I have always wanted a 2nd gen Dakota R/T, they are my favorite truck of all time. Although, now that the SRT division is doing cool stuff I was wondering if there is any rumor of a hemi powered dakota coming out the door? I figured you guys would know, and I did a search and didnt see any previous mention really.

I dont think they will make a srt 8 dak. so far they only have the r/t version wich is a 4.7. another thing that sucks is the hemi wont fit in the dakota belive me ive tried and asked to get one specially ordered but no luck. best you can get so far is the 4.7 wich isnt so bad but the r/t is crappy. its stock suspension the real main diffrence is its an xtended cab not quad cab. the 05's with a v8 only come in quad cab so far. a v6 is the xtended cab unless specially ordered, then u can get the v8 xtended cab.

Well that is disappointing, I will have to start looking for a nice 2nd gen regular cab.

zinnmaster: The 3.7L V6 is the standard engine on Quad Cabs too.

your probably right but all the dodge dealerships i went to didnt have any of the 3.7 quadcabs. it seems to me that would not be a very good selling truck because its underpowerd for a larger truck.

They probably ordered the V8's to have something they could sell, then :)

I remember reading a rumor back a few months ago saying the Durango and Dakota were next for the SRT treatment once they were done with the Charger SRT-8, though that means even if it is true it's probably a good year before we would see one for sale.

I don't really think, they will drop a SRT Dakota.

I mean the 2gen R/T s where one of a kind !

But a nice try has been the "Dodge Dude" (http://www.seriouswheels.com/pics-2004/2004-Dodge-Durango-Dude-Concept-SEMA-FA-1024x768.jpg) concept truck (even its a Durango Pick up, but it looks real hot !!)
............imagin a mid size truck (looks like a Dak) powered by a 5.7L Hemi [sm=gears.gif]

I would love it :eek:

ORIGINAL: zinnmaster

I dont think they will make a srt 8 dak. so far they only have the r/t version wich is a 4.7. another thing that sucks is the hemi wont fit in the dakota belive me ive tried and asked to get one specially ordered but no luck. best you can get so far is the 4.7 wich isnt so bad but the r/t is crappy. its stock suspension the real main diffrence is its an xtended cab not quad cab. the 05's with a v8 only come in quad cab so far. a v6 is the xtended cab unless specially ordered, then u can get the v8 xtended cab.



If the hemi won't fit on the 3rd gen daks, the engine bay must have shrunked! If they can cram a 5.9 on the 2nd gen Daks, they should be able to fit a 5.7. The hemi has bigger, wider heads, but still it should fit. Dodge probably just do not make the parts to fit a hemi at this time.

I do remember from what redrider bob said that a SRT dak and/or durango is indeed in the works.

Well i dont know where he got his info from but the only thing in the works is a 4.7 r/t dak for the third gen. www.440-magnum.com and do a search. ive looked and asked but they wont make on in the next few years.

There is a guy in Texas who is dropping a 6.1l Hemi. There are some pics to look at. Here is the link... http://dakotatrucks.com/phorum/index.php?topic=17.0

Enjoy.

Dakota and Durango are the same vehicle. The 5.7 fits in a Durango, it'll fit in a Dakota.

That aside, I asked an SRT engineer if they were gonna throw the 6.1 in an SRT Dakota. Said he couldn't tell me. :)

ORIGINAL: Batphreak

Dakota and Durango are the same vehicle. The 5.7 fits in a Durango, it'll fit in a Dakota.

That aside, I asked an SRT engineer if they were gonna throw the 6.1 in an SRT Dakota. Said he couldn't tell me. :)



Do you have his number on speed dial! oh yea i randomly get the srt engineers nuber and call him up im calling bull **** on your part. also i never said the hemi wont fit in the dakota i said there wasnt one in the works.

i said that but what i ment was you cant get one specially ordered. also i dont think the durangos are the same size engin bay as the dak. i may be worng on that but i do know an srt dak is not in the works for a couple of years.

Call BS if you want. The Durango and Dakota are the same frame, just a different body, that ain't too tough to figger out. I happen to be an engineer at a company that is currently working with DCX on a program for SRT. But hey, it's the intardnet here, anybody can say anything they wish.

