Gen 2 dakota what to look out for?

[J-hop]

Replacing our beater with another beater! Want a relatively small truck w/ 4 proper seats so that rules out the ranger, s10 etc unfortunately.

I used to work for a rental company and always liked the way the Dakotas drove so I've pretty much settled on a gen2 dakota.

Want it to not be a huge pig on gas (although I hardly drive anyways so it doesn't matter that much!) so I think I want the 4.7v8. From the sounds of it the 4.7 is actually more fuel efficient in everyday driving than the less powerful 3.9v6. I've read a lot of good things about the 4.7 durability.

Anyways, any thoughts on things to look out for? Common rust spots? Common failings of the 4.7? Am I stupid for looking at these? Ok maybe don't answer that last one.

[carson blocks]

I think the 4.7 has a bad rep for sludging up if oil changes aren't kept up. I've always liked the 3.9V6, it's a trucky engine with a little more NVH but torquey and reliable. You can't go wrong with the venerable 5.2/318 either.

[NoPulp]

Originally posted by J-hop
Am I stupid for looking at these?
No second gen are decent trucks and look decent. I'm not a fan of 3rd gen...

A good friend in highschool had a v6 and a v8. You are correct about gas, might as well get the v8 and more power.
I would argue that you might as well get a full size truck since there is hardly any advantages with smaller trucks, but whatever you want. I do like the 2nd gen dakotas though.

He didn't have any issues with the v8 other than replacing the engine, he did abuse it a bit though :burnout: :rofl:
The v8 made good power, it was surprisingly the fastest out of my group of friends. My 98 f150 was even supercharged (low boost though) :cry:

[never]

I had one with a 4.7...sold it when it had over 330,000 km and it was still going strong. No major issues that I can recall, just regular maintenance.

It was developing some rust under the paint in a few spots (seams/around lights) but nothing major for a 2003.

Power with the 4.7 was okay but it sucked towing a 4500 lb car on a 1700 lb trailer which is why I sold it and bought a diesel.

[J-hop]

Thanks for the replies so far!

Yea I have been watching and there are a lot of gen3s for only slightly more but I just love the look of the gen2. So everything else equal I'd choose the gen2.

Good point on the sludge, I will see what the owners are putting in them and check at least oil colour although I probably won't be able to tell until I get it home.

Main reason for a smaller truck is the gf will be driving it about as much as me. She isn't sold on a full size (or id be getting an f150). So we compromised on a midsize truck. The Dakotas feel decently big too so I think it will fit what we want it for pretty well.

[e31]

The 4.7 is a great motor, after all the design was poached from MB. From my experience the headgasket on those MUST be replaced at the service interval (140~160k), I've had it go on two different trucks at exactly the same time. There's enough room under the hood for me to be happy working on it.

Headlights are trash.
Turning radius is a big -ve for me (truck people are probably used to it).
There is a potential issue with the fan speed selection dial getting hot and circuit module melting.
Transmission doesn't really play nice with upsized tires until a tuner adjustment can fix the RPM & shift points (as expected)
IACV seems to get fouled up eventually affecting idle (1 screw, unplug & wire brush fixes this)
Noticeably large mileage boost due to replacement of sparkplugs (no surprise here)

Right now I've started a full steering & suspension bushing replacement with new shocks; In the process I'm learning to use muscles I didn't know I ever had!

[J-hop]

Haven't been having much luck lately. Looked at a few but the cabs were often rusted really bad. I'm fine with cosmetic rust like box rust (even if it's major), surface rust, etc but I found several that had "minimal" rust actually were almost perforated on the rockers!

I'll keep searching but I might be looking into other options here pretty soon