The
Dakota is a mid-size
pickup truckA pickup truck is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area which is almost always separated from the cab to allow for chassis flex when carrying or pulling heavy loads....
from Chrysler LLC's
DodgeDodge is a United States-based brand of automobiles, minivans, sport utility vehicles, and pickup trucks, manufactured and marketed by Chrysler Group LLC in more than 60 different countries and territories worldwide....
brand. It was introduced in 1987 alongside the redesigned
Dodge Ram 50The Dodge Ram 50 was a compact pickup truck produced by Mitsubishi Motors and sold by the Chrysler Corporation from 1979 to 1993. Plymouth also received a version of the truck known as the Arrow Truck, sold from 1979 to 1982. Mitsubishi itself imported it as the Mitsubishi Mighty Max when it began...
. The Dakota was nominated for the
North American Truck of the YearThe North American Car of the Year is an automobile award voted annually in January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The jury consists of no more than 50 automotive journalists.-Example:-Pre-1994:-1994-1999:-2000-2009:...
award for 2000.
The Dakota has always been sized above the compact (
Ford RangerFord Ranger is a name used on two distinct compact pickup truck lines by the Ford Motor Company and by a marketing arrangement with Mazda.* A Ford-designed compact pickup truck, which is sold and manufactured in North America as well as Brazil, Chile, Argentina and South Africa. It is also...
,
Chevrolet S-10The Chevrolet S-10 is a compact pickup truck from the Chevrolet marque of General Motors. When it was first introduced in 1982, the GMC version was known as the S-15 and later renamed the GMC Sonoma. A high-performance version was released in 1991 and given the name of GMC Syclone. The truck was...
/GMC Sonoma) and below the full-sized (Ford F-150,
Chevrolet SilveradoThe Chevrolet Silverado , is the latest line of full-size pickup trucks from General Motors.-History:...
/GMC Sierra,
Nissan TitanThe Nissan Titan introduced in 2004, is a full-size pickup truck produced for the North American market by Nissan. The truck shares the stretched Nissan F-Alpha platform with the Nissan Armada and Infiniti QX56 SUVs, and is manufactured in Canton, Mississippi, United States.-Market and sales:The...
,
Toyota TundraThe Toyota Tundra is a full-size pickup truck introduced by Toyota in the year 2000. It was widely considered to be the first full-size import-brand truck built with an American look and feel and a refined V8 engine. The Tundra was eventually nominated for the North American Truck of the Year award...
,
Lincoln Mark LTThe Mark LT is a luxury pickup truck that is manufactured by the Lincoln division of American automaker Ford Motor Company. It first went on sale in January 2005 for the 2006 model year. The Mark LT is a successor to the failed 2002-only Lincoln Blackwood , Lincoln's only other pickup truck, which...
) pickups and Dodge's own
RamThe Dodge Ram is a full-size pickup truck from Chrysler LLC's Dodge brand. The name was first used in 1981 on the redesigned Ram and Power Ram, though it came from the hood ornament used on 1930s and '40s Dodge vehicles....
. It is a conventional design with
body-on-frameBody-on-frame is an automobile construction technology. Mounting a separate body to a rigid frame which supports the drivetrain was the original method of building automobiles, and its use continues to this day...
construction and
leaf springOriginally called laminated or carriage spring, a leaf spring is a simple form of spring, commonly used for the suspension in wheeled vehicles. It is also one of the oldest forms of springing, dating back to medieval times....
/
live axleA live axle, sometimes called a solid axle, is a type of beam axle suspension system that uses the driveshafts that transmit power to the wheels to connect the wheels laterally so that they move together as a unit....
rear end. The Dakota was the first small pickup with an optional
V8 engineA V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....
. One notable feature was the Dakota's rack and pinion steering, a first in work trucks.
First Generation
- See also Shelby Dakota
The Shelby Dakota was a limited-production performance version of the Dodge Dakota Sport pickup truck. Offered by Shelby for 1989 only, it was his first rear wheel drive vehicle in many years....
The Dodge Dakota was conceived by
ChryslerChrysler Group, LLC is an American automobile manufacturer headquartered in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925. From 1998 to 2007, Chrysler and its subsidiaries were part of the German based DaimlerChrysler AG...
management as the first "mid-sized" pickup combining the nimble handling and fuel economy of a compact pickup with cargo handling capacity approaching that of full-sized pickups. To keep investment low, many components were shared with existing Chrysler products and the manufacturing plant was shared with the full-sized Dodge D-Model. The name Dakota means "friend or ally" in the
SiouxSioux are a Native American and First Nations people. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many dialects...
Indian language.
The first generation of the Dakota was produced from 1987 through 1996.