From what I read and was told, the two have different frames and the Daks would not be able to support the hemi. They kept them different from the Durangos for some dumb reason.

thanks dakotastone if batphreak is apart of the srt program keep me away

ORIGINAL: DakotaStone

From what I read and was told, the two have different frames and the Daks would not be able to support the hemi. They kept them different from the Durangos for some dumb reason.

Dude, you're an idiot! I saw a new Hemi-Powered Durango the other day and I was thinking about what I read in this thread, so I went to my local Dodge dealer and asked..."would a hemi fit in the Dakota"? They said "Yes; the Dakota and the Durango are basically the same; with the same engine bay and frame. The only difference is the truck and SUV thing"!

Yeah, I don't doubt that they did. I was also told by the dealer that all Dakota Laramies have the HO in it. I found out the hard way that they don't. If that was a true statement that the dealer told you, don't you think that there would be a dakota with a Hemi in it?

BTW, name calling is not a necessary thing. Besides that, I am only stating what I read and information that I also gathered from my dealership.

ORIGINAL: DakotaStone

If that was a true statement that the dealer told you, don't you think that there would be a dakota with a Hemi in it?


Not necessarily! They probably want to do a big unveiling; just like the did the new RAM this year. Come on; its gonna be the first mid-sized truck that could take on a full-size.....that'll be HUGE!!!!

ORIGINAL: Spear_em

Come on; its gonna be the first mid-sized truck that could take on a full-size.....that'll be HUGE!!!!





really? dakota r/t could take on the 2nd gen ram with the same engine...

06 is the last year for the Dakota.

Hope my source is wrong

Where'd you hear that from?

DC themselves. Time will tell if what my source said is true.

I work for DCX at the old Jeep & Truck engineering building in Detriot. We don't talk about future products, but the Dakota is not going anywhere any time soon. About the 5.7L hemi fit into a 2005 and newer dakota, yes it does fit. We have asked managment to build them, but they say it would take away too many sales from the full size ram with a hemi. So they will never build a production dakota with a hemi for that reason. The only way DCX is going to build a hemi powered dakota would be a SRT with a 6.1L engine. Many rumors about such a truck have surfaced, but no work from the higher powers within DCX. So someone please find a junk Durango with a 5.7L and stuff it between the fenders of your gen 3 dakota. You will only have about an inch between the exhaust manifolds and the inner fenders.

If I was going to upgrade a Dakota, I would use a 360 (5.9L) crate engine. They cost almost half as much as the 5.7L HEMI and produce more horsepower and torque than the 5.7L HEMI crate engine. The 360 crate engine produces 380 hp and 410ft-lbs of tq. The 5.7L HEMI crate engine only produces 360 hp & 360 ft-lbs of tq. What happen to the torque in the HEMI. Dodge has flawed logic on not offering the HEMI in the Dakota. "It will take sales away from the Ram." First of all, the Dakota appeals to a different crowd, second, if people buy the Dakota over the Ram, they didn't lose the customer, the customer just got a different one of their vehicles. If they are concerned about not making quite as high a profit, they could just charge more for that option to make up the difference. They will instead lose potiential customers to Nissan and Toyota, because those customers want the fastest truck in the class. They don't care what is actually the best truck or what qualities about a truck makes a truck good. They want the most power possible. I have heard that this is a different platform than the Durango and that the HEMI will not fit. They need to make the adjustment so then it will fit and offer it. It would sell like hotcakes. Would the 360 fit in the current Dakota?

the 360 was an option in 1998-2003 dakotas. current gen 3 (2005-present) dakotas have the 4.7, which has different mounts

They all fit. 5.7L in a gen 3 or a 5.9L in a gen 3 dakota. I still miss my 2003 5.9L R/T standard cab Dakota. The transmission would shift so hard into overdrive (4th) over 100 mph it would try to break the tires loose. It was soooo much fun. [sm=gears.gif]

No doubt a Hemi in a Dakota would be nice. That kind of power in a smaller, lighter vehicle would be awesome. However, it would be hard to justify the selling price of such a vehicle to a small niche of people who want it. If it has a Hemi, Dodge will raise the price on it. It is less expensive to manufacture than the 360 - but the aura around it adds to the MSRP.

Granted, a lot of us on Dodgeforum.com would love to see it. But if you take the truck industry as a whole, there isn't a large enough market for it. If there was, I think we'd see Colorado's with 6.0 liters, Frontier's with Endurance V8's, and Rangers with Tritions. Don't get me wrong, they would be awesome trucks, but the average driver couldn't handle that much power in a light vehicle. Hell, my 04 QC 4x4 will lose traction on wet pavement. What would it be like on a Dakota with the same hp and torque?

