The new size goes hand in hand with an all-new look, with much sharper edges on the laid-back grille, roof, fenders, doors and bed, and fender lines deliberately extended halfway along the length of the door. The Dakota retains the look of the Dodge Ram and Durango, though it looks crisper and the grille is laid back, not vertical. The intersection of the front fender, multi-element, twin-lens headlamp and grille makes the whole design work beautifully.
Underneath, there is a completely new frame shared in part with the Durango SUV, a frame that is eight times as strong in twist resistance and twice as strong in bending resistance as the old frame, introduced in 1997. A new coil-over-shock independent front suspension is used on both two- and four-wheel-drive models, with conventional leaf springs at the rear. All models come with front and rear tow hooks and tie-downs in the bed.
New to the Dakota is an Enhanced Accident Response System or EARS, which automatically turns on interior lights and unlocks doors in the event of an air bag deployment, so that medical or response personnel can help faster and easier.