Straight-4The inline-four engine or straight-four engine is a four-cylinder internal combustion engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line, or plane along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a...
and
V6 engineA V6 engine is a V engine with six cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of three cylinders, usually set at either a right angle or an acute angle to each other, with all six pistons driving a common crankshaft...
s were offered along with either a 5-speed
manualA manual transmission, or manual gearbox is a type of transmission used in motor vehicle applications...
or 4-speed
automatic transmissionAn automatic transmission is an automobile gearbox that can change gear ratios automatically as the vehicle moves, freeing the driver from having to shift gears manually...
.
Four wheel driveThe Four Wheel Drive Auto Company, more often known as Four Wheel Drive or just FWD, was founded in 1909 in Clintonville, Wisconsin as the Badger Four-Wheel Drive Auto Company by Otto Zachow and William Besserdich....
was available only with the V6. Both 6.5 ft (2 m) and 8 ft (2.4 m) beds were offered.
Fuel injectionFuel injection is a system for mixing fuel with air in an internal combustion engine. It has become the primary fuel delivery system used in gasoline automotive engines, having almost completely replaced carburetors in the late 1980s....
was added to the 3.9 L V6 for 1988 but the output remained the same.
In 1988, the Sport package was added as a mid-year release. Available in both 2wd and 4x4, the Sport included:
- AM
Amplitude modulation is a technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting information via a radio carrier wave. AM works by varying the strength of the transmitted signal in relation to the information being sent...
Stereo / FM Stereo radio with cassette player
- Carpeted logo floor mats
- Center armrest bench seat
- Charcoal/Silver Deluxe Cloth interior with fold-down arm rest
- Color-keyed leather-wrapped sport steering wheel
- Deluxe wipers
- Dual remote control outside mirrors
- Floor Carpet
- Gauge Package
- Mopar Air Dam with Bosch Fog Lamps
- Mopar Light Bar with Bosch Off-Road lamps (4x4 only)
- Unique bodyside tape stripes
- Euro-style black out grille and bumpers
- Sliding rear window
- 3.9 L V6 engine
- 15" aluminum wheels (5 bolt)
The Sport was available only in Black, Bright White and Graphic Red.
The N-body platform was the result of the identification by Harold K. Sperlich, in charge of Chrysler's Product Planning in the early 1980s, that the Japanese-inspired compact pickups of the time lacked the size and features necessary to meet the demands of American buyers. In the late-1970's, Chrysler was still recovering from their near-bankruptcy and resources were in short supply. Sperlich challenged the N-Body team to search for all opportunities to reuse existing components to create the Dakota. The resulting highly investment-efficient program enabled Chrysler to create an all-new market segment at low cost. Key individuals involved in making this product a reality included Glenn Gardner, Glen House, Robert Burnham, Don Sebert, Jim Hackstedde, and Clark Ewing. The basic Dakota vehicle was ultimately used as a foundation to create the Dakota extended cab version and the Dodge Durango SUV.
1989 saw the unusual Dakota
convertibleA convertible is a type of automobile in which the roof can retract and fold away, converting it from an enclosed to an open-air vehicle. Many different automobile body styles are manufactured and marketed in convertible form....
. The first American convertible pickup since the
Ford Model TThe Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Henry Ford's Ford Motor Company from 1908 through 1927. The Model T set 1908 as the historic year that the automobile came into popular usage...
, it featured a fixed roll bar and an uncomplicated manual top. Roughly 2,482 were sold that first year. Another important addition that year was
Carroll ShelbyCarroll Hall Shelby, is an American racing and automotive designer and former racing driver.-Automotive Executive of the Year Award - 2008 Honoree:...
's V8-powered
Shelby DakotaThe Shelby Dakota was a limited-production performance version of the Dodge Dakota Sport pickup truck. Offered by Shelby for 1989 only, it was his first rear wheel drive vehicle in many years....
, his first rear-wheel drive vehicle in two decades.
An extended "Club Cab" model was added for 1990, still with two doors. This model allowed the Dakota to boast capacity for six passengers, although the rear seat was best suited for children and shorter adults.
For 1991, the front of the Dakota received a new grille and hood which extended the engine compartment to better fit the optional 5.2 L V8, which was inspired by the earlier
Shelby DakotaThe Shelby Dakota was a limited-production performance version of the Dodge Dakota Sport pickup truck. Offered by Shelby for 1989 only, it was his first rear wheel drive vehicle in many years....
V8 option. By 1992, the standard square sealed beam glass headlamps were phased out for the aerodynamic style molded plastic headlamps attached to the grill surround and equipped with halogen lights making 1991 being the only year for a unique front end for the Dakota. Also debuting in 1991 were the six bolt wheels (replacing the earlier five bolt wheels) based on Dodge's marketing attempting to differentiate the Dakota from competing manufacturers' trucks and the upcoming new Ram introduction. 1991 was also the first year for an optional driver side airbag (made standard in 1994) and the last year for the Dakota convertible.
