whats the deal with all the heat dakota R/T's get.i own a 99 yellow limited edition and i get so much heat about it,everyone says its a pig and dont waste my money on it..whats the deal with that is this true or are they pissed because i really got somethin here??

As they say, Jealousy gets you nowhere.

They are jealous because Mopar was the only company with enough guts to put a big V8 in a downsized pickup.
I like the R/T's. They're cool as far as I'm concerned.

i love my 99 r/t.

it has its problems but what vehicle doesnt

first of all i had one and i loved it. but the 5.9 it an old design that dosen't produce as much horsepower for the amount of fuel it burns as newer designs. but hey if your happy don't worry about it.

Dude,it is a pig.If by that you mean gas milage?I have a 99 with headers and cold air intake and even though I get like 12 miles to the gallon I love it.

begood i consider the 360 being an "old design" a good thing. if it's not broke, dont fix it. the less hi tech mechanisms on an engine, the less likely it is to break. stock vs. stock it might not be the most powerful for it's size but i guarantee you can get a lot more response out of the same amount of mods than a newer design. the 5.9 is tried and true.

99dakR/T if your lookin for more r/t owners go to dakotart.com.

I have a 00 Durango R/T and now I am looking to go back to Pickups again! Missed them after not driving one for a few years. I'll still keep my Durango for Travelling. What was the last year that the Dakota R/T was made? I don't want to go with 99 model as it is a standard cab I think. Looking for a club cab. I think the club cab R/T model came out in 2000? I hope to find one with somewhat low miles. Hoping for a 2000 model so at least I can keep both the durango and Dakota on the same platform and possibly have some interchangable parts.

Last year was 2003!

I like R/T's, don't get me wrong. But why didn't Dodge ever put a manual in that beast? I know they would have been faster. I only have the 4.7 ( stock 235 HP) and I still beat stock R/T's all the time. The tranny makes a huge difference.

My guess is because they do not have a manual transmission to handle the output of the 5.9 torque? At least during that time period.

I currently own one. I love it. I am in the process of making it more powerful, its gonna be nasty. The reason its an automatic, is because dodge gives you a platform to work with, but you gotta make it useful. If you stick a stall converter in there, its gonna help the auto a lot. My dad always tells me "you gotta pay to play."

~CYCLONE_06

Actually I think the R/T was offered every year they made it in club cab or regular cab.

I know that it is either 02 or 03 was the last year for the R/T Dakota's. When I bought my 00 Durango R/T, they still offered the 01 Dak R/T. But I know for a fact that R/T Dak's are not available on the 04 models.

03 was the last year of production..

Thought about trading my R/T in for an 04L. Could have got the L for about 15k with trade in and talk down... Stuck with the R/T though. Reason is the extra weight (and the fact my truck is nearly paid off). The things the L can do with 400hp is what a modded Dak R/T can do with about a 50hp disadvantage. Not to forget handling as well, and the Dakota R/T's nimbleness is second to none when it's panned against the big bulky SRT-10 Ram's, Lightnings, and the Silvy SS'es.

in a hod rod magazine article, they tested and found that the r/t wasn't nearly as good as the ford lightning or the chevy extreme. i have a 99 club cab r/t. sure, they do look a lot better, sound a lot nicer, but they do lack some power as compared the the other trucks in its class.i'm not sure about the fact of the manual tranny in them(i believe they do make a ram 360 with a manual tranny in it, same motor why not use it?)the downfall of the dodge auto tranny is that in '99-'00 the tranny they used for the dakota and ram on the 360's was that it didn't have enough fluid giong to the front of the tranny. the reason i know this is because at 86,000 miles my tranny died on me. for the 2001 models they did a complete redesign of the drive train and "fixed" that problem.