How many people own these massive 153 Cubic Inch monsters? I make it 1.

I did own one..it sucked @$$. so i sold it and got a 96 V6 auto SLT ext. cab. that one is much better.

I had an '87 shortbox with a 2.2 and a 5 speed.
Biggest underpowered piece of sh!t there ever was.
It would drop dead going uphill at highway speeds unless I pulled it out of OD.

Traded it straight up for and '82 full size longbed with a slant six and 4 speed. Best choice I ever made.

Slantsixness

Uh, let me edit this.......
Cdman3d,
I live in Virginia and traded my slug to a dealer in Hanover (ashland) it was a light blue POS (pile of shit) with a shortbed.
I thought it was only fair since you live in VA and this might actually be your truck! :iceslolan

I got rid of it about 6 or 7 years ago....

Slantsixness

A friend of mine has a 95 Dakota Sport 4cyl 4spd or 5spd. Besides it being underpowered, it has over 250k miles without a rebuild and it still runs pretty damn good.

UNDERPOWERED is the key here.

More like get-out-and-push.

Load that '95 up with a box of potato chips (this is REALLY light...) and watch it try to groan over a speed bump.

were 249.99K of those miles DOWNHILL?!!

HA HA HA HA HA! :) :) :) :) :) :)


Slantsixness

I thought I'd edit this... I don't mean to be mean...

The 2.2/2.5L engines and the O.D. manual transmission in these trucks are bulletproof, but in this truck, it's a gigantic sloth-like-blob-of- exhausted-combustion, which delivers horsepower along the lines of a good lawn tractor.

:) :) edited by me! :) :)

I have a 97 RC with the 2.5l and 5 speed manual. It works pretty well for what I use it for (driving back and forth across town) and for the occasional light off road excursion. I'm currently in the process of fixing it up a bit, the last owner managed to get it reposessed and wasn't so good about keeping it in good running order.

I'll admit that it's not particularly quick, but it's not all that bad either, just can't go much quicker than 80 mph or so.

I too owned a 98 Dakota 2.5L and 5 speed manual, it works OK for me, I only use it for driving back and forth from my work and to go to the beach, I have not load up the truck with heavy things.
The other thing is that I give the tune up (oil and filter change, spark plugs, air filter, gas filter, the works) at the proper time.

I still enjoy my driving in my 98 dakota. Though slower than the car my mom, grandma and my friends own lol, I have been tweaking everything I can think of/afford at the moment. So far I have put on:

Open Air intake-Ram Air
Throttle Body Spacer
Tornado Fuel Saver
Flowmast dual exhaust
180 Degree Thermostat
New Spark Plug wires
Spark Plugs (NGK V-Power)
New Distributor Rotor
Synthetic Oil (Yes, You can actually gain HP with oil)
Jet Control Module
Dynatech High Flower Cat. Converter

Planning on upgrading:

Ignition Coil with MSD Blaster coil
Wider Throttle Body
Supercharger made for jeeps that fits my engine
Headers for the 2.5l jeep
Venom 400 unless I see it doesn't work somehow

Other Ideas brought to light with this message board and magazines, maybe even writing to specialists.

Still lookin' for a close dyno to check exact changes these upgrade have helped though.

I had an '87 shortbox with a 2.2 and a 5 speed.
Biggest underpowered piece of sh!t there ever was.
It would drop dead going uphill at highway speeds unless I pulled it out of OD.

Traded it straight up for and '82 full size longbed with a slant six and 4 speed. Best choice I ever made.

Slantsixness

Uh, let me edit this.......
Cdman3d,
I live in Virginia and traded my slug to a dealer in Hanover (ashland) it was a light blue POS (pile of shit) with a shortbed.
I thought it was only fair since you live in VA and this might actually be your truck! :iceslolan

I got rid of it about 6 or 7 years ago....

Slantsixness

I got my 98 green dakota at JD Byrider, so 7 years ago, my truck wasn't even alive yet. lol.

Whew! I was worried! :)

Put a cam & followers in it, at least. If you don't have emmisions in your town (yet) take off the cat (or punch a hole through it.).
That should be a help. I don't know about the "tornado" thing, haven't seen any difference with them, but I tried one (free, from a freind), just seemed lame to me.

keep on pedaling! :)

Slantsixness

yeah, you may be right about the 2.5 being a little slow, but it can look good still if you fix it up. I'm fixing mine to look like the R/T. But just remember this while gas prices are gonna get to $2 plus I'll still be able to buy food!! lol.

