"The 5.7 L in the 1500 should be perfectly adequate and get better mileage.." That is a inaccurate guess many consumers make. Just because it is a smaller engine they think that it gets better milage. Truth is, in the real world they dont. The smaller engine has to work twice as hard to get the same job done as a 2500 with a 6 litre engine. I am talking if you take a 1500 and a 2500 hook up a trailor to each of them that weights the same. With the same amount of fuel in the tanks. I will bet anything that the 1500 will have to stop for fuel way before the 2500 with the 6 litre engine will. "The 2500 rides like a dump truck.." If you are talking about a Chevorlet, You could not proove that by me. The Dodge 2500 and Ford F250 and F350's I have had did not give a comfortable ride at all. They were rough riders. DuraMax, Cummins, Power Stroke diesel's? Sure they are strong powerful engines. Cant afford to use them. 8 to 10 miles per gallon. Maybe 12 if you drive down hill a lot. Insurance nearly twice the cost of a gasoline in the same class. Parts..lol.. Take one $850 dollar fuel pump for a Power Stroke diesel, add a $250.00 cam sensor (wont run without one). I will stick with my Chevy 2500HD's.

Thanks, a very different response that I thought. I understand the pounds per square inch issue, and hadn't given that a thought. I guess I was let to bigger or wider tires from a like of the look they have on the fancy sport trucks. Still, my old Dodge had aggressive wide tire all around, and 4WD. That too led me to think on a 2WD, put the aggressive tread on the rear. I do have a sporty 70R15 tire on a small car and its wet pavement/snow performance is not as good as an all season. Still too, in the old days of big rear wheel drive cars, I've had a few myself, snow tires (I've had the studded tires too) were common practice. They may have been no wider, but they looked that way because of the aggressive tread. Looks like I should stay with what I've got. I'll spend the saved money putting on a class III trailer hitch/receiver. I understand installation of one made for the specific truck will require no drilling, just bolt to existing holes. I've already installed the light wiring, easy with the "T" wire adapter now on new trucks. I'd think the sooner the better on the installation. The truck has under 2,000 miles on it so the underside is still clean.

Until proven otherwise, approach each failure as if they are occurring on different cars. The biggest mistake people make when attempting diagnostics is assuming things are related, they can be, but certainly don't have to be. So pick one, and troubleshoot it, then move onto another. If you happen to solve more than one with a particular repair, simply smile and move on. The headlights, tail-lights. They share a common power input to the headlight switch on most vehicles, but not all. Start with a schematic and check to see how the power distribution feeds power to the switch assembly. Question, do you have high beams when you pull the dimmer handle for "flash to pass"? No Bus. That means the serial data bust has shut down on the car. Unfortunately, that will be a failure that is likely beyond your ability to diagnose. You need the Chrysler DRBIII scan tool and its strength as the factory tool, plus a digital storage oscilloscope to diagnose that problem efficiently. The locks locking/unlocking by themselves could be a result of the failing data bus, or simply a bad door switch, with the previous being more likely at the moment. When the BCM sees serial data report that the vehicle is moving it locks the doors. Once it sees that the vehicle has been stopped and shifted to park, it unlocks the doors. The loss of serial data could cause this to occur incorrectly. The fact that it occurs after its been raining could indeed be a clue. We often find modules damaged by water intrusion on many different vehicles. Sometimes things like a windshield seal are to blame. One vehicle I can think of off hand has a TSB where the technician has to install a set of shields to protect a new computer from rainwater when its replaced. (Not a Chrysler vehicle that comes to mind, this is just a reference) You really do need a pro to sort this out. One that understands electronics, and has the correct equipment to communicate with your cars computers.

i have a 2k dakota and am looking for wheels too. they have an odd bolt pattern. 6x4.5". very rare. i think daks/durangos have almost the same wheel styles. not real pretty. i found a nice set of polished alloys at a swap meet this summer. $275/4 but i passed. i would like 16" wheels if i can find them. what tires did you get? i probably will get BFG A/T, 31-10.5-15. they are fairly cheap and have good snow traction.