(This thread kinda goes with the one for SolidaxleDurango)

I'm kinda in tough spot, or will be in a little while.
My Dak is hurtin bad, it's smokin when i rev her up, (i figure head gasket, or ring seals) and i'm gonna need all 4 corners' brakes replaced, discs and pads, and the tranny died 3-days after i bought the truck new from a factory defect.... So i don't know if i can trust it....
So, i'm going to getting some big coin when i settle a lawsuit, by the end of this year, and i was toying with the notion of just trading in the Dak, for a Ram, or keeping the Dak, cutting the SHITE outta it, and making it into a serious trail rig.
I would get a SFA under there, and bob the bed, and do something about the approach angle.
If i was to do this, i'm not sure if i would keep the engine or not, i've really beat the hell outta it, and the 4.7 is a touchy motor, and pretty sensitive. I was thinking i'd drop a 360 in there, and get a new beefier tranny. But after all that... I might be able to afford a different rig, that was already more capable than my Dak would be, even after all the mods to it, and might even cost me less....
I don't know if i'll be able to get much more than 10 or 12 grand trade-in value on my Dak, it's got 73k km, and is a 2000, but it has some scratches, and as i said, is in need of some expensive repairs.

You guys think i should go one way or another??

if you want to be different ( you did buy a dodge didn't you?) then build the dakota. if you want to be like every other toy or jeep guy, shine it up and sell it.;)

Right now, i'm kinda leaning towards keeping it.
I think it would look pretty cool, the way that i "want" to make it.
If i do keep it, i think i'll upgrade the brakes, and put discs on the back, i'd probably do that with another trail rig anyway...
That's the thing, EVERYTHING i want to do to change the Dak into a trail rig, i'd have to do to any other vehicle anyway...

As you can see, i'm still thinking it over A LOT. :D

Well, since i'm a newbie..take this as you will.

Keep it. Do exactly like you described. Ever been to dodgedakotas.com, or any other of those watered down Dakota sites lately? Nobody does this sort of thing to Dakotas enough. Now granted, not everybody can afford something like this so I can understand why...but break away from the norm and just do it. If I had the coin, i'd love to do something similar to what SolidAxleDurango did.