looking, or of really poor quality and light output. I compromised and went with a more old school all clear look. They brighten the front end up a little and I think they look pretty good. They're Anzo-branded lights, and they're supposed to be fairly good quality. I went with amber bulbs, but with a chrome cover on them so they don't make the housings look amber when not lit. The corner bulbs are LED and they're super bright. I'll get better pictures after I wash the truck.

Before.



After:



I actually prefer the black housing look, but I just don't want to deal with inferior quality housings.

[Neon4Life]

Oh man. I hadn't checked back in a while. Good job with all the new upgrades on the truck. Love seen progress. Keep it up.


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[JeremyJ]

This weekend I changed the diff fluid. I used Mobile 1 75/90 fluid and a bottle of Mopar LSD friction modifier. Here's how it started.





The cover came off easily and the fluid wasn't milky or terrible. There was a good bit of metal powder at the bottom of the diff housing, but overall not too bad. I've seen worse. Instead of using the standard RTV method to seal it up, I decided to give a reusable gasket a shot. These are from Lube Locker. They cost about $25 and they don't require any sealant for installation. It fit well and sealed it up perfectly.



When I changed the diff fluid in my old Jeep XJ, I painted the rear cover like this. It's just something fun I like to do to my vehicles, as you guys saw with the SRT injector cover. The drips and splatters didn't run quite as nicely as they did on the Jeep cover, but unlike that one, you can't really see this diff unless you kneel behind the truck, so it's whatever. I know it's there and it makes me smile.



Like in the Jeep, I expect to pick up a small MPG improvement. Hopefully that LSD additive keeps the diff happy. And here's a parting shot of the truck with the new headlights.

[04rebel]

Looking good! And yeah on the diff cover paint, but maybe a fake skeleton arm, leg,or head fastened underneath to go with it????

[Midnight_Rider]

Back in the old days, diff covers would often be painted with a smiley face. But yours is more original.

[JeremyJ]

I remember seeing those. Or maybe some moon eyes.

[Midnight_Rider]

Oh yes, I had forgotten about the "Moon" eyes. I also remember seeing the Mopar "M" on some covers as well.

[MyNeonSaysHi]

lookin good, nice touches. i dig the new headlamps. A set of nice aftermarket wheels would really set it off

[JeremyJ]

I really need a set of rims. Sadly, not in the budget at the moment. I'm thinking a set of 17's or even 18's would look good on it. There's a set of bronze wheels that I really like, but they're impossible to find in stock anywhere.

[04rebel]

Agreed, Your truck is looking FINE! BUT would you EVER now use it for what a pickup truck was intended for use?

[JeremyJ]

Sure. I just loaded up the bed with lumber from an old fence and took it to the dump a week ago. I still use it to haul stuff from time to time.

[MyNeonSaysHi]

Yup the truck still has a bed! You can still use it as intended. I never thought I would want a truck, but after getting our house it would be nice to have. Or perhaps a minivan gutted out.

I always laugh at the newer $70k~ trucks with a lift on it and stupid deep dish wheels that stick out, on a car tire. Yes lots of wheels are out of stock and I am sure they are going up in price too. I wanted a set of Konigs for my Acura TL-S but they are not in stock, probably stuck in a port in China! I see a lot of Dakotas on Ram SRT-10 replicas, or the Viper wheels. They look decent for sure.

[04rebel]

Sure. I just loaded up the bed with lumber from an old fence and took it to the dump a week ago. I still use it to haul stuff from time to time.

What did you do, put a tarp down before loading up so not to mar the paint????

[JeremyJ]

Nope. That's what bed liner is for. The bed has plenty of wear on it.

[JeremyJ]

No updates in a while because, well...



I hope to get back to this thing in the spring. Finances are going to be dodgy because I'm in the middle of a divorce, unfortunately. My living situation is changing, my bills are changing, and hopefully my job is changing soon. I have a lot of personal shit going on right now and the truck is going to take a back seat to all of it. I would like to make progress again at some point, though. I'm not sure what the future holds just yet.

[04rebel]

Great pic you posted!
Seems 2022 is not starting out well for some of us. Hope all works for the best for you and the kids (from the pic) To me, vehicles are just that to me (vehicles). As long as they run properly, life is much more important than "slaving" oneself into them.
Good luck to you, and I hope things get better for all!

[Midnight_Rider]

I agree about the pic. Thanks for sharing and I hope that things start to come back together for you soon.

[occasional demons]

One day at a time is about all you can do.

Hopefully all works out, keep your head up!

Last year at this time, things looked pretty sketchy for me, but things have worked out fairly well. Not perfect, but it could be much worse.

[MyNeonSaysHi]

So sorry to hear man. Hang in there bud

[JeremyJ]

Well, I have some good news and some bad news about the truck. The good news is that I get to keep it through the divorce. The bad news is that I won't be able to park it at my new place, so it's going to get stored at my parents' house for a while. I'm probably going to remove the insurance and put a cover on it until my living situation improves and I can bring it with me to a bigger place. My parents are about an hour and a half away from me, so I can't just run and pick it up without some planning ahead. Convenient furniture moving and dump runs are going to become a thing of the past, which is unfortunate.

Despite this, I might still spend a little money on it over time and I'll definitely update this log if/when I do. I'm sure going to miss driving it around when I feel like it. This isn't the end of the road for the truck! Maybe someday I'll get around to dropping a Hemi into it. Who knows. Time will tell.



Bonus Cinnamon Glaze in the background!

[occasional demons]

An hour and a half drive, then add the cost of gasoline for that long of a drive.

The 45 minute drive to my parents to work on my '99 back then was bad enough.

Hopefully things change for the better sooner than later.

[Midnight_Rider]

That stinks. My SRT is an hour away at my mother's house so I know the feeling.

[MyNeonSaysHi]

keep your head up, stay +. Hope to eventually see updates on the Dakota