4 Door Dakota or Wrangler TJ

[DixieJeeper]

I agree with ridge... I had a 318 truck and that thing ran and ran.. it wasn't impressive but was more than able to do anything I asked it and never had any problems with it

[ridgerunner97]

Yeah the dodge smallblock's of the 90's didn't hold a candle to anything the general put out but they were good for what they were, and tended to be as reliable as gravity with a hiccup here and there, ancient technology trying to hold out in the new age. Dodge seems to finally be getting around to being somewhat competitive against the GM smallblock again.

[muddeprived]

Thanks for the info. What years should I aim for regarding the 4.7 v-8?

[ridgerunner97]

03+ from what I understand best combo of engine and trans

[muddeprived]

03+ from what I understand best combo of engine and trans

awesome, thanks! Been seeing a few 04 quad cabs with v-8's. A good portion are 2wd and priced lower than the 4wd's...but i can't get myself to go back to the 4x2 world. Ehhh......trying to save as much as i can but aim for something nice/capable/good running. (who doesn't aim for that?) Still lookin for TJ's though......

[sethman15210]

How involved is replacing the seals and fixing the blow by? If it ain't a two-day-back-breaking-double-beer-case type of job then it wouldn't bother me much. I too loved how my dakota rode. Nothing i had since compared to it.

It's actually not that bad on a dak. I did it in a long afternoon. Cost me about 200 in parts and cleaners. I was somewhat familiar with the engine already though, I'd already rebuilt a few of them.