I used to own a 88 with a 2.2L 4 Cyl in it. Granted it was a 5 speed manual tranny. When I got it I learned a little about mechanics - a friend and I rebuilt the engine. After that, it ran like a... well 4 cyl, but was a real good reliable truck. It actually pulled a 6X12 U-Haul trailer from Virginia to Missouri and then down to Mississippi. I put 7 years on the rebuild that I did before I blew a head gasket and cracked my head, after that it just never did run right. So, I got rid of it and "upgraded' to a V-6. Boy do I love this one....not to bad on gas mileage either can get about 23-24 mpg Highway. My 88 was the reason that I stuck with Dakota. Had that truck for 10+ years before I got to the point that it just wasn't worth it anymore.

I don't understand how you'd gain fuel mileage by putting an obstruction in the intake, but if it gives you peace of mind, maybe that's more important.

I don't understand why people are saying how underpowered these trucks are in Overdrive. Overdrive is not for power. It's for use at cruising speeds. If you need power for a upcoming hill DOWNSHIFT! I have a 87 Dakota with a 2.2 and a 5 speed. It has 103,000 miles in it, and runs like a champ! I drive It Daily, with a big smile every time I pass a gas station. :)

Am I wrong to try and build a 4 cylinder Dakota? I'm looking for a truck that came with a 2.2/2.5 from the factory.....I presently drive an 89 LeBaron turbo that has wayy too much balls for a front wheel drive. From what I've heard, it is not hard at all to make this fwd engine work in a dakota sport....I'll get back to you guys :screwy:

A 4 cylinder compared to my 5.9L monster...ummm yeah need i say more haha

A 4 cylinder compared to my 5.9L monster...ummm yeah need i say more haha

Yeah actually you need to say what your fuel mileage is. I get 21 MPG flooring my 90' 2.5L 5 speed around everywhere. 25 MPG highway. It's OK on power, not great but not a dog, I wouldn't have any problem towing a pop-up camper if the roads I'd be traveling were pretty flat.

Yeah actually you need to say what your fuel mileage is. I get 21 MPG flooring my 90' 2.5L 5 speed around everywhere. 25 MPG highway. It's OK on power, not great but not a dog, I wouldn't have any problem towing a pop-up camper if the roads I'd be traveling were pretty flat.

I get like around 15 city and almost 20 highway with normal driving. i do have another dakota with the 3.9L 5 speed and thats like 18 city and like 23.5 highway. they are both not too bad to fill up only like $30-35 (if i let it go down to almost empty). but then again we all know we shouldn't even pay that much money let alone what my Grand Cherokee 4.0L cost (almost $60).

I've never heard of the V6 getting that good of mileage city. I've heard 14/18 from owners for years, and 12-13/17-18 for V8 owners. Then again, maybe they all drive them like I drive my 4 cylinder LOL. Oh and you 6 cyl is a 5 speed which is pretty rare, I'm sure the stick really helps for highway mileage.
It's surprising than your 360 truck only has the standard 15 gallon tank, I would think it would have the 22. If my dakota had the 22 gallon tank I would be able to go 400 city miles and 500 highway before stopping and still have 1/8 tank! That would be sweet.

I've never heard of the V6 getting that good of mileage city. I've heard 14/18 from owners for years, and 12-13/17-18 for V8 owners. Then again, maybe they all drive them like I drive my 4 cylinder LOL. Oh and you 6 cyl is a 5 speed which is pretty rare, I'm sure the stick really helps for highway mileage.
It's surprising than your 360 truck only has the standard 15 gallon tank, I would think it would have the 22. If my dakota had the 22 gallon tank I would be able to go 400 city miles and 500 highway before stopping and still have 1/8 tank! That would be sweet.

yeah i have a 96 dodge dakota sport with the 3.9L and its a 5-speed and i LOVE IT! and yes the gas mileage is phenomenal. and the 5.9L does have a 22 gallon tank i meant to put $30-$45, not 35. but yea i love my 3.9L with the 5-speed. my boss used to use it for his lawn business to pull a trailer and it really did a great job and i told him i really wanted it so he sold it to me. with a cherry bomb exhaust and off-road monroe shocks with blacked out windows and rally red paint, it really looks sharp. it looks meaner than my 5.9L.