I definitely disagree with 97 3.5 Intrepid's comment "if people buy the Dakota over the Ram, they didn't lose the customer, the customer just got a different one of their vehicles." You are right, Dodge didn't lose a customer, but they wouldn't make as much money on a Dakota as they would a Ram. When I went to get my truck, I wanted a base truck with a Hemi. I walked out with a Quad Cab SLT with the Offfoad Package. Big difference between $24,000 and $33,000. That is what Dodge, and all truck manufacturers in general, count on. They want Dakota owners to move up to Rams. They want Ram owners to move up to 3/4 tons. The same thing with Ford, Chevy, Nissan and Toyota. It would be easier for Dodge to justify a limited production SRT Dakota than it would be mass produce a Dakota with a Hemi.

yeah, yeah, yeah some body do it. lol.... hehe

ORIGINAL: zinnmaster
....another thing that sucks is the hemi wont fit in the dakota belive me ive tried and asked to get one specially ordered but no luck....


ORIGINAL: zinnmaster
also i never said the hemi wont fit in the dakota i said there wasnt one in the works.



zinnmaster, you need to learn to read your replies before you put your foot in your own mouth!!! hahaha

Yeah It would be tight if they came out with an srt dak. I mean think about it a dak with 425 horses, who's kiding who the silverado ss would be nothing on the strip, hell it would probably smoke the ram srt-10. Anywaz I have a 2000 dak sport and I would love to drop a hemi in my truck. My buddy has a 2000 F-150 with a 5.4 and I'm alittle faster, I'm running a 4.7 w/exaust and he's running exaust & Intake,but mine is a standard and his is an auto. With a hemi in my truck I could keep up with the lightning.

I think it'd actually be neat to go the other way with the Dak, more like a mini Power Wagon....

Yeah the Hemi will fit for sure in a 2nd gen dak, I have seen one, not sure of 3rd gen though. I would bet it would.

there is a guy on another forum who has fit the 5.7 hemi in a 2nd gen dakota. awsome. ;)

Sooo... bringing up an old topic... but....

Anyone have links to Hemi swaps in 2nd gens? Im just starting to look, as I just picked up a 2001 Club Cabl SLT with a 4.7 and 269,500 miles on it.... you read that right...


So, a little searching and the Hemi is cheaper and more avail in my area then the 4.7.... You can see where I am going with this ;)

With the great amount of money I saved off the purchase price, Im itching to find a Hemi :)
(the dealer had the truck on the lot for the last 11 months with this mileage and couldnt move it, and lost about 5 grand on it )

If you listen to dealer, crap you’re insane. I know much more than any dealer about Dakotas through my own research. Dealers don't spend any time researching anything. The crap that falls from mouths is comical. They are lost! and don't care about being lost as long as you leave them a check. You will get the answer you’re looking for at that moment as long as you’re looking to buy. And NO the Gen3 Dak frame is NOT the same as the Durango. Close but no cigar. The fender wells are far narrower on the Dak Gen3s also. The Gen2 Daks and Gen1 Durango’s where identical but neither offered a Hemi and it doesn’t mater now anyway. Now I'm not saying you can't fit a Hemi in a Dak Gen3 it just won't drop in. You will need to do quite a bit of shoe horning or cut and welding etc.

There was another site for Dakotas called DakotaTrucks.com. They had a guy there that was installing a 6.1 Hemi into his 05 Dak. I know they got it installed, but I don't know what happened since. The guy installing it changed the forum, for the third time since I was on it. You can ask him what the final outcome was. This was last year, so I don't know what happened. His name is Lynn, so you can ask him.

well basicallywhat i did was purchase the 206 cams from www.hrcperformance.com (http://www.hrcperformance.com) and had them installed in my 05 4.7 dak. now with this kit and the pcm flash i hang with stock hemis in the 1/4 mile or even on the street. it is nice to pull up to a fullsize and nod. when the big guy is laughing and the light turns green its no more of a laughing matter. i am on his door step all the way down. so as far as putting a hemi in a dak would be useless. they would detune the snot out of it. like when chevy brought back the ss 454 in the pick up 200 horsepower why. now the new 4.7 kicks out 290 horses and 320 ft lbs of trq. that should be a fun ride