So I finally paid off my 1995 Dodge Dakota and I'm looking to find the sweet spot between Power and Efficiency. This is proving to be a difficult since it's an extended cab with the 318 magnum.

Aside from headers, exhaust and a cool air intake I'm not sure what else I can do. I'd like to aquire the parts for the internal parts but I'm not going to crack open the engine until something breaks.

Also are there any solid Auto-Transmissions that Ya'll would suggest so i can start putting away for it. I'm not in need of it YET but the weakest part of the dodges I have heard abut have been the trannies.

Any ideas are welcome and appreciated.

 

If you don't beat on your truck too bad, the trans could last awhile. my truck had an original never rebuilt trans with 175k miles and the only thing wrong with it was it didn't go into reverse until the fluid warmed up. Just put another 46rh in when it goes. Unless you don't mind driving stick, in which case a 5 speed would make the truck accelerate faster and increase fuel economy significantly.

You could get high ratio rocker arms or a small cam and a mopar M1 intake manifold for a very noticable power increase. Also, your truck already has a cold air intake. pull off the plastic cover in front of where the intake goes into the radiator support and get a drop in k&n filter. A cold air kit wouldn't make a noticable increase over that.

The best way to increase efficiency is to change the aerodynamics of your truck. Simple things go a long way. a thin aluminum sheet between the frame rails from the front bumper to the rear axle could be worth a couple mpg on the highway and cost less than $50. Small mud flaps in FRONT of the tires creates less resistance from air hitting the tires and also helps efficiency.

There are only a few mechanical things that will help efficiency such as an electric fan and water pump and high compression pistons. You can get a fan from a junkyard for $20. The fan from an early 90s v6 ford taurus is powerful enough to cool the 318 in low mode. The only time you would need high mode is pulling a heavy trailer up a steep hill.

 

Thanks for the info! do you have any suggestions for carbs, Fuel Injections, ect to marry to that intake? I've been failing to find any real info on what mounts properly. I haven't tinkered with my vehicles in ages so I want to make sure that I'm not wasting money of wrong parts.

Worst case scenario I'll go round town chatting mechanics up on what they would suggest for this project. I'd rather not wast the gas tho.

 

going from a 3.9 to a 318 has been an increase in efficiency for me.... my V8 truck is better on gas than my old V6 was....
I did cionvert this V8 truck to a stick; but it is a clubcab which makes it a heavier truck than the other one which was a reg cab.

 

A cold air intake will make you burn more fuel, your maf will sense more air coming in and it will send a message to your ecu to send more fuel to your injectors. You will see a power increase, but your mpg will go down depending on what filter you go with and the map of your ecu.