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13:29:39 - 04/19/2024
General Dakota Board
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modain
GenIII
 
4/15/2007
22:53:26
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 Subject: Dakota SLT with no chrome!
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Message:
OK. I finally did it. The chrome is gone from my QC. The last piece fell into place Friday, and I spent most of Saturday performing the transformation. Body colored bumpers and grille now adorn my QC.
About 2 years ago I bought a graphite grille. Shortly after that I bought a rear bumper from an R/T. The owner removed it to put on a roll pan. Just what I wanted, and it was already painted my color with no damage. Stored away in my garage for this day.
I wanted to stay with the two piece front assembly (separate bumper and lower fascia) instead of the 2001+ single piece cover that's on the sport and R/T. I had bought a black steel bumper ($110) and a lower fascia ($70, it is red), and a sport rear bumper ($10, it's red too). I had never got around to doing anything with them because I was looking for affordable foglights and OEM quality, as I couldn't use the ones from my truck. Early in March I scored big-time on eBay. There was an auction for an entire front end (bumper. fascia, mounting brackets, and foglights) from a 1999 Durango. Snatched it up for $20 and picked it up right away.
I disassembled the pieces and dropped them off at a local body shop. Minor reconditioning, prep, and paint cost me $250 cash. Picked it up Friday morning. Beautiful.
Saturday was a busy day. Pulling the front bumper was not too difficult. Except I didn't have an 18mm socket. Off to Sears to pick one and a 3" 1/2" drive extension. The top bolts came out just fine with a breaker bar. The bolts holding the side brackets were a pain the butt. Starting in 2001 the foglights are mounted into holders that are part of the fascia, not on the bumper as with 1997-2000. Because of the foglight being in the way I could not get my ratchet onto three of the bolts. Great, now what? I got my 18mm box wrench and a hammer. That worked. The whole unit slides right off (don't forget to disconnect the foglights).
Mounting the newly assembled body color front end was pretty simple. The foglights did not obstruct any of the lower bracket bolts. The biggest part of the job was not doing something stupid to scratch the paint. :-O The chrome and textured fascia don't react badly to most contact, but with the fresh paint on these same surfaces I took painstaking measures not to inflcit any scratches. No brushes from my pant legs, no dropping tools on them, etc.
The rear bumper is a little more of a challenge than the front. It's heavier so I needed my son's assistance to remove and install it. The front bumper will stay in place without being bolted down, the rear is only supported by the six bolts on the side of the frame. But, for the rear my hitch receiver was do the trick. I put a hitch on with a towel (to cushion the paint) so when the bolts were removed it would rest on the hitch and not need to be held up, etc.
I am glad this is over: my hands hurt and it took a long time (started around 5:30PM and was finished cleaning up at 3:30AM). Long day, but it was worth it!
Not counting the cost of the front end parts I didn't use the change cost me:
- Graphite grille, $63.95
- Graphite rear R/T bumper, $140.00
- Font bumper, fascia, and foglight, $20 + $250
You can check it out here... (no html support so cut and paste)
Front Before - http://zydeco.easydns.us/jt/albums/album01/Front_Before.sized.jpg
Frant After - http://zydeco.easydns.us/jt/albums/album01/Front_After.sized.jpg
Rear Before - http://zydeco.easydns.us/jt/albums/album01/Rear_Before.sized.jpg
Rear After - http://zydeco.easydns.us/jt/albums/album01/Rear_After.sized.jpg
What's your left foot doing?
=========================================
2002 Graphite QC SLT Plus, 4.7L, NV3500, Superchips 3715, 3.92 LSD, loads o'fun...
2001 Patriot Blue Durango SLT, 4.7L, 45RFE, Superchips 3715, 3.55 Open (for now)
1999 Forest Green Dakota RC Sport, 2.5L, NV1500, 3.55 Open
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Ky_man
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
4/16/2007
00:06:21
|  RE: Dakota SLT with no chrome!
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Message:
Lookin' good. If you were to sell the chrome part of the front
bumper you removed, how much would you sell it for?
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crow318
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
4/16/2007
12:54:51
| RE: Dakota SLT with no chrome!
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Message:
Are you going to sell your rear bumper? Mine is real nasty
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modain
GenIII
4/16/2007
13:12:37
| RE: Dakota SLT with no chrome!
IP: Logged
Message:
I hadn't thought about selling the old parts. But yeah, why not? I don't need them any more. eMail me and we can discuss prices and shipping arrangements.
What's your left foot doing?
=========================================
2002 Graphite QC SLT Plus, 4.7L, NV3500, Superchips 3715, 3.92 LSD, loads o'fun...
2001 Patriot Blue Durango SLT, 4.7L, 45RFE, Superchips 3715, 3.55 Open (for now)
1999 Forest Green Dakota RC Sport, 2.5L, NV1500, 3.55 Open
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TexasTodd
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
4/19/2007
04:52:21
|  RE: Dakota SLT with no chrome!
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Message:
I have an 01 SLT QC, two tone paint white over silver, with the chrome bumpers, etc.
YOur new look does look good!
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cJ
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
4/19/2007
15:41:26
| RE: Dakota SLT with no chrome!
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Message:
Nice job, looks waaaay better than the stock styling Dodge tried to
get away with ;)
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Hollis
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
4/19/2007
19:57:23
| RE: Dakota SLT with no chrome!
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Message:
I especially like the front lower fascia. Nice! I have the plain plastic stock one too. It's the only thing I want to change. Especially after seeing yours...
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