hey all..for about the last 3 months ive been looking to sell my 96 chrysler sebring and buy a mopar with 4WD..been looking at jeeps, rams and dakotas. so ive come across a few 95 dakotas and all look good. ofcourse i need 4WD (already mentioned) so 2WD is out. one has the 318 and the other has the V6. here are my questions

1) how much mileage can i expect out of each motor? i do regular maintenance on all my vehicles (oil changes, coolant changes, plugs, wires, etc.) so it will be taken care of

2) whats the biggest tire size you can fit stock? (no lift or little to no trimming)

3) does it have problems engaging into 4WD? i know on jeeps the actuators have trouble engaging under water and in the cold

4) lifts? how much is enough for a daily driver and weekend wheeler? would a 2 inch budget boost do?

thanks..ive been researching ever since ive been wanting to sell my car..im an offroad guy and bought the sebring from my parents for a great price that was to good to refuse..

grant

 

Mine has been 100% reliable for the past year and a half (not going to talk about today). Never had a problem with 4wd. But keep in mind, these trucks are almost 13 years old, you can't expect them to perform flawlessly. In any case, I cranked the torsion bars on mine and put 2" blocks in the back. I then put 30x9.5" tires on it (I know guys who have fitted 31's but I wanted to be absolutely certain they'd never contact). It has factory skidplates and they've been well beaten on by me, but so far it's gone where I've wanted it to without a hiccup. How long the motor will last at this point won't depend so much on you as it will on the previous owners. V6 vs V8, I'm not sure you'll get much better fuel economy with the V6 (it'll be better, just not drastically so, not on a 4x4 anyway) but the extra torque from the V8 is a great thing.

 

yeah id rather have the 318 being that its more powerful..im not concerned about the gas mileage as much..but im not gonna go and just drive through a random mudhole in the middle of nowhere and then once i get stuck, stay on the throttle until the engine blows...just a few offroad spots here and there. but ive always like the 1st gen dakotas..not sure if ill get a dakota or a jeep yet..i was just curious

thanks