Dakota RT Gets A Performance Suspension - Trucks! S3, E6 

Maybe the first gen lightning. But the 2nd gen s/c lightnings will pull them. I know I have one 😘. However I have full bolt ons. I'm port matching intake an porting it. Upgraded throttle body, ac compressor delete along with electric fans. The. Lightnings may not pull me after all that. Oh yeah, trans is getting built with shift kit an beefier converter. I'm aiming for high 13's. Which is pushing it

I seen many Dakotas put Vaseline on lightnings back side!!! Thats why they put a LS in all the Fords now.

Nah. 16.5 seconds wasn't killing anything. I put an LS in mine in 2008.

What's wrong with it?

Love mine as well!

Few without rust unless you go west from the Mississippi River and stay South of Denver.

I know man! People always ask me if my rt is a stick or auto and seem surprised when I tell them the rt wasn’t offered in manual but almost every other trim was smh. My truck is just simple bolt ons with Hughes air gap so I’m not putting down a lot of power… that being said, my 46re was rebuilt at 120k and starting to give me problems again at 230k. Dodge should’ve put a t56 in this thing with a hurst from the factory!

Can you provide evidence on that? That would be bs

Stacey discussed that on a q&a on gearz. If an OEM provided the vehicle it was crushed because lawyers.

Don't blame them one bit compared to today's tv shows

Most of the vendors stopped making the aftermarket parts years ago. You can still find a few of them by searching the Dakota R/T Club website, Craigslist, FB etc.

This show was recorded around the early 2000's range. I doubt some of these parts are still available to purchase nowadays. Hotchkis only makes rebuilt service kits for the Dakota R/T. You'll have to go with another suspension company like Belltech that offer similar parts as what's shown in this episode. Toyo still makes the same size Proxes, but is the ST III. Foose Design Wheels doesn't make the Thrust wheels anymore. Reflection Automotive Products is no longer in business. There are plenty of aftermarket hoods for the Dakota still.

Beautiful trucks but the lightning would never handle as good as the Dakota rt. I’ve drove a 2nd gen lightning and currently own a 99 rt standard cab…. The rt feels like driving a sports car compared to the lightning. I do think ford did a better job with the lightning from a package perspective… the rt was basically a full size truck engine, lsd, better suspension and decals on door and tailgate. Ford did so much more here there and everywhere on the truck while the dodge was somewhat a parts bin truck. But when it comes to corners in the ford, you are fully aware you’re driving a truck and that’s the deal breaker for me 🤷‍♂️

@@Zaucey Still comparing full size 1/2 to a mid-size. Even though people treated the Dakotas as 1/2tons, because of the V8. You never saw many rangers or S10s towing a small boat or trailer. If you did the truck probably wanted to be put out of it's misery. the RT was the carver. Even the old C/D test video said the Rt would solum just as good as that era of BMW.

Nah you can port stock kegger, full port matchings with full bolt ons an cam an make over 300 to the tire alone. Without s/c

Res Richard - there's merit in what you say. It's hardly like it's anything anyone is going to go out and do, could buy anymore etc. What's the point of it LOL?

Because noone buys DVDs and VHS. This is a good way to make profit and spread nostalgic good videos.

@@unorthodoxridez If most would charge a buck or two per episode instead of twenty producers would sell a lot more box sets.