Hello all! New to the forums (and dodge for that matter) and I was hoping you guys could help me out with some questions.
A buddy of mine told me tonight he wanted to trade his 87 4x4 v6 dak with a bad transmission in exchange for some work I am doing for him. I am researching a little bit and I would like to drop in a v8 motor with the transmission from a donor truck for a little better gogo on the throttle. But I'm not finding some of the things I would like to know before I start a project.
First I know every make at one point or another had either a bad year motor or weak transmission that you should stay away from. Any recommendations?
I would like to turn the truck over to efi mag motor for the winters up here, dose dodge have a dual pump setup with one in the tank and another in line for the fuel? And as far as the wiring I know if I went with a newer year motor and transmission I would need to get the computers for them off the newer truck, but dose dodge have a full under the hood setup or Is the computer system built into the dash/gages and I would need to find a way to make the newer dash fit in the older truck if I wanted the efi setup?
Next will a transmission out of a v8 ram fit up the the transfer case on the v6 dak? or do I need the get a bigger transfer case and have some new drive shafts made up?
I read some people had problems with the cooling fan and had to put a shallow electric fan in, is this just for certain years?
I know the suspension will need to be worked on to make up for the extra weight, but how far? Do I need to be looking at getting stiffer springs? Or do I need to be looking into putting a suspension off a 1/2 ton on it?
And last question is has anyone on this site done this in this old of a truck that can provide insight to other things I might want to watch out for (Like if the v8 will make problems with the steering linkage,will i need some special headers to fit around the frame right, ect?)
Sorry for the long list of questions guys! And thank you for any help you guys can give me I appreciate it!

 

The simplest way to do it is get a Dakota or Ram 92-95. Get the engine complete and motor mounts and the complete wiring harness from under the engine and computer. These years is pretty much a stand alone computer type of thing. It does have transmission input stuff but doesn't hurt noting if it is not used.

It is even best if you use the transmission and transfercase that comes with the truck. Depending on your rear-end you can upgrade that too.

For the early years like yours you will need the electric fans for the V8. You can use several. Check the FAQ2 for a list of fans as well as swaps and more.

Up front you probably would need V8 torsion bars to keep the front end up off of the ground.

 

Thanks crazy for the Input I appreciate it! Now with what you said and some of the info I found on the facts forum I think I might have found a 95 ram 2 wheel drive truck with a rebuilt tranny that can work.
My questions now is I read in the facts that you can mate the 2wd trannys into the 4x4, But dose anyone know if I will run into problems mating up the 95 transmission in the ram to the transfercase of the 87 6 cyl? Also since the motor came out of a 2wd truck, will I need to change over an oil pan from a 4x4?
Thanks!

 

The transmission shafts and other stuff will have to be swapped off of a 4wd transmission to mate the 2wd to a transfercase. It is not worth it. Just find a 4wd transmission.

 

i thought i read somewhere that the tailhousing between the 2wd and 4wd trannies where swappable...or is that just the jeeps...