how long is bed of dakota?

[bmwjohn]

dumb question. My Dakota is elsewhere for a while and a coworker has offered me a utility shell / topper cheap. Anyone know the size and preferably what other vehicles use the same?
1994 Dodge Dakota v-6 regular cab, full length bed (8 foot?)Thanks!

 

[UncleS2]

The huge majority of Dakotas have a 6 1/2 foot long bed. The 8 foot beds are fairly rare, & IMO look extra long when you see one in person. As far as I know- and I've owned 2 Dakotas(a 94 years ago,& currently an 02, both with club cab & the standard 6 1/2' bed) & put a shell on each of them- a camper shell that fits a Dakota isn't an exact fit for anything else, & vice-versa. If it didn't come off a Dakota, it probably won't fit.

You can look up the bed dimensions on the inet, & measure the camper. If your truck has the 8 foot bed, & his shell truly fits it- buy it. Dakota shells are hard enough to find, 8 foot Dakota shells will be very rare indeed.

 

[earlyre]

my brother has had a heck of a time finding one for his 07 quad cab. it only has a 5 1/2 ft bed IIRC.

the main reason we drove mom's Taurus from Dallas to Carlsbad caverns, instead of the Dakota, was the hassle of finding a way to secure the luggage @ any/all stops along the way (with 4 adult passengers)

that and the Taurus gets WAY better mileage.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: UncleS2
The huge majority of Dakotas have a 6 1/2 foot long bed. The 8 foot beds are fairly rare, & IMO look extra long when you see one in person. As far as I know- and I've owned 2 Dakotas(a 94 years ago,& currently an 02, both with club cab & the standard 6 1/2' bed) & put a shell on each of them- a camper shell that fits a Dakota isn't an exact fit for anything else, & vice-versa. If it didn't come off a Dakota, it probably won't fit.

You can look up the bed dimensions on the inet, & measure the camper. If your truck has the 8 foot bed, & his shell truly fits it- buy it. Dakota shells are hard enough to find, 8 foot Dakota shells will be very rare indeed.


X2. Unfortunately for you, the Dakota is a real odd ball sized truck. It has full size bed lengths (6.5' & 8'), but small truck width, so you really need a shell specifically for a Dakota. Full size truck caps will be too wide, small truck caps too short or a half foot too long (most small trucks with a longbed option like the Ranger and S-Series are 7').

 

[NHGUY]

As Dakota is the "First true mid size pickup ever made",getting things to interchange from other "non mid size" trucks is a long shot.

 

[The_Jeff]

I had three of these trucks. The 3' 9" between wheel wells strikes me as engineering sabotage to make me buy a Ram if I want to haul sheetrock flat.