2000 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab 4x4 - 5.9 Cummins Turbo Diesel(Walk Around and Start Up) 

I'm not a fan of the rims or the stack, but that's one badass rig you got there.

Alot of thought went into it to make it as factory appearing as possible. Engineers spent a long time designing these truck and I didnt want to undue it all, just make it into something they would never even dream of. I went with the 6BT because there are too many 4BT Dakotas out there and I didnt want to be just another one, and because believe it or not a 6BT is cheaper to get your hands on than a 4BT..............not going to complain with more power for less money, lol.

I’m the original owner of a 2000 Dakota Quad Cab 4x4 with the 4.7 V8. Love that truck ! Your diesel upgrade is freaking awesome eh !!! 🍻

Silverado owners shit their pants when they see this little Dakota pull up.

Thank you, it was a long process building it. There were many things that you think would be hard that turned out easy and things that should be easy that ended up being more difficult. All in all though it wasnt to bad. The biggest pain was the wiring, every circuit was wired by hand. Almost none of the factory Dakota wiring was used, basically just the pig tails........in the end though its a fully loaded Dakota and everything works.

Your truck is a freakin beast! great job!

Fits like a glove. Clean swap. I like it. NOICE!! 👍👌

Good job man, its not too often you see a Dakota lifted like that or with that much work into it, keep it up man.

when Canadians are more murican than murica.

Good job looks amazing keep wrenching!

wow you can't beat that.

thats a badass lookin truck

That truck is a beast

Badass and beautiful truck!

This is super cool

Such a beautiful truck!!!

Not a dodge fan but my fellow ontario resident you did a wicked job by!

Awesome man just awesome that's exactly what I would love to do to my dodge dakota amazing truck

Sweet, that thing will run forever she’s pretty light for a Cummins

That is bad ass, and impressive part, I’ve never heard a 5.9 fire up that quick ever. Hot or cold.

Huge fan of diesel. I love the pure power and sound. The $ is all worth something you love.

Congrats

Thanks, its a fun drive

Wow, that is amazing.

Bad ass truck ;)

Sounds like you have a real solid plan there. I would still like to do a 4BT truck one day but they are getting sooo very expensive. Those little Cummins make a tonne of power and go in alot nicer.

Sick truck! I'm looking to do a rig like this eventually, just out of curiosity whatkind of bracing did you have to do to support the added weight on the frame?

Can you give details on the fender flares? They look like bushwacker flares but I've never been able to find them! I have a black 04 quad cab.

Really good job. Im starting down a similar road with a 03 Durango. Fun

Very nice

The fender flares are so sweet......I'm gonna have to copy. I'm looking to put a 4bt in my 04. Nice truck brother!!!

They are actually Bushwacker pocket flairs for a 2003 Dodge Ram. I contoured them to fit the Dakota's body lines. Not to hard to do and definitely worth it.

holy shit nice truck!

beautiful truck

Nice pickup.

ur my hero

Yeah, I am running a 2" spacer. The wheels hit the tie rod ends without it. The truck is a blast to drive and will pull anything I put behind it with ease :)

Nice truck

Thanks. In another week or so she will be back out bigger and better than ever.

12V for life.

damn that cummins sounds good =]

Great! Thanks man! I have another question that I know may sound stupid but here it is. How difficult is the SAS to do yourself and how am I saving gas by not switching my gears? Also, when a SAS is done, do I have to get rid of the rack and pinion steering system in order to do it? Thanks a lot for all of the help!

i love this goddamn truck... wanna change over one day myself lol

Thank you.

American.beautyful sound.

mean looking rig and its in ontario even better thats where i live bad ass man.

Thanks man!! You have alot parts I want haha.

Incredible piece of work man. Very impressive. I always wished there was such a thing as a diesel Dakota. I have a 1997 Ram 2500 4x4 with running gear in great shape, and a junk body. I've been debating the next step to take with it. I'd love to get more information about your project. Do you have a website or anything? Thanks, and terrific job on the truck!

I have an 04 black dakota and have watched this like 100 times and it doesn't get old this is really cool man. what kinda mpg u get?

that is fuCKING SICKKKKKKKKK

I drooled a little

It fits but it is tight. The fuel mileage it pretty decent. I get around 20-24 MPG out of it. Way better than the mileage was with the V8 that came out.

Thanks

awesome build, wish I had the time and money to do that to my dak. what brand of headlights are those?

I repair vehicles for Chrysler but definitely not a diesel mechanic, more of an enthusiast, lol. The firewall and floor did have to be cut up a bit but it wasnt to bad. This kind of swap isnt for the faint of heart. If I were to do it again I would have just bought a Diesel Ram and saved ALOT of work, lol. Either that or 4BT, they go in sooo much easier and dont require nearly as much "fitting". If you have any questions feel free to ask and I will answer them the best I can.

first off, what radiator did you use? how far forward did you push the axle to clear 37" tires? what steering gear box did you use? right now i have a 96 cummins motor/2wd nv4500 combo, and a divorced ford np205. how long did this take you? great job btw :)!

Yeah I won't argue with that. Actually adding an AmsOil bypass was a plan of mine. Capacity without notching is 10 quarts, notching drops it down to 8. If I did a dual bypass that may bring it back up to 10, maybe a little bit more. But notching the oil pan isn't easy.

Wow man awesome truck. I'd like to have it

Soooooooo many questions!!! have an 03 dakota, in the process of doing the same thing.

Personally I would have had a side exit exhaust and not as tall but it's still one of the coolest trucks I've seen

Yeah im on that board. I actually have to update the thread a bit, the truck has changed alot since then.

