Back in 04 when I bought the 05, I was really ready to jump ship on The 98. Back then I wasn’t really a gearhead, and fixing up the 98 was the last thing on my mind. That is until a few weeks later when I realized how much I really missed driving the 98. I guess when you put 200,000 miles on a truck, you don’t just get used to it… it becomes part of you. So that winter I parked the 05 under the pretense of keeping it nice, and I hopped back in the 98. And that’s when the bug of modifying really hit me. I could literally do what I want to it, and not worry about having to have it running soon because I had the 05. It’s that luxury that allows someone to really get into things, and take it farther than I ever had before.

That’s where I drew some heat with some people. In their mind the Gen4 platform was so hideous that they even despised people who bought them. I never really got the logic, but in their minds I was a traitor, someone who wasn’t really a true enthusiast. Even though I bought another Dakota, and they had jeeps, mustangs, and whatnot as their daily driver… I was the bad guy. It’s only fitting that 5 years later their Dakotas are parted out, their businesses gone bankrupt, and they’re not on the boards anymore (and still living at home with mommy in one case).

The moral of the story… hell if I know! But I will say this: I’m not ashamed of buying the 05, but I’ll probably never buy a new Dodge truck again after buying the 05. If I had to do it over again, I probably would bought an 04 to drive while working on the 98. But in any case, even though I got another truck… the 98 is still my #1!

A word of caution on using combustion chamber cleaners…

On some engines that have an EGR Valve (older 3.9, 5.2, or 5.9 or newer 3.7 and 4.7 engines) you may want to think twice about using a combustion chamber cleaner like SeaFoam or Mopar’s Combustion Chamber Cleaner. If you don’t know what these products do, they do a GOOD job of cleaning out the combustion chamber, forcing the carbon deposits out to the exhaust system. But if your engine has an EGR valve, the carbon being exported may clog up your EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) valve. This will probably cause a check engine light and taking out the valve and either cleaning it or replacing it.

Unfortunately, I confirmed this on my 05, but luckally NAPA had them in stock!

Anyone who knows anything about the Gen IV Daks knows that they are not the most popular out there. If you need confirmation of this, walk into any NAPA, AutoZone, O’riley’s, basically anywhere and try to get parts for one. You’ll find the selection between slim and none. As the rule goes, then more popular the vehicle, the more aftermarket selection of parts you’ll find. This does not help someone like me with an 05 with over 100k on the odometer.

So let me begin by saying this…. I knew I needed shocks about 2 years ago, but I decided to hold out until I was able to get something better than the OEM crap shocks. The ride wasn’t too bad, so I let it go. And then last year Monroe finally came out with a shock for the Gen IV’s, which made me happy for about 30 seconds before I found out that they really weren’t making them. Every time I would check warehouse inventories, all I got was a nice “BACKORDER” note. So I waited a bit longer until about 2 weeks ago when I saw Rock Auto had some, So I whipped out my card and put my order in. Got them in a few days along with some new lower ball joints, which was super cool. And then the nightmare began.

So I decided to let my freinds at Frank’s Auto tackle the beast…. I didn’t have the ambition to tackle a front strut setup, plus I didn’t have the tools for the job either. Dropped off the truck in the morning, came back in the afternoon only to find the truck under a huge pool of PB Blaster from them trying to get the lower shock bolts out. They were so rusted in there it took them about all day to get the components out. You’ld think they would put on some anti-sieze at the factory to prevent this, but I guess Dodge is to cheap to do so. And then the ball joints…. Since Dodge is know for having just crap for ball joits you’ld think they’ld be bolted in, or maybe riveted on like the Gen III’s. Nope, They’re pressed in, which makes replacing them on a Gen III look like a cakewalk! (that’s BAD)

And then the kicker… one of my sway bar links was broke, and none of the parts stores had them! The dealer could get them, but it would be $120 for the set and would take a few days. So the 05 sat all weekend. On Monday one of the links came in, on Tuesday the other one. Then we started looking at the tie rod ends and those needed replaced! But we could get those through NAPA so it wasn’t too bad. So when all was said and done, $1200 I sank into the 05 in parts & labor…. goddamn sickning, coulda got a lot of chrome for the 98 with that!

I get asked this question all the time…. How do you keep all that chrome clean?? Simple answer, car wax!

As absurd as it sounds, I learned this from the shop that does all my chroming, so from the source it’s a damn good piece of advice. But I’ve got my own little procedure for doing this that doesn’t make a mess. What I do is when I wax the outside, I use a microfiber towel to apply the wax. Then after I’ve applied wax to the whole vehicle, I use the wax-soaked towel to attack the chrome. I usually give it a good rubdown, leaving some residue. Then when I remove the wax from the outside, I remove the residue from the chrome. The result… a very deep shine that will have you smiling for days! Plus the wax keeps a lot of the dust off.

So there you have it. No need for any fancy chrome cleaners or polishes… just use your favorite wax!

2010 is off to the races! I mean damn, it just seems like yesterday that I drove home the 98 for the first time… not 12 years ago! Maybe it’s just age I guess, or the fact that the clock is ticking and nobody knows when it’s gonna stop, but my resolution this year is just to be more ambitious. Whether it’s in life, work, or this twisted hobby that my 98 has become, just going out there and doing what I feel needs to be done.

Personal things set aside, the 98 is just becoming more refined. I’ve been to enough shows to know what things are looked for, what things are expected, and I really disagree with them all. So I’m just doing things my way, have been for some time… but now they’re done without prejudice. No, I’m not going militant, but rather highly motivated. For example, I knew I could get a better finish from the paint and most shops looked at me like I was crazy for wanting it better, but I found a shop that did a better job after a lot of searching and the job got done.

Now it’s on to two other areas… the interior and the engine. Both are in good shape, but they can be better. But these things I can do on my own, so they’re getting done this winter. So hopefully in the spring I can put everything together and find another area to work on

The best part of doing things my way is not giving a rats ass about what the idiots on the forums think. So what if my truck doesn’t have this or has that… bottom line is the truck has more trophies than theirs, so those wannabes can go fuck off…. pardon the language!

So that kinda fueled me to redo this site. It needs to be where I can just lay it all out there and show people what it all takes. Plus not everyone is so proud of they’re truck that they can put the time and money into a site just for their ride…. not just some trashy cardomain page with a bunch of coming soon bullshit. The real enthusiasts just shut the fuck up and do it, and not waste time on bragging about what they want to do.

So with that said, enjoy the new site!