In order to fulfill the Dodge Division's commitment to the American Sunroof Company (who were responsible for the modifications to these trucks), production of the "drop top" Dakota was extended into the 1991 model year. Production was extremely limited, with just 8 produced in total, making them the most rare of all Dakotas. Unlike the previous years, colors and options varied more than before as the manufacturer picked each of these trucks in a somewhat random fashion. No advertising was given to these trucks, and they do not appear in sales literature. This is most likely due to the fact that the majority of them were "pre-sold" before hitting dealer lots.
Both of the V-configuration engines were updated to Magnum specs the next year, providing a tremendous power boost. Along with the introduction of the Magnum engine came multi-port Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI). The EFI computer ( called a PCM by Chrysler techs ) was partially responsible for the improved performance. The new engine/computer combination produced about 235 hp (175 kW).
1994 saw a few minor changes, with the most notable being the addition of a driver's side airbag, located in a new, two spoke design steering wheel (also found in the Ram). Other changes included the discontinuation of the "SE" and "LE" trims. In following with the all new Ram full sized pickups, top end trim was changed to "SLT", with these models (along with select others) wearing the new chrome finished, styled 6 bolt steel wheels styled similar to the 5 bolt type found on the larger Ram. Other changes included revisions to color and overall trim options.
In 1996, the first generation's final year, the
K-basedThe straight-4 engine developed by Chrysler for the Chrysler K and L platforms is sometimes referred to as the K-car engine. After its debut in 1981, it became the basis for all Chrysler-developed 4-cylinder engines until the Chrysler Neon engine was released in 1995.-2.2:The first K-car engine was...
2.5 L I4 engine was out of production and had been considered vastly underpowered compared to the competition, so Dodge borrowed
American MotorsAmerican Motors Corporation was an American automobile company formed by the 1954 merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company — at the time, it was the largest corporate merger in U.S. history....
'
JeepJeep is an automobile marque of Chrysler. It is the oldest off-road vehicle brand, with Land Rover coming in second. The original vehicle which first appeared as the prototype Bantam BRC became the primary light 4-wheel-drive vehicle of the US Army and allies during the World War II and postwar...
2.5 L
I4The American Motors Corporation straight-4 engine was used by a number of AMC, Jeep, and Dodge vehicles from 1984 through 2002.* For an outline of all engines used by AMC see -Development:...
(rated at 120 hp) and installed it as the base engine in the Dakota. It was the only major change for 1996, and would be also carried over as the base engine in the new, larger 1997 model.
Engines
- 1987-1988 - K I4, SOHC,
- 1987-1991 - LA V6,
- 1989-1995 - K I4,
- 1991 - LA V8,
- 1992-1993 - Magnum V6,
- 1991-1993 - Magnum V8,
- 1994-1996 - Magnum V6,
- 1994-1996 - Magnum V8,
- 1996 - AMC
The American Motors Corporation straight-4 engine was used by a number of AMC, Jeep, and Dodge vehicles from 1984 through 2002.* For an outline of all engines used by AMC see -Development:...
I4,
Second Generation
The second-generation Dakota was built from 1997 through 2004. It inherited the semi truck look of the larger Ram but remained largely the same underneath. 1998 saw the introduction of the
R/T model with the big 5.9 L 250 hp (186 kW)
Magnum V8. At the time of its introduction, it was seen as one of the most radical in its class, not only for its styling, but for the fact it remained the only truck in its class with an available V8 engine that rivalled many V8s found in full size trucks and with payload 1300-1500 pounds.
Four-door "Quad-Cab" models were added for 2000 with a slightly shorter bed, 63.1 in (160.2 cm), but riding on the Club Cab's 130.9 in (332.5 cm) wheelbase. The aging 5.2 L Magnum V8 was replaced by a new high-tech 4.7 L SOHC PowerTech V8. The Quad-Cab featured a full-size flip up rear seat to provide room for 3 passengers in the back or lots of dry, interior room for cargo.
2001 saw a fairly extensive revision of the Dakota's interior, including a completely redesigned dash, door panels and revised seats. Other minor trim revisions were made, including redesigned aluminium wheels on various models.
2002 was the final year for the
four-cylinder engineThe inline-four engine or straight-four engine is a four-cylinder internal combustion engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line, or plane along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a...
in the Dakota, as
ChryslerChrysler Group, LLC is an American automobile manufacturer headquartered in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925. From 1998 to 2007, Chrysler and its subsidiaries were part of the German based DaimlerChrysler AG...
was ending production of the former AMC design. Most buyers ordered the V6 or V8 engines, which were considerably more powerful and, in the case of the V6, which was made standard for 2003, nearly as fuel-efficient with a manual transmission.