Thanks :)

So much want !!!

I custom fit a pair of Bushwacker Pocket flares off of a 2003+ Dodge Ram, I had to quite heavily modify the flare to the body lines of the Dakota aswell as take 3" out of the top of the boxes wheel opening. If you have a quad cab you will also have to re-clock and trim your gas door to fit.

Holy crap, I thought this was a factory truck!~ My hat's off to you, I just finished a SAS on my 89 S10 and have some idea of what you've gone through here. I am planning a 4BT to go into this same truck soon. VERY well done! I have to ask, though- why the 6BT in a small truck? I would think the 4BT would be much easier to accompish.

Fuckin sweet truck. Well done swap. Good job

are the gauges electric or manual I'm trying to use my original gauge cluster but I don't think I can with the non-electric 4bt if so any info do u think i would have to run the stock computer, i like the gauges very nice 01 dakota 4 door v6

Mine is currently 4x4 so I guess it will make it easier.. How involved is it to wire up that motor does that truck just have crank widows and what do you do for heat/ac?

I seen it done one other time but it looks good. I am making prerunner dakota wanna do this to it

Nice truck there bud, thing is beastly. I love the look of your instrument cluster. Do you have any detailed I formation on how to go about putting in those aftermarket gauges?

Diesel Dakota....I am about to dive deep into a 6bt swap in a Dakota myself so I have a couple questions if you or someone would mine answering. Going off measurements of the 6bt and the space given in a stock 01 Dakota engine bay, this isnt possible, the 4bt no prob but the 6bt reads to big. Was there firewall work done on this truck? Any extra plating done to frame where motor mounts are? I feel its a bit to much wheight for the roughly 1/16th inch thick frame. Also I am going with the NV5600 6Spd. Any tips or things I should look for as far as body or frame goes? I do not do sheet metal at all but mild, to heavy steel and mechanical I can do.

They are for a 03+ Ram and I just trimmed the hell out of them to fit the contours of a Dakota. The front is a 60 kingpin and the rear is a full float Dana 70.

Дууг нь агааржуулах гэж байгаа юм! эвэртэй!

This one I made and it will only fit this truck because of how it was built but Tactical Armor Group makes one for the Dakota that is very nice. Their front bumper is amazing to.

Yeah they look good on these trucks for one reason or another. 4BT is a great swap in these trucks. You can still make a tonne of power, great gas mileage and its alot less fabrication work. I would still like to o a 2wd 4BT swap someday as a daily driver.

What suspension lift do you have on this? im looking for a 6" or better lift for my truck i got a 2000 also

Diesel Dakota hope this isn't a dumb question but I want to put those flares on my Dakota except I've hesitant on the fitting when it comes to the fuel lid.. how do you open it to fuel up? In the video it looks like the flare covers a good portion of the lid.

Been thinking of putting a new engine in my 02 quad cab with more power, I have the V6, what is a good upgrade that will go in relatively easy??

this is amazing just bought my first vehicle 04 dakota v8 I want to do the same thing

I like your pocket flares did you make them?

I wish I kept my Dakota Sport quad cab. I sold it to my neighbor. Now I kick myself in the ass everyday because it's still running strong. And he starts it everyday at 5am😫 to leave for 10 minutes and come back🥱 EVERY single morning, 7 days a week. The 360 sounds good but damn.

where exactly in Ontario are you located? Would love to check this beast out!

Yeah its probably my favourite part of the truck. Ive always wanted a full Autometer cluster, it was VERY expensive to put together(the truck now has 9 gauges total, costing over $1000) but it was worth every penny. PreRunner Dakotas are awesome, if you have a build log somewhere or make some videos let me know, id love to see it.

They are Bushwacker pocket flares for a 2003+ Ram that I made fit. It really isnt to hard to do, just take your time is all.

is it necessary to modify the frame to support it gain power?

SWO, near Windsor. There are a few bigger Dakotas in this area, back when Morton was still open we use to wheel them all the time, now there arent nearly as many off roading places.........

Just curious what kind of lift, what kind of rims and tires also?

What transmission you use .. did it bolt up to the original transmission or did u have to swap out and how you use the harass for it

Works out to be about 7", still needs to go another 4" and ill be happy where it sits.

It's definitely an inspirational truck, for us dakota fans out there!

I'm in the middle of doing almost exactly the same thing, and would appreciate being able to ask about some details.eg. having trouble setting up the brakes. can I run the diesel brakes off of the Dakota master cyl?

Did you modify the flares or the fenders to make those pocket flares fit? Both?

What headlights do you have on there?

Holy sh!t !!!!

Where did you get those fender flares? Did you have to do any modification to the body in order to make them fit?

How was fitting the 6bt in there? I really want to do a 6bt in my quad cab, I have a wrecked 99 cummins and want to do the motor and axle swap.. Just need some pointers and where to start.

Thanks a lot man! Hey if it would be possible to touch base at some point that would be great. I am confident that I can do these things, but I wanted to run some things by you if possible that way I dont go in blind. Let me know if this is possible. Thanks a lot!

damn, haha. how did you convert it? if you have a few tips on changing to 5 or 8 lug id appreciate that alot. thanks man

What trans and t case did you use ? Did you do a body lift?

That’s sick. I have a 05 with a bad 4.7 I’ve been look at putting a 97 215/440 12v in it that’s setting in my shop. I was wondering if you had to cut the firewall out of it to make it fit in there. That 05 I have is just a 2wd and so is that 97 12v I have..