Somewhat paradoxically in addition to being a lover of compact and subcompact cars, I'm also a big fan of trucks. I used to have a 2008 Nissan Frontier with the VQ40, 4WD, and the 6 speed manual, but it had a bit too much rust for my liking given what I paid for it. I recently picked up a 2001 Jeep Cherokee, but it also had a bit too much rust for me, plus it's automatic. I grow bored of automat transmissions very quickly.

So I went back to the auction I bought the Jeep from and picked up my latest project, this 2003 Dodge Dakota SLY Quad Cab. What drew me to it was the drivetrain, the Powertech 4.7L V8 and the 5 speed manual transmission with 4WD. Also the frame looks pretty clean, although the cab has a bit of minor rust and the bed has some holes in it (which I can fix with a welder).




Picked her up for $1300 after auction fees (winning bid was $1000). One issue it has is that it has no brake pressure, so I'm opting to pay to have it towed to my house. This will take a few days, although they only charge $90 vs $220 for most. I'll diagnose it in depth then. I'm not certain that the brake lines are rotted given the condition of the frame, it could be a bad master cylinder or booster (which the Jeep had, it was also sold with a brake issue due to those), but worst case, a set of pre-bent stainless steel lines are $220 and should take only a couple hours to install.

So why this truck in particular? Because manual 4x4s are hard to find, especially for cheap. Doubly so for anything that can tow another car reliably (I used the Frontier for this as well. Regularly towed ~5000 lbs). The fact that it's a V8 is a bonus. The 4.7 gets a bad rep, but I've worked on enough of them to know how to keep them happy. Plus my dad had a 2001 Durango with that engine for years and it never gave him trouble. So I think this will be workable. I'm looking to use this for towing, hauling, and doing some offroading. I can make small junkyard runs in my GK5, but nothing like what I could haul with this.