Gen 1 fan

[Heisler]

I love the older "gen-1" dakotas.. I dont entirely know why.. Maybe because its so boxy that if you painted a Gen-1 dakota blue, you could easily mistake it for Dr. Who's TARDIS. :noob:

Anyways, I've been actively looking for one to buy thats a 4cyl and 5 speed for two weeks now. I've been running into lots and lots of V6 dako's. Ill find a 4 soon! I guess Ill keep this thread as more a blog as I do mods to the dako, which include:

SAS using Jeep XJ dana 30 and 35
NP231 swap/mod
anythying else I can think of thats cool..:)

[KREWZER]

4x4x4 :D

[dodgeguy6123]

why do you want 4 cyl so bad i know gas is expensive but it doesn't sound like a daily, IMO v6 or v8, you'll be ahead either way, especially with 35's or 33's for that matter, besides that 4 banger is pushed to its limits in with stock 2wd truck, unless you plan to throw a 2.2 k car turbo then i'd understand but... for offroad you need low gears and low end power something i'm sure the 4 cyl is a little short on.

[ScatDak]

I don't think they ever made a Gen1 4x4 with the 4cylinder.

[Heisler]

Thanks for the replies peoples... :)

I'm actually converting a 2wd 4cyl 5 speed into a SAS 4wd. I dont want to run anything bigger then 33's because I simply dont want a serious 4x4 that I can take to the rubicon. This truck muuust be ok on gas and be streetable. If I wanted a Rubicon Rig... Id pick an M38 Jeep, or something. not a dakota although I've seen em out there crawling. (I have yet to too see an off-road buggy based on dakota that still uses a 4cyl, or even the V6 Dodge)

As for a turbo... thats a great Idea. Didnt think of it till it was mentioned...

[dodgeguy6123]

i guess i was just curious as to why you wanted a 4cyl and maybe a 2.2 k car turbo would be alot of fun. but the only problem is that the v6 will probably get better gas milage than the 4 banger because that 4 will be working very hard unless you can get some serious gears, which using jeep axles don't know how low you can go, if you do get v6 or even a 4, i'd get an efi setup if i could for the steep offroad angles. its all just my opinion.

[Heisler]

i guess i was just curious as to why you wanted a 4cyl and maybe a 2.2 k car turbo would be alot of fun. but the only problem is that the v6 will probably get better gas milage than the 4 banger because that 4 will be working very hard unless you can get some serious gears, which using jeep axles don't know how low you can go, if you do get v6 or even a 4, i'd get an efi setup if i could for the steep offroad angles. its all just my opinion.

It's cool man.. I did some digging into it and I think it would be a better idea to simply add a turbo onto the existing Jeep 2.5L and limit the boost to like 4lbs. It may even work with the existing Dodge Dakota TBI if I burned a new PROM chip for the ECU. The axles I have are jeep XJ dana 30/35 with 3:54 ratio. Its no big thing to go to 4:56 in these axles because 4cyl XJ's came with them stock!. i think with the 33's that may be a good pairing.

[Heisler]

i guess i was just curious as to why you wanted a 4cyl and maybe a 2.2 k car turbo would be alot of fun. but the only problem is that the v6 will probably get better gas milage than the 4 banger because that 4 will be working very hard unless you can get some serious gears, which using jeep axles don't know how low you can go, if you do get v6 or even a 4, i'd get an efi setup if i could for the steep offroad angles. its all just my opinion.

Well as it turns out your right... I have been doin my homework here on dakotas and they use the old venerable K-car 4cyl all they way up to 1996. Thats a good thing because ever junk yard in America has atleast 20 junked turbo K-platform cars for me to pick parts from..

Anyone know if the inline 2.5 and the trenverse mounted 2.2/2.5 are interchangable? Or are they diffrent blocks? Im likely to go and grab a complete 2.5 with its tubo, wiring harness, EFI, and ECU and splice it into the Dakota's.

BTW Im off to shop for a dakota this morning... I spotted this nice looking (on my PC screen) 1990 short bed 4cyl 5 speed for $800 that runs and drives.. :)
They say it overheats which makes me instantly think about the dodge kellogs cereal box headgaskets they used for years that will blow if you look at it wronge.. >bad memories of my ex's Dodge Daytona.< :)

[AMF#1]

The car and truck 4 bangers are different. Can't use one in the other.

[superdaver]

As long as you're not talking about the Jeep 2.5l 4 cylinder that was 97 and up, the car and truck 4 2.2/2.5 cylinders are all basically interchangable.

There were some minor differences, like mounting bosses tapped/not tapped etc. but nothing significant.

There are plenty of people out there running turbocharged 4 cylinder Dakota's using most of the stock parts off of the factory turbo motors.