I picked this up about 6 months ago for $300. It needed a few things but nothing major was wrong with it. Cracked windshield, missing a rear side window, broken seat belts. The interior is in pretty decent shape still.
It has the 3.9l v6 auto with 4x4. So here is a picture of it shortly after I got it.





I believe this is right after I flipped the rear shackle hanger. Before the body lift and tightening up the front.

Since I picked this up I have replaced a few things...



I started out with a basic tune up, plugs (3923)/wires(8mm)/cap/rotor, radiator flush, oil change.

I got the v8 throttle body off a 2nd gen Dakota, and the air intake cover/hose off a 2000ish Durango. I pulled the butterfly valve rod out of my v6 tb and it was a perfect fit into the v8 so I didn't need to replace cables or rig up anything fancy as others have suggested. I then mount up a K&N filter in my custom filter box.

Recently I had to replace the water pump, so I dropped in a 180 degree tstat, and performed the intake plenum/intake gasket replacement as well. Since replacing the tstat my temp has not risen above the Cold mark on the gauge much even after running for 4 hours of stop and go driving. Not sure if the temp sensor is bad or maybe it is the thermostat...

That's it for now, I have a few other issues I'm planning on digging into later, so I'll be back ha ha, but I leave you with a few more pictures of what she's looking like today. If taxes ever show up I'm planning on some 31's maybe 33's. I think I'd need some different rims for 33's, mines the 15x7...

 

Damn good deal for $300!!! Nice looking truck and welcome to the forums.

 

Yeah, great deal! Got to love Craigslist ha ha. He wanted $500 but I talked him down with all the defects I listed, oh yeah, and it would die if you drove it at night he said maybe the alternator was bad or something, but it just needed the battery terminals cleaned.

So I'm fighting an exhaust leak at the manifold to pipe connector, yeah the no gasket one. I have not replaced the bolts, but I have tightened them down and managed to choke it down a little bit, but I'm worried I'll break the bolts or damage something else if I crank on them too much. Has anybody tried using that high temp gasket sealer in that ball/socket joint, and does it work or last for any reasonable period of time. I'm debating on just picking up a tube and trying it out but figured somebody on here is bound to have tried something...

I figure I'll replace the bolts at the same time but I think a little bit of over kill wouldn't hurt so I don't have to take it all apart again.

 

Great deal. I'd try using that cloth insulating wrap for the manifold as a gasket until you can fix it.

 

Thanks, that's a great idea, I was thinking about the rtv stuff and decided it would probably be a pain to clean up if I ever get different manifolds to put on it. That exhaust wrap cloth would be a lot better alternative!

I did take it back apart today and polished it up with a wire brush, which I was hesitant to do for fear the rust was holding it together. I was pretty much right, under the bronze tint of age I discovered the ball end of the manifold had quite a number of pits worn into the casting and hence it wasn't sealing well. The pipe side looked fine, so I suppose now I have more reasoning to track down some 90-93 manifolds to swap in there.

I used a floor jack to push the pipe up against the manifold snugly while I retightened the old bolts to an unknown torque. It is better, I'd say it cut the leak in half, and I can feel the difference behind the wheel. Perhaps I'll get a chance to pull it apart again this weekend and try the manifold cloth idea, I've seen a decent handful of posts with this same issue and it seems the common reply is typically "replace the bolts" but I can't see how that is a fix-all.

Side note, anybody else notice the passenger side exhaust manifold runs around $85 but if you want the drivers side exhaust manifold prepare to spend around $210?

 

You can get them at an auto recylcler. I priced some earlier year because my 94 is the year they dropped the diameter of the exhaust down to 1 1/2" from the manifold and they were $75 ea. I haven't done it yet as I have other things that need doing first.

To be clear I was pricing a set of 93 exhaust manifolds as the bolt pattern is supposed to be the same but the dia is supposed to be much larger leading to a 3" Y pipe and 3" the rest of the way out.

 

I was at the junkyard today and found a 92 v6 i was going to steal the exhaust manifold off, they only charge $21 ea. there. But they only had one, the other one was already taken. Silly question... Is just the manifold larger or do I need to get the whole exhaust too, from what I've read it sounds like I just need the manifolds...
Since they only had the one I came across these on a 2001 Dakota! 16in rims with 265/75 tires already on them for a mere $100, after the $56 core charge on the rims, so I brought them back 4 mismatched rims I found for free on craigslist!

 

Rock Auto shows the left manifold for a 95 3.9 Dorman 674872. They have it for $133.xx
I didn't see where you posted the year of yours though.