stumped! 92 3.9 stalling and backfiring

Alright here it goes. I bought a 1992 dodge dakot 3.9 V6 about 7 months ago. It had 1 owner and only about 62000 miles on it. It ran like a dream until about 6 weeks ago. It started one day on the interstate, when I would get above 70 mph the truck would jerk and do what some people called spark knocking. I replaced the plugs and wires and the fuel filter but I still had the problem. I replaced the fuel pump, same problem. Finally we found that the metal tab on the rotor was loose and about to fall off so we replaced the rotor button. Ran a little better for about a week even though it still jerked every once in a while. Also during this time, sometime when I cranked it up it would spit and sputter and die but would crank and run after a few times of this. I finally found that It would run fine as long as I kept it under about 2200 rpms. Then one day I was on the interstate and I started to feel a sutle jerking. It slowly got worse and eventually the truck just started sputtering. I could push the pedal to the floor and the truck would barely go. It finally cut off and would not crank again. Took it to the shop and replaced the coil and the module. Finally found that the metal tab on the new rotor button had completly snapped off. Replaced the distributor, rotor button, and distributro cap but still had problems the the truck stalling and hearing a popping noise when the rpms got around 2200. We finally happend to look under the truck while reving the engine and noticed the the exhaust system was glowing. This led us to believe the culprit to all my problems was a stopped up catalydic converter. We "got rid" of the catalydic converter and now the truck still stalls plus it now backfires. So bad that it actually blew my muffler off. We have a feeling that it is now backfiring because of the lack of a cadalytic converter but we dont know why it is still stalling. Please help if anyone has any ideas. Ive been reading posts for the past hour but everytime I find one that describes my problem the post ends with no solution. Thanks

i have a friend who has a 1999 chevrolet tahoe thats doin the same thing. i run the code on it and it was her egr valve taht was causing it. idk if its got anything 2 do w ur problem, but it would be worth while to try and see. id have the codes run first.

Sounds like my Cutlass. All of the sudden it died. It would crank and but not start. I replaced the crank sensors (i have two), the trans speed sensor, ignition module and found bad wiring going to the sensor (wiring from ignition module to crank sensor) that starts the motor.

You might want to check your ignition timing, also. In order for it to backfire through the ezhaust, the exhaust valve would have to be open during the power stroke. In other words, at the time that both the intake and exhaust valves on the particular cylinder that backfired , should have been closed.

You were close with the rotor. Pull the dist cap back off and grab the rotor, twist it clockwise and then counter clockwise if there is more than 3/16 of an inch play when you do this the dist drive gear and bushing are worn. If this is the case they will have to be replaced. Check this and post back what you find.