My parents had moved down to Florida about 19 years ago. It was bittersweet having them move so far away, but they had a good life there.
A little over two months ago, my Dad passed away.
Before they moved, my Dad bought a 2004 Dakota. Before he bought it he asked me what I would order if I was buying one. We sat down at the computer and went through all the options available. The highlights are:
4WD, 4.7 V8, five speed auto, Heavy duty towing package, disc brakes all around, Skid plates, 3.92 gears, 265-70/r16 tires. Grey paint and charcoal interior.
That's what he ordered, 20 years ago. Then they moved to Florida, so the truck has spent the last 20 years down there, garage kept and away from salted roads.
My mom gave the truck to me after his passing, and it's pretty damned special to me. Flew down to Florida to see what the truck needed to make the 1000 mile drive home with my Mom's belongings in it, which wasn't too much. Did a quick pad-slap on the brakes as they were pretty thin, swapped out the radiator and water pump as the radiator was leaking a small amount and I didn't want to get stuck on the side of the road with a split radiator. Changed the oil, checked and topped off the rest of the fluids, then we hit the road. Zero problems, drove like a champ.
Once I got it home I was able to dig in a little more. About a year or so ago, my Dad had the ball joints done and the shop that did it butchered the job. The dust boots weren't installed right and the grease fittings on the lower ball joints were positioned in a way that made it impossible to grease, so they were pretty shot. As a bonus, one of them was pointed in a way that the knuckle broke the zerk off, so on top of the lower dust boot being non-functional water could enter from the top. The shop also talked him into a set of shocks, which were the lowest tier garbage you can possibly buy and 3 of the four were essentially not damping any more.
To cut this wall of text short, just got done doing upper and lower balljoints, wheel hub on the driver's side (Passenger had been replaced and was new, driver looked to be original and was a little growly), shocks all around and a few odds and ends that escape me, the truck is just about ready for some new tires and an alignment. Also getting some fluid film applied so hopefully it'll be around for another 20 years.
