DODGE DAKOTA

TBJ

DRIVEWISE

DODGE DAKOTA… Four Door Crew Cab test in a blizzard.

The most severe blizzard in forty years marked our recent test of the Dodge Dakota Crew Cab TRX4, 4X4. Having tested several big Rams from Dodge over the past few years gave us confidence that the Dakota could meet the challenge such weather brings with it.

Having driven so many Ram ‘monster trucks’, our euphemism for these full sized gargantuan pickups, most of which have grown to become immense monstrosities with cargo box sides more than shoulder-high.

To those of us who use pickups for the chores they were originally intended, (hauling stuff), lifting your ‘stuff’ over the sides has become an exercise work-out more strenuous than weight lifting. It’s a lot easier to fork hay over the rib-cage high side of my twelve year old pick-up than with any of the new models with these ridiculously high sides.

Lacking such height is a major Dakota advantage as its box sides are not so absurdly high they become barriers preventing easy access to the cargo space. Another great feature in Dakota side panels is tie-down and stake-body hardware fittings along the top, to accommodate side post-rails and/or infinitely practical and convenient, adjustable tie down brackets for virtually any category of cargo.

Testing the Dakota during the blizzard proved the truck to be as capable and rugged as any truck we’ve ever tested regardless of size. Hauling huge bales of hay and other cargo through heavy, blowing snow over ice-laden fields, trails and roads proved Dakota to be an incredibly amazing vehicle. It even towed a large tractor sideways off a slippery escarpment with the truck hub-deep in terrestrial muck. We did get the truck stuck in the mud once, but with careful, tedious jockeying, it eventually pulled itself out.

The big difference in this Dakota and previous models, is interior space and four door access, like a luxury SUV and just as comfortable and quiet, with very impressive highway manners, i.e. more precise handling than earlier models for safer high speed emergency maneuvers.

As impressive as the Dakota may be, one criticism prevailed. The control layout and instrument panel are poorly related to an obscuring steering wheel rim, and the switch from 2 to 4 wheel drive is hidden on a recessed surface under the main panel. Overall instrument/control legibility suffers, but not enough to be a deal-breaker. The Dakota ended the test with our highest ever truck rating, drive wise.