2004 was the end of the old OHV V6 and the big R/T V8; the 2004 model year vehicles were available with the
PowerTechThe PowerTech was a new engine family for Chrysler, and was not based on the Chrysler A engine as existing Chrysler V8s were. A 4.7 L V8 came first, fitted in the Jeep Grand Cherokee, and a 3.7 L V6 version debuted in 2002 for the Jeep Liberty. The PowerTech V6 and V8 were direct replacements for...
engines, now also used in the third-generation Dakota.
This generation was also assembled and sold in Brazil from 1998 to 2002.
Engines
- 1997-2002 - AMC
The American Motors Corporation straight-4 engine was used by a number of AMC, Jeep, and Dodge vehicles from 1984 through 2002.* For an outline of all engines used by AMC see -Development:...
I4,
- 1997-2003 - Magnum V6,
- 1997-1999 - Magnum V8,
- 1998-2003 - Magnum V8,
- 1999-2000 - VM Diesel I4,
- 2000-2004 - PowerTech V8,
- 2004 - PowerTech V6,
Third Generation
The redesigned 2005 Dakota still shares its
platformAn automobile platform is a shared set of common design, engineering, and production efforts, as well as major components over a number of outwardly distinct models and even types of automobiles, often from different, but related marques....
with the new
Dodge DurangoThe Dodge Durango is a full-size SUV from Chrysler's Dodge brand. It was introduced in 1998 as a mid-size SUV, and as a replacement for the Ramcharger discontinued in the North American market in 1993, and was redesigned for 2004. The Durango was produced at the Newark Assembly plant in Newark,...
SUV (which is now similar to the Ram platform). This model is longer and wider, and features a new front and rear suspension, and rack-and-pinion steering. This new generation model also reverted the wheels back to five lug wheels from the prior generation's six lug wheels as cost and assembly time saving measures.
There are one V6 and two V8 engines available: The standard engine is a 3.7 L PowerTech V6 (specs below); the two 4.7 L V8 engines are the standard PowerTech V8 and the V8 High Output or HO. The Dakota is built at
Warren Truck AssemblyWarren Truck Assembly is a Chrysler automobile factory in Warren, Michigan. The factory opened in 1938. The nearby Warren Stamping opened in 1968. There also was once the nearby Sherwood Assembly that closed in the late 1970s when Chrysler halted production of the Dodge Medium and Heavy Duty...
in
Warren, MichiganWarren is a city in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 138,247, making Warren the largest city in Macomb County, the third most populous city in Michigan, and Metro Detroit's largest suburb....
. The 3.7L V6 produces and of torque. The standard output 4.7L V8 produces and of torque. The High Output 4.7L V8 produces and of torque. Both the 3.7L and standard output 4.7L V8s were available with the 6 speed manual transmission in 2005 and 2006. For 2007, that option was deleted on the V8 models.
In addition to a refresh of the Dakota's styling, the latest generation is not offered in a regular cab model. Only the club cab and quad cab configurations are available. 2006 saw the Dakota R/T return, however only with cosmetic modifications. Despite the "R/T" moniker which signifies "Road and Track", the newest Dakota R/T is simply an option package, characterized by a non functional hood scoop, exclusive gauge cluster, and hockey-stick style side stripes. The package was available on both 2 and 4 wheel drive models.
The facelifted fourth generation Dakota was unveiled at the 2007
Chicago Auto ShowThe Chicago Auto Show is held annually in February at Chicago's McCormick Placeconvention complex. At , with over 1,000 vehicles on display, it is the largest auto show in North America and the third largest in the world .The event, first produced in 1901, has been staged more times than any other...
. The Dakota gets another facelift and interior upgrade along with a few other upgrades including built-in cargo-box utility rails, heated bench seats, best-in-class towing (up to 7,050 pounds), the largest and longest standard bed in the class, and the largest mid-size truck cab. Its new 4.7
liter
V8 produces and of torque. The standard engine remains the 3.7 liter V6 with and . of torque. Production began in August 2007.
US yearly sales
| Calendar Year |
Sales |
| 1999 |
144,148 |
| 2000 |
177,395 |
| 2001 |
154,479 |
| 2002 |
130,712 |
| 2003 |
111,273 |
| 2004 |
105,614 |
| 2005 |
104,051 |
| 2006 |
76,098 |
| 2007 |
50,702 |
| 2008 |
26,044 |
External links
Two more dodge Dakota forums dealing strictly with Dakotas are: