Dakota Headlights

67redcudavert said

I have a 2000 Dakota that I bought new that now has 228K on it. Overall, it has been a good truck, very little trouble with it. That said, there are a couple items on it that have been mediocre since day one, the headlights and the heater.

I have spoken with other Dakota/Durango owners and they were in agreement with me. When it's below 10 degrees the heater will keep you from freezing but not really warm.

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They must have made some changes between 00 & 02. I had an '88 Dakota and the heater in that was no great shakes, but the one in my '02 is a blast furnace! Even in sub-zero temperatures it'll get that cab warm in no time. My only complaints on the heater are that the temperature control is kinda vague...over much of it's range not much change but there's a spot about mid-way where a small change makes a big difference. Also, the lowest fan speed is a bit too high...turn fan on and roast, turn fan off and windows fog up. I've been meaning to fiddle with resistors to drop the speed down a bit but haven't gotten around to it.

As far as headlights on it, they're OK. Only in the last year or so have I had to polish 'em. I can't think of anything I've driven where they were better, but I've sure driven a lot that were worse. All in all I haven't been real impressed with headlights since they got away from sealed beams. Maybe there are some makes that have "good" modern lights but I haven't driven any of them.